For Hoai-An Truong and his family, a Holy Week pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi became more than a long-anticipated spiritual journey. It offered a firsthand encounter with Catholic Church history.
Truong, a lifelong Catholic, had hoped one day to spend Easter in Vatican City. That hope was fulfilled this spring, when he traveled with his wife, children and extended family to Italy for Holy Week. The experience, he said, was rooted in faith, gratitude and a desire for deeper service.
“Born and raised in a Catholic family, I have always had a dream and goal to be at Vatican City and Rome during Holy Week and Easter,” Truong said in an email interview with the Catholic Standard. “It’s the ultimate experience for me as a devoted Catholic.”
The pilgrimage held added significance for Truong, whose wife Diem-Thanh (Tanya) Dang, converted to Catholicism before their 2011 wedding at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Derwood, Maryland. The couple continues to worship at that church, where they serve as Eucharistic ministers. Their daughters, Angelina and Catalina Truong, are students at St. Jude Regional Catholic School in Rockville and are altar servers at St. Francis of Assisi Church. The family remains actively involved in parish life there.
The family attended Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square and received Pope Francis’ urbi et orbi blessing. They also took part in the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome.
On Easter Monday April 21, the Truong family traveled to Assisi, accompanied by Father Vy Tran, a priest of the Diocese of Ban Me Thuot in Vietnam who is currently studying in Rome. Father Tran served as the group’s spiritual director and celebrated Mass for the family in a chapel at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Truong described the experience as a deeply personal and prayerful highlight of the pilgrimage.
It was during the early morning train ride to Assisi that the family first learned of Pope Francis’ death that day.
“I was half-awake on the train when hearing someone saying that ‘the pope died,’” Truong recalled. “I quickly turned and asked Father Vy, who was traveling with us, and other family members. Then we searched the Vatican News and other news sources. It was a shock... we had just seen him yesterday on Easter Sunday.”
Though the family had planned to stay longer in Assisi and continue on to Venice and then Milan, the news prompted them to change their itinerary and return to Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral.
“It was as if it was God’s plan for us,” Truong said. “We slept on the train and literally got off, stored our luggage, and took the metro to the Vatican for the funeral Mass. I truly believe it’s divine intervention.”
The Truong family waited three hours to view Pope Francis’ body in St. Peter’s Basilica and pray for the late pontiff. Truong described the moment as spiritually significant, despite the crowds and long wait.
“Pope Francis just blessed us on Easter Sunday, and now he was lying in an open coffin. So unreal,” he said. “It was totally worth it for a few seconds to view his body.”
The funeral Mass for Pope Francis on Saturday April 26 in St. Peter’s Square left a strong impression, Truong said.
“I looked up to the sunny sky with flying helicopters and simply felt so fortunate to be there,” he said. “People were kneeling on the ground for the Eucharistic Prayer. At the end of Mass, we watched his casket being transported. It was a sense of closure, but also of emptiness. The world has lost a spiritual leader, a champion of peace.”
The family brought prayer intentions with them on the trip, including petitions for world peace, personal family intentions and for Truong’s Buddhist mother-in-law. Those prayers, he said, took on new meaning in light of the events that unfolded.
“To hear my wife say that Jesus listened to her prayer, which was ‘to see my daughters kneeling in prayer, those are the moments that mean more than anything money can buy,” Truong said.
The pilgrimage also had an impact on Truong’s personal faith.
“I felt blessed and peaceful… Coming back, my faith is strengthened and I feel like my call to serve within the Church is even stronger than ever,” he said.
Truong teaches pharmacy and public health at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He has also served as a catechist and as a member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council under Cardinal Wilton Gregory, now the retired archbishop of Washington. He said he is open to discerning further service in the Church, including the permanent diaconate.
“God has given me more than I deserve. I am committed to sharing my faith with others,” he said.
Reflecting on the legacy of Pope Francis, Truong said he was particularly moved by the pope’s humility and care for the poor. The pope’s namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, who is also Truong’s Confirmation saint, provided a personal connection.
“I can totally relate to him, admire and try to follow his teaching and way of life to serve others,” Truong said.
When asked what he hopes to see in the new pope, Truong pointed again to St. Francis as a model.
“A peaceful and humble spiritual leader, who shows God’s mercy on the poor and sinners and brings people together, especially those who are weak in their faith or have left the Church,” he said.
Despite the grief that followed Easter Sunday, Truong said he remains hopeful and grounded in his faith.
“The Church has lived on for over 2,000 years and will continue under God’s care,” he said. “Keep the faith, live with hope, and continue to serve others.”
