Title: News about Christians in Vietnam
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:04 PM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=996
Sentence reduction for incarcerated priest
Symptoms of mental instability suspicious of his “re-education”
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, sentenced to 15 years for speaking out about the persecution of Christians, received a reduction of the term for “good attitude and conduct”. AsiaNews sources in Hué confirm that Fr. Van Ly wrote and signed letters in prison praising Vietnamese socialism and the politics of the Communist Party. According to individuals who were allowed to visit him, the priest showed symptoms of mental imbalance and that he seemed to have been drugged as part of the effort “to re-educate him”. The Vatican Delegation, led by Mons. Piero Parolin, were able to talk about the Van Ly case with Hanoi authorities during their journey to Vietnam at the end of April. For every answer, government representatives showed Van Ly’s letters as demonstrating his “re-education.”
A Hué priest declared: “This letter shows a-180 degree change. We suspect that he has been drugged. Now the government is no longer afraid of him. It seems that in soon they will free him completely.”
The news of his sentence reduction was circulated by state agency Vietnam News Agency.
Father Van Ly, 58 years, sent a letter in 2001 to the American Congress asking for a delay in the ratification of the bilateral trade agreement between United States and Vietnam, citing Vietnam’s human rights violations and religious persecutions. Father Van Ly was arrested last October and condemned to 15 years of prison. The punishment was then reduced to 10 years. Now a local court ordered the jail term to be reduced to 5 years, with 5 years of house arrest, declaring Fr. Van Ly as having “good conduct in prison”, and complying with prison rules. American human rights groups consider Father Van Ly a prisoner of conscience and the U.S. government has pressured for his release.
The news of Father Van Ly’s sentence reduction arrives just before a visit from European Union representatives in Vietnam for a meeting on human rights, which will also address the treatment of the prisoners.
Sentence reduction for incarcerated priest
Symptoms of mental instability suspicious of his “re-education”
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, sentenced to 15 years for speaking out about the persecution of Christians, received a reduction of the term for “good attitude and conduct”. AsiaNews sources in Hué confirm that Fr. Van Ly wrote and signed letters in prison praising Vietnamese socialism and the politics of the Communist Party. According to individuals who were allowed to visit him, the priest showed symptoms of mental imbalance and that he seemed to have been drugged as part of the effort “to re-educate him”. The Vatican Delegation, led by Mons. Piero Parolin, were able to talk about the Van Ly case with Hanoi authorities during their journey to Vietnam at the end of April. For every answer, government representatives showed Van Ly’s letters as demonstrating his “re-education.”
A Hué priest declared: “This letter shows a-180 degree change. We suspect that he has been drugged. Now the government is no longer afraid of him. It seems that in soon they will free him completely.”
The news of his sentence reduction was circulated by state agency Vietnam News Agency.
Father Van Ly, 58 years, sent a letter in 2001 to the American Congress asking for a delay in the ratification of the bilateral trade agreement between United States and Vietnam, citing Vietnam’s human rights violations and religious persecutions. Father Van Ly was arrested last October and condemned to 15 years of prison. The punishment was then reduced to 10 years. Now a local court ordered the jail term to be reduced to 5 years, with 5 years of house arrest, declaring Fr. Van Ly as having “good conduct in prison”, and complying with prison rules. American human rights groups consider Father Van Ly a prisoner of conscience and the U.S. government has pressured for his release.
The news of Father Van Ly’s sentence reduction arrives just before a visit from European Union representatives in Vietnam for a meeting on human rights, which will also address the treatment of the prisoners.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:04 PM (GMT)
Code: ZE04062024
Date: 2004-06-20
Vietnam Reduces Priest's Prison Sentence
Cites "Good Attitude," But Some Fear He's Being Drugged
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, JUNE 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A priest sentenced to 15 years in prison for speaking out about anti-Christian persecution received a sentence reduction for "good conduct," but some observers fear he is being drugged.
The 58-year-old Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, one of the country's best-known dissidents, was sentenced by a Hanoi court in 2001, after being accused of attacking national unity.
News of the reduction of the sentence was confirmed Thursday by the official Vietnam News Agency, which stated that, in addition to his "good conduct," the priest had been very respectful of the rules of Nam Ha prison.
However, sources of AsiaNews, of the Pontifical Foreign Missionary Works, in Hue said that Father Van Ly wrote and signed letters in prison praising Vietnamese socialism and the politics of the Communist Party.
According to individuals who were allowed to visit him, the priest showed symptoms of mental imbalance and seemed to have been drugged as part of the effort "to re-educate him."
A Vatican delegation, led by Monsignor Piero Parolin, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, was able to talk about the Van Ly case with Hanoi authorities during a visit to Vietnam in April. To every question posed by the delegation, government representatives showed the priest's letters as demonstrating his "re-education."
But a Hue priest voiced skepticism. "This letter shows a 180-degree change," he said. "We suspect that he has been drugged. Now the government is no longer afraid of him. It seems that soon, they will free him completely."
