The Catholic Faith Was His Mother’s Refuge

Maryknoll Father Lo Xuan Dam credits his mother's conversion to Catholicism for his religious vocation. Growing up in Vietnam during periods of war and partition, Father Dam notes that his mother embraced the faith in 1951 during the French Indochina War to find comfort amidst hunger and displacement.

His mother's conversion led to the baptism of her six children at that time. After the division of Vietnam, the family moved to South Vietnam, where Father Dam's father also converted to the faith. As the youngest of nine children, Father Dam attended a Salesian minor seminary starting in sixth grade at his mother's request.

Following the communist victory in 1975, the government disbanded all Catholic schools. This forced Father Dam to complete his high school and college education in public schools under strict communist rule. He believes the difficulties of those years helped strengthen his vocation.