Rev Fr Antony Sumich FSSP
Chaplain
Rev Fr Antony Sumich FSSP (born 30 September 1964 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former international rugby union and cricket player for Croatia, skiing instructor and rugby coach, and is now a Catholic priest of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.
Fr. Sumich was educated at St Peter’s College, Auckland and he completed his training as a civil engineer in Auckland in the 1980s. In 1989 he relocated to Europe, intending to live in Croatia, but because of the war there, he went to Austria and worked there for eight winters as a ski instructor, and elsewhere in Europe while coaching rugby. After the war, he became the coach of the Croatian national rugby team. He also played Cricket for Croatia, being a member of the Croatian National Cricket team in 2001.
When the war had finished and Fr. Sumich returned to Croatia he found a “flourishing faith”. “They had broken free from communism and the church was free”. “Everyone had rosaries in their pockets.” Fr. Sumich found himself “practising as a Catholic for the first time in my life, as distinct from just going to Sunday Mass. He wanted to know more about the faith, because I’d just forgotten everything”. His mother sent him a Catechism of the Catholic Church, which he “sat down on a beach and read” over one summer. “It all made sense”. He started going to frequent Confession and “finding a sense of shame which probably hadn’t existed before”. At age 34, Fr. Sumich set aside a year, praying intensely, including the 15 prayers of St Bridget of Sweden and the Rosary. At this time, he was the coach of the Croatian rugby team. “We would be playing at the Hong Kong Sevens and my rosary [beads] would be in my pocket and I would finger it”. Fr. Sumich liked to challenge his players. “I would say to them, ‘strong moral life, strong character on the rugby field; weak moral life, and you are the first one to chuck the towel in when the going gets tough’ “.
Returning to New Zealand, Fr. Sumich found local liturgies very different from what he had become used to in Croatia. But, in Auckland, he was introduced to the “awe-inspiring” Tridentine Mass. Fr. Sumich “felt God’s call and sought an order using this rite”. He was accepted by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter and went to their formation house, the International Seminary of St. Peter in Wigratzbad-Opfenbach, Bavaria, but he did most of his studies in Denton, Nebraska at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary where he was ordained deacon in March 2008.
Fr. Sumich was ordained a priest on 29 November 2008, at St Michael’s Church, Remuera, Auckland, by Most Rev. Basil Meeking (RIP), Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch, using the 1962 Roman Missal and Rite of Ordination. He offered his first Mass on the First Sunday of Advent (30 November 2008); he was the first New Zealander to be ordained for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter.
After his priestly ordination Fr. Sumich was stationed in Orlu, Nigeria where he had also served following his ordination as a deacon. In 2011, Fr. Sumich was the Rector of St. Gregory’s Academy, an American Catholic boarding school located in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania. He then served as associate pastor for the Latin Mass community at St. Anthony’s Parish in Calgary Alberta, Canada. In 2016, and returned to New Zealand to serve the Latin Mass Chaplaincy in the Diocese of Auckland.
Rev Fr Lai Duc Peter Nguyen, FSSP
Assistant Priest
Ordained to the Priesthood — May 28, 2026 — St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, Omaha, Nebraska
Early Life in Vietnam
Fr. Lai Nguyen was born in 1993, in Dong Nai province, Vietnam — a region just 45 minutes from the heart of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) City. The only son among five children, Fr. Nguyen grew up close to his four sisters in a home rooted in Catholic faith and nourished by the loving guidance of his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Nguyen. From an early age, the rhythms of prayer, Mass, and family devotion formed the quiet foundation of his life, planting seeds that would one day bear fruit in his call to the priesthood.
College Years in Louisiana, USA
After completing high school, Fr. Nguyen spent 8 months in Singapore pursuing intensive English studies and pre-university coursework before relocating to the United States in 2010. He settled in Louisiana and enrolled at McNeese State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. College proved to be more than an academic chapter — it was where his sense of vocation became more alive and where he discovered the Traditional Latin Mass. He sought out spiritual direction from the university chaplain, immersed himself in Catholic campus life, joined Bible study groups and pro-life organizations, and helped organize and lead faith retreats for fellow college students and youth across the Diocese of Lake Charles.
After graduation, Fr. Nguyen briefly worked as an intern in the psychiatric department at the Calcasieu Correction Center in Lake Charles — an experience that offered genuine insight into mental health care, but one that only deepened his inner pull toward the priesthood. After three months, he stepped away and entered Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans to formally discern his vocation under the Diocese of Lake Charles.
It was at Notre Dame Seminary that Fr. Nguyen’s love for the Traditional Latin Mass took root, and the experience proved to be a defining moment. He began serving regularly at the Solemn High Mass at St. Patrick Catholic Church in New Orleans, and his love for this ancient form of worship only grew as he progressed through his philosophy studies. Feeling called to pursue the priesthood within this tradition, he made the decision to join the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and entered Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska, in the fall of 2019.
Seminary Formation with the FSSP
His seven years of formation were both rigorous and deeply formative. Fr. Nguyen served in the seminary schola and took on the lighthearted but beloved role of house barber. An avid runner, he found both physical challenge and quiet contemplation in long-distance running, and for five years helped organize the annual OLGS-Lincoln Marathon — an event that became a cherished tradition of community and camaraderie. Academically, Fr. Nguyen developed a particular love for Sacred Scripture, Christology, sacramental theology, and the theology of grace.
Ordination & Priestly Assignment
On May 28, 2026, Fr. Lai Nguyen was ordained to the sacred priesthood at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska. Father has since been assigned to assist Fr. A. Sumich at St. Anne Chaplaincy in Auckland, New Zealand, under the Oceania District. Please keep him in your prayers as he embarks on his ministry as a priest of Jesus Christ and His Church.