[1] Born in Cái Cồn, in the Sóc Trăng province of French Cochinchina, Thiện was ordained a priest on 20 February 1932.

He was appointed the bishop of Vĩnh Long in November 1960 and received episcopal consecration in January 1961.

He resigned that position in 1968 and was appointed a titular bishop of Hispellum the same month.

[3] France's Géry Leuliet then became the oldest living Catholic bishop.

This article about a Catholic bishop or archbishop from Vietnam is a stub.