Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Mother pleads for Pope to intervene with government of Singapore to save son's life

The Australian

Plea to Pope for condemned Nguyen

By Padraic Murphy
November 07, 2005

THE mother of condemned drug mule Van Tuong Nguyen has placed the last hope for her son's life in the hands of the Pope.

Kim Nguyen choked back tears during a service at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne attended by a thousand people, as prospects for legal and diplomatic attempts to save her 25-year-old son from the Singaporean hangman appeared doomed.

Father Peter Norden, who administers the parish of Van's former Catholic primary school in Richmond, has written to the Pope in a last-ditch effort to save the Melbourne salesman, expected to be executed this month.

After the service, an emotional Mrs Nguyen said she was grateful for the support. "Everyone who comes to help - they pray for my son today, thank you," she said.

Mrs Nguyen did not know if her son was aware of the prayer services and the swell of support for him in the Australian community. "I wish he knows, but I am really not sure."

Father Norden said he was unaware if a plea for clemency from a pope had ever been successful in halting an execution in Singapore, but that the Vatican's intervention had been instrumental in stopping several executions in the US.

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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 8:32 AM