Every seat in the church was taken when Bishop Gregory Parkes visited Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Parish on March 12, 2022, to dedicate the church’s new altar after a five-month renovation project.

“We pray that this altar may be a place where the great mysteries of salvation are accomplished and where your people offer you gifts, make known their desires, pour out their prayers, and bring forth every sentiment of worship and devotion,” Bishop Parkes prayed during the Mass after the Litany of Saints was sung by the congregation.

After his homily, Bishop Parkes anointed the altar by pouring sacred Chrism oil on the middle of the altar and on each of its four corners. Then various parishioners participated in the covering of the altar, as they tenderly draped cloths on the altar and adorned it with flowers.

“Fill your Church with heavenly grace as she dedicates to you this altar, the table at which you will plentifully nourish the faithful you gather as one and will shape day by day, through the outpouring of the Spirit, a people consecrated to yourself,” continued Bishop Parkes in prayer during the Liturgy.

Renovations to the sanctuary building began in October 2021. Since then, Mass had been celebrated in a school building next to the church. Holy Martyrs of Vietnam was established in 1991 as a mission in the Diocese of St. Petersburg. In 2019, Bishop Parkes elevated the mission to parish status and entrusted to them the property formerly owned by Transfiguration Parish and School.

The Vietnamese community in South Pinellas County has grown from just 15 families meeting in a small church in Largo to a congregation of over 450 active families.

Hanh Ho is one of those family members. She immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in the late 1970s when she was a child. She has been a parishioner for over 30 years.

“It’s sense of comfort for you, to be able to be among people that you can relate to and share your faith in familiar surroundings,” said Hanh.  “It’s moving for me to see that there are so many people who sacrificed a lot of their time and money in order for us to have what we have now.”

The newly renovated church has many features unique to the Vietnamese culture connecting the community to their homeland. The altar, ambo, and baptismal font are all made of white marble stone, which was imported from Vietnam.  Inside the altar houses relics from Saint Rose of Lima and Vietnamese Martyr Saint Dominic Tuoc Vu. Below the tabernacle is a vessel containing the first-class relics of 22 of the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam.

“The reason we used a lot of things from Vietnam is to let parishioners know this is their home. It’s a reminder of their homeland, their motherland where they came from,” said Father Viet Nguyen, pastor. “Even if they cannot be home in Vietnam, they have something meaningful here.”

Father Viet Nguyen joined the community in 2016 and credits its growth on the emphasis of building strong families.

“The focus on family is important because family is the basic foundation of the Church and society,” said Father Viet.

He hopes the community continues to grow so they can meet the needs of many more local Vietnamese and others in need.

“Everybody is excited, the whole community has given a lot of love and support,” said Hahn.

Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Catholic Church is named after the Vietnamese Catholics and foreign missionaries who were killed for their faith in Vietnam in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Additional Information: Improvements to the church included new floors, ceilings, lights, and mechanical/electrical upgrades.  The chapel, restrooms, cry/family room and sacristy were also remodeled. The new pews in the sanctuary can now accommodate up to 563 and the total capacity with the chapel is a little over 600 seats.  Total cost of the renovation was just under $1M or less than $100 per square feet.  The Architectural Firm was Canerday, Belfsky + Arroyo and the Construction Manager was Henessey Construction Services.