Choua and Khamsy Yang began a three-generation journey of faith at St. Vincent de Paul in St. Paul nearly three decades ago. In recent years, the two natives of Laos have watched three of their grandchildren receive their sacraments at St. Vincent, which became a home for the Hmong Catholic community in 1995.
Their oldest granddaughter, who is 14, will be confirmed sometime in the next year. But she won’t prepare for that sacrament at St. Vincent. After a discernment period of more than a year, parish leaders along with Archbishop Bernard Hebda have decided to transfer the Hmong community of St. Vincent to Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood, where a Hmong priest, Father Toulee Peter Ly, who grew up attending St. Vincent with his family, serves as pastor. Another parish, St. Patrick in St. Paul, also serves the Hmong community and will continue its ministry to Hmong Catholics. Deacon Kou Ly, who is Hmong, was assigned to the parish after his ordination Dec. 9, 2023, and is helping with ministry to Hmong Catholics in the parish, which offers a Mass in Hmong at 12:15 p.m. on the last Sunday of every month.
A closing Mass at St. Vincent June 23 drew Hmong Catholics for their final opportunity to worship in this space as a community. Archbishop Hebda was the principal celebrant, joined by Father Ly, Father Joseph Johnson, who served at St. Vincent for eight years, Father Matthew Northenscold, who recently served as sacramental minister up until the final Mass, and Deacon Nao Kao Yang, a Laos native who has helped at the parish since the formation of the Hmong community there and worked with Archbishop John Roach to create a home for Hmong Catholics, who previously worshipped at several parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“It’s a mixed feeling,” said Deacon Yang, 67, about moving from St. Vincent to Presentation. “We feel sad that we have to leave (St. Vincent church),” but “we feel like this is probably God’s plan.”
Choua and Khamsy Yang came to the closing Mass and gave remarks during a reception afterward. They plan to join Presentation and, like Deacon Yang, they also have been at St. Vincent since it first welcomed the Hmong Catholic community.
“A lot of history,” said Choua Yang, 56, of the family’s years at St. Vincent. “We have four children. They all received their sacraments here.”
Like Deacon Yang, they have mixed feelings about the transition. “It’s sad, but we are very excited to go to Presentation,” Choua Yang said. “I think we will grow (in) our faith.”
Father Ly will see to that. He said he is aware of the challenges of adding roughly 80 families to the parish, but he already sees positive signs that the move will benefit both incoming and existing parishioners.
“There are things you will lose, naturally, as you move from one place to another,” he said. “But the gains I see outweigh the things that will be lost.”
Father Ly has a unique perspective on this situation, having grown up at St. Vincent and now being the leader at Presentation who will help his fellow Hmong Catholics make the transition. Father Johnson, who served at St. Vincent from 2004 to 2012 while also serving as the rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, saw leadership gifts in Father Ly during those years.
“There were a number of challenges in the community when I came here,” Father Johnson said. “And Father Ly, as a young adult, stepped up and said, ‘Can I lead the youth group and try and do something for our youth to get them more engaged in the faith?’ So, he became my partner in really bringing the young people of this parish closer to Christ. In the process of that — praying and leading them — he began to discern his own vocation.”
Before that discernment began, Father Ly had a concern for his fellow Hmong Catholics, which he brought to God.
“My prayer was, ‘Lord, we need a priest who can minister to the Hmong people,’” he said.
God’s answer: “What about you?”
Father Ly said yes to the call and was ordained in 2018. As he was preparing for priesthood, he continued to desire that the people in his faith community would one day have a Hmong priest, not sure whether it would be him or someone else.
Turns out, Archbishop Hebda had the same desire, which led to a meeting with Father Ly in January 2023. The idea of bringing the Hmong Catholic community to Presentation was introduced by the archbishop, who asked Father Ly: “Would you be open to it?”
After taking it to prayer, Father Ly began working with Father Michael Tix, the vicar general for the archdiocese. They formed leadership committees at each of the two parishes and discussed the idea. After months of dialogue, both committees approved it and presented it to all parishioners of the two parishes.
“There were some concerns, but I think the general feel of both communities was excitement,” Father Ly said. “Presentation of Mary parishioners love their parish. … But they also know the reality that this is a beautiful and large campus — we’ve got a lot of space. And it would be good to have more family members be able to make use of our beautiful home.”
Mary Vang of St. Vincent came to the closing Mass with her husband, Peng Yang, and their four daughters. They have belonged to the parish since 2005 and live in Woodbury.
“I’m excited about what’s to come because we haven’t had an actual Hmong priest in the parish since I’ve been here,” she said. “It’s a good transition. I’m happy about the transition.”
Father Johnson noted that St. Vincent has a history of serving immigrant communities, beginning with Irish immigrants, then Hmong immigrants for the past 29 years, and soon-to-be Syro-Malabar Catholics from India (Eparchy of Chicago), who are purchasing the building for their faith community.
“It’s really a third chapter in the same story of people coming to America and living out their Catholic faith,” he said. “It’s beautiful to have that peace of knowing this (church) isn’t being shut down and closed. No, it’s just being handed on to another community that’s going to come in. It’s a win-win.”
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HISTORY IN MINNESOTA
As previously reported in The Catholic Spirit, Hmong began to arrive in great numbers in the Twin Cities after the communist takeover of Laos in 1975. Members of the ethnic group who had fought on the side of the United States during the Vietnam War were granted refugee status in the U.S.
Deacon Yang left Laos in 1976 and came to the U.S. He became Catholic in 1986 and was ordained a permanent deacon in 1997. He and his wife, Mai, have three children.
