About Queen of Vietnam · Port Arthur, Texas
Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church (Giáo Xứ Nữ Vương Việt Nam) is a Vietnamese-American national parish located at 801 9th Avenue in Port Arthur, Texas, serving the faithful of the Diocese of Beaumont. It holds the historic distinction of being the first national Vietnamese parish established in the United States, created in 1977 by Bishop Warren Boudreaux to serve the wave of Vietnamese refugees who resettled in Southeast Texas in the mid-1970s. All Masses and services are celebrated in Vietnamese, and the parish remains a vibrant cultural and spiritual anchor for the Vietnamese Catholic community of the Gulf Coast. The parish is notable as the only church in the Diocese of Beaumont to be dedicated by a cardinal — Cardinal John Cody of Chicago dedicated the building on May 18, 1980.
- Established
- 1977
- Patron
- Our Lady, Queen of Vietnam (originally dedicated as Queen of Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs; renamed Queen of Vietnam on August 15, 1983)
- Rector
- Rev. Raymond Thu Manh Nguyen, C.M.C.
- Diocese
- Diocese of Beaumont
Why belong here
Queen of Vietnam is the spiritual home for Vietnamese Catholics throughout the Diocese of Beaumont and the wider Gulf Coast, offering every Mass in Vietnamese — including a Saturday Vigil and two Sunday Masses, plus a daily morning Mass and Holy Day liturgies. The parish carries deep historic significance as the very first national Vietnamese parish in the United States, and its Queen of Peace Park hosts the annual diocesan Rosary celebration each October, with each decade recited in a different language. For a Vietnamese Catholic family or any visitor drawn to the Vietnamese Marian heritage, it offers an unmatched combination of cultural continuity, daily liturgical life, and a tangible link to the Vietnamese-American Catholic story.
Mass times at Queen of Vietnam
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:30 PM – 4:50 PM (or by appointment)
- Sunday 7:30 AM – 7:50 AM
- Sunday 9:30 AM – 9:50 AM
- Sunday 11:15 AM – 11:35 AM
About Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church
Queen of Vietnam (Giáo Xứ Nữ Vương Việt Nam) is a Vietnamese-American national parish in the Diocese of Beaumont, located at 801 9th Avenue in Port Arthur, Texas. According to the parish's own statement of purpose, it was established to serve the spiritual and related ecclesial needs of all Vietnamese faithful throughout the Diocese of Beaumont, and to call its members to witness to the love of Christ and Our Lady through word, deed, and daily life — proclaiming Christ and the Gospel to the Vietnamese people and to all nations. The parish's website proudly identifies it as 'Giáo Xứ đầu tiên của Cộng Đồng Việt Nam tại Hoa Kỳ' — the first parish of the Vietnamese Community in the United States.
- Parish name: Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church (Giáo Xứ Nữ Vương Việt Nam)
- Mailing name: Giáo Xứ Nữ Vương Việt Nam
- First national Vietnamese parish in the United States
Founding and Early History (1976–1983)
The Vietnamese refugees who arrived in Southeast Texas in the mid-1970s came as a result of much suffering and pain. In 1976, Bishop Warren Boudreaux of the Diocese of Beaumont announced that a national parish would be established for the Vietnamese in Port Arthur — the first national Vietnamese parish in the United States. The announcement became official in March 1977, when the parish was canonically erected under the name Queen of Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs.
- 1976: Bishop Warren Boudreaux announces a Vietnamese national parish in Port Arthur.
- March 1977: Parish officially established as Queen of Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs.
- November 1978: A former Presbyterian church at 801 Ninth Avenue purchased for the community.
- December 25, 1979: Bishop Joseph M. Ganter gives a simple blessing to the building.
- May 18, 1980: Cardinal John Cody of Chicago officially dedicates the church — the only parish church in the Diocese of Beaumont dedicated by a cardinal.
- August 15, 1983: Parish renamed Queen of Vietnam.
The Local Ecclesiastical Context
The founding years overlapped with a tense episode in the local Vietnamese Catholic community. In the late 1970s, Fr. Trần Văn Khoát had gathered Vietnamese refugees in Southeast Texas into a Resurrection Community working under the auspices of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a group that rejected aspects of the Second Vatican Council. In 1978 Bishop Ganter publicly cautioned the faithful against that community, and Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre himself visited the group in August 1979. Many of its members are believed to have eventually joined the diocesan Queen of Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs parish, which has existed to the present day. The official parish chronology makes no mention of Fr. Khoát or the Resurrection Community.
- Diocesan establishment (March 1977) under Bishop Boudreaux
- Bishop Ganter's pastoral guidance through the 1978–1979 transition
- The parallel, short-lived Resurrection Community under Fr. Trần Văn Khoát
Queen of Peace Park and the Marian Heritage
On October 9, 1983, Bishop Ganter dedicated the outdoor shrine of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, on the parish grounds. The twenty-foot statue was designed by Vietnamese artist Pham Thang and modeled after a statue of Our Lady of Fatima; it was constructed of cement over iron bars covered by a wire screen. The surrounding Queen of Peace Park is the site of the annual diocesan celebration each October marking the month of the rosary, with each decade of the rosary recited in a different language — a striking expression of the multicultural Catholic life of Southeast Texas.
- Twenty-foot statue of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, designed by Pham Thang
- Modeled on Our Lady of Fatima
- Constructed of cement over iron bars covered by wire screen
- Dedicated October 9, 1983 by Bishop Ganter
- Annual diocesan Rosary celebration in October
Parish Staff and Clergy
The Diocese of Beaumont's '60 Years of History' publication identifies the pastor as Father Paul Nuyen, CRM. Third-party parish directories list the current pastor as Rev. Raymond Thu Manh Nguyen, C.M.C. (Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix).
- Rev. Raymond Thu Manh Nguyen, C.M.C. — Pastor (per current third-party directories)
- Father Paul Nuyen, CRM — listed as pastor in the Diocese of Beaumont's '60 Years of History'
Visiting the Parish
Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church is located at 801 9th Avenue, Port Arthur, TX 77642-3329, between 8th and 9th Streets. The parish can be reached by phone at (409) 983-7676 and by fax at (409) 982-1212. Parish office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to Noon and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Visitors are warmly welcomed; given that all Masses are celebrated in Vietnamese, parishioners who do not speak Vietnamese are encouraged to call the rectory in advance to coordinate a visit or request pastoral assistance.
- Address: 801 9th Avenue, Port Arthur, TX 77642-3329
- Phone: (409) 983-7676
- Fax: (409) 982-1212
- Website: http://www.gxnuvuongportarthur.org/
- Office hours: Mon–Fri 9:00 AM–Noon and 1:00 PM–4:00 PM