A seminarian studying to be a priest was killed while crossing the street in New York City earlier this week by a hit-and-run driver who was allegedly drunk, Catholic Church officials said Wednesday.
Ngu Quoc Tran, who was known as Peter, was walking on Manhattan’s East Side late Tuesday when he hit, officials said. He died a short time later.
The alleged driver was arrested later that evening when his car broke down on the FDR Drive, police said.
“Any time we hear of the sudden loss of life, especially the loss of someone so young, it is heartbreaking,” said Bishop James Checchio of the Diocese of Metuchen, where Tran was a seminarian.
“But the tragic loss of Peter — the loss to his family, to his brother seminarians and to our local church — is immense and would be insufferable without our Catholic faith and trust in our Heavenly Father, so I ask you to please join me in praying for Peter, his family and the many affected by this terrible loss,” Checchio added.
Tran, 29, was a native of Vietnam who was in his first year as a theology student at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange. After learning of the hit and run, Checchio went to the seminary to celebrate a Mass and meet with Tran’s fellow seminarians, church officials said.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord …
