Detroit — Capuchin Friar Tom Nguyen was ordained to the priesthood April 30 for the Detroit-based Capuchin Province of St. Joseph, and will serve at the Solanus Casey Center.

Fr. Nguyen had been serving a diaconal internship at St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park before his ordination, which took place at St. Lawrence Seminary High School in Mt. Calvary, Wis. He will continue to help out at St. Ambrose in addition to his other duties.

Fr. Nguyen thanked supporters and well-wishers, and said he hopes to follow the example of Ven. Solanus Casey, a fellow Capuchin whose cause for beatification is currently before the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

“I thank God ahead of time for the road ahead and for all the many relationships I have and will encounter in my life; the gift of family, friends, the people of God and especially my Capuchin Franciscan brothers,” Fr. Nguyen said. “I pray that I may be an instrument of love in the world, just as St. Francis of Assisi was, and to model Ven. Solanus Casey’s Capuchin Franciscan way of life.

Capuchin Fr. Michael Sullivan, provincial minister, said Fr. Nguyen was “energetic” and a “joy-filled minister of the Gospel.”

“Fr. Tom is a very talented musician and preacher, and has done exemplary work among young adults and the Vietnamese Catholic Community in Detroit,” Fr. Sullivan said.

Fr. Nguyen graduated from Concordia University in Chicago with a master’s degree in church music (MCM) and Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union, where he earned a Master of Divinity. He is an alumnus of St. Lawrence Seminary High School, a Capuchin ministry.

“Ordination to the priesthood is about a ministry of service and outpouring of the heart of God’s abundant mercy, love and grace,” Fr. Nguyen said. “Please keep me in your prayers as I serve the people of God.”