The CSQC community gave a warm welcome to Brother Anthony Le Duc Tho, CMF during the first general assembly of personnel at the beginning of this school year. As a perpetually professed Claretian Missionary, Bro. Tho is now a member of the Provincial Curia Community and is assigned in the School as member of the Faith Education and Enrichment Department (FEED). He is also tasked to assist in the Vocation Ministry.

Bro. Tho hails from Ha Nam, Vietnam. Having encountered the Claretians in his own country and having been inspired “to do what is urgent, timely, and effective”, he joined the seminary formation in 2009.  In 2013, he arrived in the Philippines to start his second stage of formation as a Claretian postulant. After eight months of postulancy in Quezon City, he moved to Ormoc, Leyte for his Novitiate Program.  The devastation caused by the super typhoon Yolanda was still very vivid in his eyes when he arrived in Leyte. The panorama of people in tears and in pain moved him; but he felt helpless, aware that he can do little as a foreigner and as a stranger. He started to learn the local vernacular in order to reach out to the people and communicate with them as he listened to their agonizing stories. Even though he could not provide for the material needs of the people, Bro. Tho believed that his presence was more than a gift that he could offer. After one year and four months in the Novitiate House, he made his first profession of religious vows on May 3, 2015.

He pursued his Theological Studies at Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University starting in 2015. There were struggles in his studies, but with the accompaniment and presence of the Claretian community, he was able to hurdle such challenges.

His pastoral exposure in Tungawan Mission community in Zamboanga Sibugay particularly in the Parish of Nuestra Señora del Pilar made him journey with the people in the spirit of mission. He had experiences of farming, community sharing, and community liturgy. The life and work with the people of Guilinan strengthened his missionary vocation.

Last June 5, 2020, he finished his Bachelor in Sacred Theology; and on July 16 this year, he made his Perpetual Profession in the Claretian Congregation on the occasion of its 171stFoundation Anniversary and on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

As he continues his mission at Claret School of Quezon City, Bro. Tho hopes that Claretian students will also learn to respond to the needs of others.  He also welcomes members of the school community to get in touch with him through virtual dialogue and encounter through MS Teams.  CSQC is indeed blessed to have Bro. Tho in the community.