Fr. Toan Do

Read Fr. Toan's letter to Epiphany parishioners and friends here.

Father Toan Do was born in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. He and his family were sponsored by the Humanitarian Organization, a political refugee program that was agreed between the US and the Vietnamese governments and signed into law. Toan and his family were settled in Louisville, Kentucky, in June 1993.
 
The late Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, OP, JCD, accepted Toan for priestly formation for the Archdiocese of Louisville in 1994. Because Toan did not yet know English, he was sent to study English as a second language at the University of Louisville. In the Fall of 1995, he was accepted to Saint Meinrad College in Indiana. He was on the National Dean’s list for the 1996 and 1997 school years. In the Fall of 1997, he transferred to The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, DC, where he was awarded a full scholarship from the Philosophy Program sponsored by the Theodore B. Basselin Foundation. Graduating with a Bachelor of Philosophy (1999) and a Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy (2000), Toan was named a Fellow of the Theodore B. Baseline Foundation that same year. Upon leaving CUA, Toan commenced studies in Sacred Scriptures and Theology at the Catholic University of Leuven (Louvain), Belgium. While at Leuven, he earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (2002), a Master of Arts in Religious Studies (2003), a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (2004), and a Master of Arts in Advanced Theology Summa cum Laude (2004).
 
Returning to Louisville in May 2004, Toan was ordained a priest by Archbishop Kelly and was appointed Associate Pastor of the Basilica of Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral, as well as Chaplain of Bethlehem High School in Bardstown, Kentucky. Subsequently, Archbishop Kelly granted Father Toan permission to resume his studies. In the Fall of 2006, he embraced the dual doctoral program at the Catholic University of Louvain while, at the same time, conducted research at the University of Münster, Germany. Completing his studies in July 2010, the pontifical degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biblical Studies were conferred on Father Toan.
 
Returning to the Archdiocese of Louisville in August 2010, Father Toan served as Associate Pastor of Saint Rita and Saint Luke’s parishes. He was appointed an adjunct professor of New Testament studies at Saint Meinrad School of Theology, where he also provided spiritual direction to seminarians. In the Fall of 2011, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Scripture Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. After serving at Sacred Heart for three years, he was appointed in August 2014 to the position of the Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer in New Testament Studies and Early Christianity at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. In addition to working full time in this post, Father Toan taught New Testament courses at the Catholic Theological College of the Archdiocese of Melbourne while living as a priest in residence, assisting Father Brandan Hayes at Our Lady of Lourdes (Armadale, Victoria) and Saint Peter’s (Toorak, Victoria) parishes.
 
Father Toan has a keen interest in New Testament studies and is passionate about the Greek language (both Classical and Koine). He is justly proud of the fact that many Catholic priests and religious Sisters in the US, Europe, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Fiji Islands, the Philippines, Korea, and Vietnam are among his former students—including several priests of the Archdiocese of Louisville.
 
When the Coronavirus (COVID-19) began to spread in early 2020, Father Toan was called back to our home Archdiocese of Louisville to serve in parish ministry. He served as Associate Pastor of Saint Aloysius Church in Pewee Valley. He was also appointed adjunct Professor of New Testament at Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas in 2020 and 2021. In May 2021, Archbishop Kurtz appointed him pastor of Saint John the Apostle Church in Brandenburg. In April 2024, Archbishop Shelton appointed him pastor of Epiphany Catholic Church. He arrived in Anchorage on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
 
Father Toan is delighted to bring his pastoral gifts to the people of God at Epiphany Catholic Church.