Martin Nguyen

Holy Family's Pastor, Father Martin Nguyen. Father Nguyen was born in Vietnam. He is a pastor, advocate for special needs families, and a priest whose life has been shaped by immigration, personal conversion, and a deep devotion to the Eucharist. He arrived in the United States in 2006 at the age of sixteen, having never left Vietnam before or traveled on an airplane, and settled in Orlando with his family. His journey took him from Holy Family Catholic Church, where he first served as an altar server, to seminary formation at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, and eventually to his ordination in 2016 at St. James Cathedral. He now serves as Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church and School, the same parish where he first found community as a young immigrant, and holds additional roles as Chancellor for Canonical Affairs and Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Orlando. If you ask those who know him, they will tell you he leads with humility, warmth, and a genuine closeness to the people around him. Whether he is welcoming families of children with special needs, encouraging parishioners to return to Mass, or reflecting openly on his own struggles and growth, Father Nguyen continues to serve with the kind of honesty and personal presence that makes people feel they are not walking alone.

Fr. Martin Nguyen arrived in the United States from Vietnam in 2006 at the age of sixteen. It was the first time he had ever left his home country and the first time he had ever traveled on an airplane. Like many immigrant families, he had to adjust quickly to a different culture, language, and way of life while still young. After settling in Orlando with his family, he found his way to Holy Family Catholic Church, where he became a parishioner and later an altar server. In many ways, Holy Family became his first real home in America, the place where the unfamiliar slowly became familiar and where a quiet sense of vocation began taking shape. Much of what formed him, however, came long before arriving in Florida. Father Nguyen has spoken warmly about the influence of his mother and grandmother, as well as the values he learned growing up in Vietnam, where sacrifice, perseverance, hard work, and devotion to family were deeply woven into daily life. One experience that remained especially meaningful to him was caring for his grandmother while she was dying of cancer. He later recalled sitting beside her reading religious books while he was still young, an experience that quietly shaped his understanding of faith, suffering, and care for others. As he adjusted to life in Central Florida, his connection to the Church continued to grow. While attending Dr. Phillips High School, he remained active at Holy Family Parish and eventually visited the seminary during his senior year. He later entered formation in 2007 and spent nine years preparing for the priesthood before being ordained in 2016 at St. James Cathedral in Orlando. His paten was presented to him by his mother, while his chalice had been given to him years earlier by the late Bishop Norbert Dorsey shortly before the bishop’s death. Years later, many parishioners viewed his return to Holy Family as pastor as a meaningful full-circle moment; the same immigrant teenager who once arrived there looking for community had returned as the parish’s shepherd. Even after many years in the United States, Father Nguyen continues speaking openly about the values that shaped him growing up in Vietnam. Those experiences still appear quietly in the way he approaches priesthood, community, and pastoral life today

Father Martin Nguyen has become especially known within the Diocese of Orlando for his ministry alongside families of children and individuals with special needs. In recent years, he began an annual Special Needs Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church in Orlando, later expanding it into a larger diocesan gathering designed to help families feel welcomed, included, and supported within the life of the Church. Over time, the gathering grew into an important space for many families throughout the diocese. The roots of that commitment are personal and, by his own telling, not without regret. During one homily at the Special Needs Mass, Father Nguyen openly reflected on his relationship with his youngest aunt, who had special needs. He admitted that during his teenage years, he often lacked patience with her and now looks back on those moments honestly. Over time, however, that relationship changed. He later spoke about how the Lord softened his heart and transformed their relationship to the point where he eventually became her “favorite nephew.” After ordination, his experiences teaching and serving students with special needs deepened that understanding even further. He has frequently spoken about the kindness, sincerity, and openness he sees in many of the children and families he encounters through this ministry. “These children love very purely,” he once said. “And when they love, they truly love.” During one Special Needs Mass homily, he thanked parents and caregivers for loving their children faithfully and described them as a powerful witness to the dignity of human life. It was the kind of reflection that seemed shaped as much by personal growth as by pastoral ministry. During his seminary years, he was also sent to Washington, D.C. to study sign language after serving in a parish with a small deaf community. He later spoke about falling in love with the language and wanting to help bring the Gospel to those communities as well. That instinct moving toward people who are often overlooked or excluded has remained consistent throughout much of his ministry. Under Father Nguyen’s leadership, the Special Needs Mass has become more than simply an annual event. For many families, it has become a visible reminder that they belong fully within the life of the Church. Through his ministry, Father Nguyen has consistently emphasized dignity, accompaniment, patience, and the importance of creating parish communities where families caring for loved ones with special needs feel genuinely welcomed and understood.

