Fr. Dat Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Fr. Dat Hoang was ordained in 2003 as a diocesan priest for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.  Many around the Archdiocese remember him fondly as the energetic Vocations Director who, for seven years, guided young men and women to discern their vocations to serve as priests and religious.  He most recently founded St. Faustina Catholic Church in Fulshear, TX where he has served as pastor since 2014.

Growing up, Fr. Dat and his family shared a strong faith.  They attended Mass daily and prayed the Rosary nightly.  At the age of 10, Fr. Dat felt a strong call to be a priest.  After approaching their local bishop, he recommended that they leave the country to escape the Communist government.

It took two years and two harrowing journeys to escape.  They were lost at sea and starving, rescued by a Soviet tanker, imprisoned, lost their life savings, separated from each other, and attacked by pirates.  His faith remained strong as he served as an altar boy in refugee camps, even risking his life setting up for Mass in the middle of gunfire.

After four years, Fr. Dat was reunited with his brothers in Houston.  He pushed himself to learn English while attending high school.  He even found love.  Upon graduation, he made the difficult decision to give God the first choice with his discernment.

He attended seminary at the University of Dallas and eventually St. Mary’s in Houston.  At one point, he was prepared to leave seminary, but after walking away from a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler without a scratch, he knew he owed his life to God.

In his first assignments, Fr. Dat was named Parochial Vicar at Holy Name and then St. Mary Magdalene.  Behind his leadership, St. Faustina, though the newest parish, has rapidly grown into one of the Archdiocese’s larger churches. It continues to grow as it has from the beginning, on the “living stones”, the community that has prayerfully come together to bring Christ’s Church to Fulshear.

Fr. Dat is a man who has been dedicated to prayer and complete trust in the Lord, to the point the parish was able to quickly build and dedicate its first church building in December of 2016. Recognizing the explosive growth in the community, Fr. Dat then discerned the need to find ways to continue to maintain and build community at the parish was to establish a Community and Education Center - which was then dedicated in May of 2022. In that time, Fr. Dat helped shepherd the parish through many difficult challenges facing the church and community, yet was a calming and reassuring voice through it all. Most recently, he has shared the exciting news about exploring the possibility of being able to build and establish our permanent church, which will be able to accommodate more of our community on a regular basis.

Please continue to pray for Fr. Dat as he shepherds his community in Fulshear and for young people to answer the call to the priesthood, consecrated life, or sacramental marriage.