Fr. Quoc Vo

Age: 40
Hometown: Vietnam
Home parish: Our Lady of Loretto, Los Angeles
Favorite Hobby: Soccer
First parish assignment: St. Joseph the Worker Church, Winnetka
First Mass: Saturday, May 31 at 5:30pm – Our Lady of Loretto Church (Los Angeles)

Fr. Quoc grew up in Vietnam attending 4 a.m. daily Mass which had completely discouraged him from the priesthood. When his mother (a devout Catholic) was diagnosed with a tumor and underwent surgery, his grandmother (a Buddhist) came over to watch Vo and his older brother and prayed at the shrine in their home to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, to save her daughter-in-law, not even knowing their names, simply addressing them as “sir” and “lady.” Seeing this example, Vo too made a promise: If God would save his mother, he would become a priest. His mother was healed. Years later he forgot his promise and went on to college. He went on to obtain a visa and attended Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon for two years before returning to Vietnam because he was homesick. He returned to the States and attended Queen of Angels Center for Priestly Formation, and from there went on to St. John’s Seminary.