Phạm Minh Mẫn

Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn (Gioan Baotixita Phạm Minh Mẫn) (born 5 March 1934) is a Vietnamese cardinal in the Catholic Church and was the Archbishop of Hồ Chi Minh City from March 1998 to March 2014.

Early life
Phạm Minh Mẫn was born in Cà Mau, Cochinchina, French Indochina. At the age of 5, his first cousin once removed, Father Francis Xavier Trương Bửu Diệp, came to visit him and his family and encouraged them to have him learn at La Salle Taberd School in Sài Gòn a year from now so that eventually he could be able to go to the minor seminary at age 10. Diệp also encouraged his mother to have him learn the Latin prayers and have him become an altar boy.

Education
The family immediately heeded Diệp's advice. His mother woke Mẫn up the next day to have him serve at Mass with Diệp alone, and he went to Taberd and eventually Cù Lao Giêng Minor Seminary until he had to stop due to the ongoing situation in the country that caused the seminary to be burned down. He was ordained a priest on 25 May 1965 by Bishop Jacques Nguyễn Ngọc Quang, for Diocese of Cần Thơ. After studying in the United States at Loyola University of Los Angeles, Mẫn taught at the Saint Quý Minor Seminary for a number of years and later appointed rector of the Minor (1974) and Major Seminary (1988) of the same name.

Episcopal career
In 1993, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Mỹ Tho and promoted to Archbishop of Hồ Chí Minh City in 1998. He officiated at a mass in La Vang in 1998 for the 200th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary, the largest Vietnamese Catholic event up to that time.

Mẫn was elevated to cardinal in the consistory of 21 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II, and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

On 7 March 2013, Mẫn was the last cardinal to arrive to attend the 2013 papal conclave to select the successor to Pope Benedict XVI. The conclave subsequently elected Pope Francis.

On 28 September 2013, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Paul Bùi Văn Đọc, previously (since 1999) serving as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mỹ Tho, Vietnam (one of the Archdiocese of Hồ Chí Minh City's suffragan dioceses), as Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese.

On 22 March 2014, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Mẫn due to age limit. Coadjutor Archbishop Paul Bùi Văn Đọc succeeded him as Archbishop of Hồ Chí Minh City.

Events

 * 5 Mar 1934: Born in Cà Mau
 * 25 May 1965: Ordained Priest
 * 22 Mar 1993: Appointed	Coadjutor Bishop of Mỹ Tho
 * 11 Aug 1993: Ordained Bishop
 * 1 Mar 1998: Appointed	Archbishop of Hồ Chí Minh City
 * 21 Oct 2003: Appointed	Cardinal-Priest of San Giustino
 * 23 Nov 2003: Installed	Cardinal-Priest of San Giustino
 * 22 Mar 2014: Retired Archbishop of Hồ Chí Minh City