Fr. Peter-Minh Quang Chu, SJ, author and minister to the Vietnamese community, died in a San Jose, California, hospital on September 14, 2025. He was 85 years old and a Jesuit for 44 years.
Fr. Chu was born in Tho Ninh, in northern Vietnam (then French Indochina), on March 30, 1940. Intending to be a priest, he relocated to South Vietnam after the partitioning of the country in 1954 and attended minor seminaries during his high school years. His seminary training was interrupted by service in the South Vietnamese Army (1962-1964), where he served as an officer in the psychological warfare branch. Afterward, he resumed studies and was ordained a priest in Saigon on May 14, 1968. Following ordination, he received a law degree from Can Tho University in 1971.
Fr. Chu immigrated to the United States in 1975, ministering to the Vietnamese community. He attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, earning a master’s in psychology (1978) and an Ed.D. in counseling (1980).
He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Santa Barbara, California, in 1981. Following his novitiate training, he resumed his writing and ministry to the Vietnamese community. Based in Jesuit communities in Santa Clara, Los Angeles and San Jose, he traveled throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.
He founded the Marriage-Family Enrichment Program in 1987. The program, aimed at the overseas Catholic Vietnamese community who left Vietnam during the war years (1954-1975), was designed to help them maintain their Catholic and traditional family values in their new environment. The program was very successful and was introduced to Vietnam in 2003. He authored more than 30 books in Vietnamese and English on topics related to strengthening family dynamics.
In 2021, he moved to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California, for a ministry of prayer. During his last years he kept active with his extended family and wide circle of friends, who would visit him often.
His funeral will be held Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at Most Holy Trinity Church, San Jose, CA 95122, with visitation from 9 – 11 a.m., followed by the Funeral Mass at 11:30 a.m. Committal at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery will be at a later date.
Donations in memory of Fr. Chu may be made to the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ West Province of the Society of Jesus, P.O. Box 68, Los Gatos, CA 95031, or to a charity of your choosing.