In 2001, Father Van Ly sent a letter to the U.S. Congress asking for a delay in the ratification of the bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam, citing Hanoi's human rights violations and religious persecutions.
The priest was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of prison. The punishment was then reduced to 10 years. Now a local court ordered the prison term to be reduced to five years, with five years of house arrest.
American human rights groups consider Father Van Ly a prisoner of conscience and the U.S. government has pressured for his release.
The news of Father Van Ly's sentence reduction arrives just before a visit from European Union representatives in Vietnam for a meeting on human rights, which will also address the treatment of the prisoners.
--------------------
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If might makes right, then love has no place in this world." (Fr. Gabriel, The Mission) Have a ? about love/relationships? CALL 1-800-DR-LAURA. Click here to find a radio statio playing her program. "Life is love, and love is sacrifice. Sacrifice is the only really fruitful thing." Antoni Gaudí
Date: 2004-06-20
Vietnam Reduces Priest's Prison Sentence
Cites "Good Attitude," But Some Fear He's Being Drugged
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, JUNE 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A priest sentenced to 15 years in prison for speaking out about anti-Christian persecution received a sentence reduction for "good conduct," but some observers fear he is being drugged.
The 58-year-old Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, one of the country's best-known dissidents, was sentenced by a Hanoi court in 2001, after being accused of attacking national unity.
News of the reduction of the sentence was confirmed Thursday by the official Vietnam News Agency, which stated that, in addition to his "good conduct," the priest had been very respectful of the rules of Nam Ha prison.
However, sources of AsiaNews, of the Pontifical Foreign Missionary Works, in Hue said that Father Van Ly wrote and signed letters in prison praising Vietnamese socialism and the politics of the Communist Party.
According to individuals who were allowed to visit him, the priest showed symptoms of mental imbalance and seemed to have been drugged as part of the effort "to re-educate him."
A Vatican delegation, led by Monsignor Piero Parolin, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, was able to talk about the Van Ly case with Hanoi authorities during a visit to Vietnam in April. To every question posed by the delegation, government representatives showed the priest's letters as demonstrating his "re-education."
But a Hue priest voiced skepticism. "This letter shows a 180-degree change," he said. "We suspect that he has been drugged. Now the government is no longer afraid of him. It seems that soon, they will free him completely."
In 2001, Father Van Ly sent a letter to the U.S. Congress asking for a delay in the ratification of the bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam, citing Hanoi's human rights violations and religious persecutions.
The priest was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of prison. The punishment was then reduced to 10 years. Now a local court ordered the prison term to be reduced to five years, with five years of house arrest.
American human rights groups consider Father Van Ly a prisoner of conscience and the U.S. government has pressured for his release.
The news of Father Van Ly's sentence reduction arrives just before a visit from European Union representatives in Vietnam for a meeting on human rights, which will also address the treatment of the prisoners.
--------------------
Click here for The Passion of the Christ website Fan website
If might makes right, then love has no place in this world." (Fr. Gabriel, The Mission) Have a ? about love/relationships? CALL 1-800-DR-LAURA. Click here to find a radio statio playing her program. "Life is love, and love is sacrifice. Sacrifice is the only really fruitful thing." Antoni Gaudí
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:04 PM (GMT)
Code: ZE04062102
Date: 2004-06-21
Why Vietnam Persecutes the Montagnards
Interview With Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang
ROME, JUNE 21, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Vietnamese government launched a crackdown last Holy Week against demonstrators as part of its persecution of Montagnards, primarily Christians. At least 400 people were reported killed in the Daklak province.
The demonstrators, members of regional tribes, were asking for the return of their lands confiscated by the government. They were also asking for religious freedom, and for development of the region, one of the poorest in Vietnam.
To understand the situation better, ZENIT interviewed Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang, who works in the Vietnamese editorial office of Vatican Radio.
Q: Who are the Montagnards?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: The Montagnards, or "Degar," are one of the oldest native peoples of Southeast Asia. They have inhabited the peninsula of Indochina for more than 2,000 years.
Although the majority live in Vietnam, there are several hundred thousand Montagnards also in Cambodia and some tens of thousands in Laos. During the French colonization, which began in the 19th century, it is estimated that the Montagnard population was over 3.5 million. Today the survivors number between 700,000 and 800,000.
When the United States intervened in Vietnam, the Montagnards were on their side, in the hope that their requests for the political, social and cultural autonomy of the whole native population would be recognized.
With the end of the war in Vietnam … the Hanoi regime nationalized the Montagnards' lands without recognizing any of their rights on territories which they had inhabited for thousands of years. Hundreds of villages were destroyed and moved to infertile lands to make way for coffee plantations, property of the state.
The Montagnards represent a population of more than 30 different tribes, with thousands of combatants. The two principal tribes are the Banar, with close to 400,000 people, and the Jarrai, with 300,000. In large measure they are Christians.
The Communist government has never put up with them, first because they allied themselves with the Americans, then because many of them are Christians, and now because their only interest is to possess their lands. But the Montagnards are a hard, fierce ethnic group, and so they rebel.
