Bp. Lê Hữu Từ

Bp. Tađêô Anselme Lê Hữu Từ, the Vicar Apostolic for Phát Diêm, in the zimarra with an extraordinary fur cape. He was said to be the only bishop, apart from the pope, who had his own army: 2 battalions of regular troops and 5 battalions of the militia. He was born in 1894 in an aristocratic, Catholic Vietnamese family. He had 9 siblings. Two of his brothers became priests. As a nationalist he supported the independence of Vietnam; he took part in manifestations supporting the government and Vietnamese Declaration of Independence. After a short time, however, witnessing galloping atheisation of society, ceased to support the communist government. Then he created Catholic Self-Defence Forces (the aforementioned battalions) to repel prospective Communist attacks.