File of Vietnamese cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, died Monday

(17 Sep 2002)
1. Vietnamese cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan leaving car
2. Nguyen Van Thuan meeting delegates
3. Nguyen Van Thuan walking into building
4. Cutaway cameramen
5. Nguyen Van Thuan talking to delegates and leaving
STORYLINE:
Pope John Paul II praised the heroism and fidelity of the late Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, the Vietnamese prelate, once seen as a possible papal candidate, who died on Monday at age 74.
Nguyen Van Thuan, who went into exile in Rome more than a decade ago, died of cancer after a long period of illness, the Vatican said.
Nguyen Van Thuan was appointed deputy archbishop of Saigon just days before the South Vietnamese capital fell to the communist North in April 1975.
Targeted for his faith as well as his family connections - his uncle was Ngo Dinh Diem, the assassinated South Vietnamese president - Thuan spent 13 years in a notorious communist 're-education' camp - nine of them in solitary confinement.
In 1991, he was forced into exile in Rome. He ran the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace at the Vatican, handling issues such as Third World debt .
Nguyen Van Thuan, who was made a cardinal last year, was thought to be a possible successor to Pope John Paul II, particularly by those who speculate that the next pontiff could come from a poor, non-European country.
The Vatican said the pope will preside at the Cardinal's funeral service on Friday in St. Peter's Basilica.
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[@vanson311]

Amen