The Eucharist has been present in Fr. Martin Nguyen’s life long before his ordination to the priesthood. As a child, he loved playing Mass and pretending to celebrate weddings with his friends. “I was always the priest,” he once recalled while reflecting on the early beginnings of his vocation. Although he later described himself as a difficult teenager for a period of time, that early attraction to the priesthood gradually returned as his faith deepened again. One of the turning points he speaks about most openly came on November 3, 2005, during Mass, when he experienced what he later described as a profound conversion. He has said it was during that period that he slowly rebuilt his friendship with God and became more open again to the possibility of priesthood. After immigrating to the United States from Vietnam, he became active at Holy Family Catholic Church in Orlando and eventually entered seminary formation in 2007. Over time, the Eucharist became one of the clearest centers of his spirituality and priesthood. That devotion also appears in deeply personal moments he has shared publicly. During a difficult season in his life, Father Nguyen knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and experienced what he described as a deep sense of peace and warmth while praying before the tabernacle. He later shared that moment publicly, not as theology, but as something personally lived, an experience that continued shaping the way he speaks about prayer, suffering, and God’s presence in everyday life. His Eucharistic devotion remained especially visible during the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, when he frequently encouraged Catholics to return physically to Mass. “God didn’t save the world by livestreaming anything,” he once said. “He sent his Son to personally die for us.” In 2024, he also traveled on pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy, to obtain a relic connected to Blessed Carlo Acutis for his parish, hoping to inspire young people through the example of someone who allowed the Eucharist to become, in Carlo’s words, a “highway to heaven.” Whether preaching, celebrating Mass, or speaking with parishioners, Father Nguyen consistently returns to the Eucharist as the center of his priesthood and spiritual life.

Fr. Martin Nguyen does not present himself as someone who arrived at the priesthood without difficulty. He has openly described periods in his younger years when he drifted away from the faith and became what he calls a “difficult teenager.” While reflecting on those years, he admitted that he struggled with anger, impatience, and immaturity, including in the way he treated people closest to him. He has shared these experiences publicly not to dramatize them, but because he believes it matters for people to know that the road toward faith and maturity is not always straight. The turning point he speaks about most directly came on November 3, 2005, when he attended Mass and experienced what he later described as a profound conversion. He has said it was during that period that he slowly rebuilt his friendship with God, a friendship that had quietly faded during his teenage years. From that point forward, he gradually became more open again to the possibility of priesthood, something he had first imagined as a child while playing Mass with friends. Even after ordination, struggle did not disappear entirely. Father Nguyen has spoken publicly about a difficult season in his life when he knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and experienced a deep sense of comfort and peace while praying. He did not share every detail of that period, but he spoke about the experience quietly and honestly as something that deepened his faith rather than weakened it. That willingness to speak openly about his own imperfections appears to shape the way many people experience him as a priest today. Whether speaking to teenagers, welcoming people back to Mass, or accompanying families through difficult moments, Father Nguyen often approaches others with the perspective of someone who understands that healing, faith, and personal growth sometimes happen gradually. His ministry consistently reflects patience, encouragement, and a belief that people can continue changing long after difficult seasons in life.