Joseph Trần Xuân Tiếu

Joseph Trần Xuân Tiếu (20 August 1944 – 7 January 2025) was a Vietnamese Catholic bishop, who served as bishop of Long Xuyên from 2 October 2003 until his retirement on 23 February 2019.

The Most Reverend Joseph Trần Xuân Tiếu
Bishop of Long Xuyên
Native name	Giuse Trần Xuân Tiếu
Church	Catholic
Province	Sài Gòn
See	Long Xuyên
Appointed	3 June 1999 (as Coadjutor)
Installed	2 October 2003
Term ended	23 February 2019
Predecessor	Jean Baptiste Bùi Tuần
Successor	Joseph Trần Văn Toản
Orders
Ordination	10 August 1974
Consecration	29 June 1999 by Jean Baptiste Bùi Tuần
Personal details
Born	(1944-08-20)20 August 1944 Nam Định, Tonkin, French Indochina
Died	7 January 2025(2025-01-07) (aged 80) Long Xuyên, Vietnam
Nationality	Vietnamese
Denomination	Catholic
Motto	Ut sint unum (That they may be one) (Để tất cả nên một)
Coat of arms

Styles of Joseph Trần Xuân Tiếu
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Biography

Joseph Trần Xuân Tiếu was born on 20 August 1944 in the Lộc Hòa district (then called Phú Ốc) of the city of Nam Dinh. In 1954, he fled to the south with his family. In 1957, at the age of twelve, he entered the Pius XII Minor Seminary and continued his studies at the St. Joseph Seminary in Saigon. In 1965, after completing the seminary, he was sent to Rome to complete his studies in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Urban University.^[1]

After returning home, he was ordained a priest on 10 August 1974. After his ordination, he served as secretary to Bishop Nguyễn Khắc Ngư until 1995, when he was appointed pastor of the Long Xuyên Cathedral, professor of moral theology at the Thánh Quý Major Seminary in Cần Thơ, and vicar general of the diocese.^[1]

Episcopal ministry

On 3 June 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed him Coadjutor Bishop of Long Xuyên. He was consecrated a bishop on 29 June of the same year by Bishop Jean Baptiste Bùi Tuần. He succeeded to the same see on 2 October 2003, the day his predecessor retired.^[2] He served as the president of the Commission for the Laity of the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference for two consecutive terms from 2010 to 2016.^[3][4] Over the years, he advocated for the return of the old St. Thomas Seminary, seized in 1976 following the country's reunification, to resume educational activities, a request that was eventually granted in September 2018.^[5] He led the diocese for over fifteen years, resigning on 23 February 2019, at the age of 74.^[6]

Death

Xuan Tieu died in Long Xuyên on 7 January 2025, at the age of 80.^[7]

Episcopal lineage and apostolic succession

The episcopal lineage is:

• Patriarch Eliya XII Denha
• Patriarch Yohannan VIII Hormizd
• Bishop Yohannan Gabriel
• Archbishop Joseph V Augustine Hindi
• Patriarch Joseph VI Audo
• Patriarch Eliya XIV Abulyonan
• Patriarch Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas
• Bishop François David
• Archbishop Antonin-Fernand Drapier, O.P.
• Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục
• Bishop Michel Nguyễn Khắc Ngư
• Bishop Jean Baptiste Bùi Tuần
• Bishop Joseph Trần Xuân Tiếu

The apostolic succession is:

• Bishop Joseph Trần Văn Toản (2014)