ASIA/VIETNAM - Coadjutor Bishop of Quy Nhon appointed

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI, on December 31, 2009, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Quy Nhon (Vietnam), Fr. Matthieu Nguyen Van Khoi, parish priest of the Cathedral of Quy Nhon and Professor at the Stella Maris Seminary of Nha Trang.
The Fr. Matthieu Nguyen Van Khoi, was born October 13, 1951 at Phuoc Son, Tuy Phuoc, Binh Đinh, Diocese of Quy Nhon. He completed his secondary studies at the Minor Seminary of Quy Nhon, and studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical College of Đà Lat (1970-1977), also attending the School of Humanities at the Catholic University of Đà Lat. He was ordained a priest on May 10, 1989, for the Diocese of Quy Nhon. After his ordination, he was parish priest of the parish of Binh Đinh (1989-2000), tutor at the Stella Maris Major Seminary of Nha Trang (1994-2000), a student at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, where he earned a doctorate in Moral Theology (2000-2005). Since 2005, he has been pastor of the Cathedral of Quy Nhon, Vicar of the outer region of Binh Đinh, a member of the College of counseling, member of the staff for lifelong learning for the priests of the diocese, and Professor of Moral Theology at the same seminary mentioned earlier.
The Diocese of Quy Nhon, built in 1960, is suffragan of the Archdiocese of Hue. It covers an area of 16,194 sq km, has 3,770,707 inhabitants, with 67,100 Catholics, 89 priests (81 diocesan and 8 religious), 18 religious brothers, 36 seminarians and 392 religious sisters. The existing Ordinary, Bishop Pierre Nguyen Soan, age 73, has serious health problems. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 4/1/2010)