John-Nhan Tran


John Trần Văn Nhàn is a Vietnamese-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Atlanta in Georgia since 2022.

Biography

Early life

John-Nhan Tran was born in the Bình Giã district of South Vietnam on February 6, 1966, to Dung Van Tran and Lai Thi Nguyen. When Tran was two years old, his mother was shot and killed during the Vietnam War. Tran's older brother was also killed by a land mine. When Tran was nine, his family fled from Saigon, South Vietnam on a small boat. Running out of water, they were rescued from the South China Sea by an American ship. The family was later resettled in New Orleans, Louisiana.
After primary school, Tran first attended Edna Karr Junior High School in New Orleans. Deciding that he wanted to become a priest, he was accepted into the high school program of the Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer in Carthage, Missouri, for the 8th grade in the school year of 1979–1980. He ended up only staying for three days before family circumstances caused him to drop out. Tran then transferred to a boarding high school in Goshen, New York, operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Salesians then sent him to Don Bosco College, their seminary in Newton, New Jersey.
The Salesians brought Tran back to Louisiana to attend Saint Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. Tran then went to Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

Priesthood

Tran was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1992, for the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Archbishop Francis B. Schulte. After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Tran as parochial vicar at the following Louisiana parishes:
In 2001, the archdiocese appointed Tran as pastor of St. Louise de Marillac Parish in Arabi, Louisiana. The archdiocese then transferred him to St. Bonaventure Parish in Avondale. During this period, Tran also served as chaplain for the St. Bernard's Sheriff's Office in the civil parish of Saint Bernard. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he celebrated mass for first responders and other personnel in parking lots and nursing homes.
Tran became pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in LaPlace from 2007 to 2014. In 2014, the archdiocese selected him as pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Mandeville, Louisiana, his last pastoral assignment before becoming bishop.
During his time in New Orleans, Tran served on the priest personnel board and as chair of the presbyteral council. He was also dean of the St. John-St. Charles Deanery. Tran is fluent in Vietnamese and English. In 2015, Tran donated a kidney to Reverend Thanh Nguyen, a friend from Saint Joseph Seminary who was suffering kidney failure.

Episcopacy

Tran was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Atlanta and titular bishop of Tullia by Pope Francis on October 25, 2022. He was consecrated by Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer on January 23, 2023, at St. Peter Chanel Church in Roswell, Georgia, with Archbishops Gregory Aymond and Alfred Hughes serving as co-consecrators.
His episcopal motto comes from his time at Notre Dame Seminary, which was inscribed above the entrance of the building and the seminary's motto.