Q: Is the news about their persecution true?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: The Montagnards have always been very courageous. Back in 2001 they held a demonstration of 20,000 people against the government.
According to some, it is possible that the government ordered their men to stir these protests to be able to decimate all the Montagnard leaders, enticing them to a snare -- a classical strategy used by all dictatorships worldwide.
On the eve of the 2004 Easter celebrations, the Montagnards organized a demonstration starting from their widespread villages, across municipalities and reaching provincial capitals in the central highlands of Vietnam, to come together and pray publicly before the buildings of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
The motto was "Moak Hrue Yesus Kgu Hdip" -- Joyful Day, Christ Has Risen. According to local sources, there were 130,000. Government forces used arms causing about 400 deaths.
It is difficult to confirm what really happened because the Vietnamese government impeded foreigners from going to the region. All foreign citizens had to get off airplanes going to Buon Ma Thout; flying over the area was prohibited.
Personnel from the U.S. Embassy traveling by car to the region were blocked for security reasons.
Q: How important is the Christian faith for the Montagnards?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: One hears from different quarters talk about persecution against Christian Montagnards. Despite the persecution and the exodus of priests and missionary pastors at the time the Communist regime was established, the Montagnards have kept the faith.
In my diocese alone there are more than 180,000 Catholic Montagnards. We have gathered several testimonies of Montagnards who have been able to keep the faith and not forget the liturgical prayers by listening to Radio Veritas, which broadcasts from Manila the program of the Vietnamese office of Vatican Radio.
The regime has threatened them, demanding that they abandon the Christian faith, but they have refused to do so.
They have lost their jobs, they cannot send their children to the public school, but they continue to defend their faith. They recently built six wooden churches in six different villages.
Q: Vietnam needs to develop and to do so it will have to make democratic overtures. What is your opinion in this respect?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: From the point of view of human rights and religious freedom, the government is obliged to keep them in mind for commercial reasons. But in general it tends to resist changes.
To tell the truth, no Communist believes any longer in Communist ideology, which they themselves have betrayed, now following the capitalist system. The only thing they believe in is money, a lot of money, and power.
This explains the plague of corruption never before seen in the history of Vietnam. And to achieve this objective the government continues to use the specter of communism and socialism to oppress and spread terror and fear to be able to squeeze the people more effectively.
But this cannot last forever, because the seed bears in itself its own destruction.
Date: 2004-06-21
Why Vietnam Persecutes the Montagnards
Interview With Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang
ROME, JUNE 21, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Vietnamese government launched a crackdown last Holy Week against demonstrators as part of its persecution of Montagnards, primarily Christians. At least 400 people were reported killed in the Daklak province.
The demonstrators, members of regional tribes, were asking for the return of their lands confiscated by the government. They were also asking for religious freedom, and for development of the region, one of the poorest in Vietnam.
To understand the situation better, ZENIT interviewed Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang, who works in the Vietnamese editorial office of Vatican Radio.
Q: Who are the Montagnards?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: The Montagnards, or "Degar," are one of the oldest native peoples of Southeast Asia. They have inhabited the peninsula of Indochina for more than 2,000 years.
Although the majority live in Vietnam, there are several hundred thousand Montagnards also in Cambodia and some tens of thousands in Laos. During the French colonization, which began in the 19th century, it is estimated that the Montagnard population was over 3.5 million. Today the survivors number between 700,000 and 800,000.
When the United States intervened in Vietnam, the Montagnards were on their side, in the hope that their requests for the political, social and cultural autonomy of the whole native population would be recognized.
With the end of the war in Vietnam … the Hanoi regime nationalized the Montagnards' lands without recognizing any of their rights on territories which they had inhabited for thousands of years. Hundreds of villages were destroyed and moved to infertile lands to make way for coffee plantations, property of the state.
The Montagnards represent a population of more than 30 different tribes, with thousands of combatants. The two principal tribes are the Banar, with close to 400,000 people, and the Jarrai, with 300,000. In large measure they are Christians.
The Communist government has never put up with them, first because they allied themselves with the Americans, then because many of them are Christians, and now because their only interest is to possess their lands. But the Montagnards are a hard, fierce ethnic group, and so they rebel.
Q: Is the news about their persecution true?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: The Montagnards have always been very courageous. Back in 2001 they held a demonstration of 20,000 people against the government.
According to some, it is possible that the government ordered their men to stir these protests to be able to decimate all the Montagnard leaders, enticing them to a snare -- a classical strategy used by all dictatorships worldwide.
On the eve of the 2004 Easter celebrations, the Montagnards organized a demonstration starting from their widespread villages, across municipalities and reaching provincial capitals in the central highlands of Vietnam, to come together and pray publicly before the buildings of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
The motto was "Moak Hrue Yesus Kgu Hdip" -- Joyful Day, Christ Has Risen. According to local sources, there were 130,000. Government forces used arms causing about 400 deaths.
It is difficult to confirm what really happened because the Vietnamese government impeded foreigners from going to the region. All foreign citizens had to get off airplanes going to Buon Ma Thout; flying over the area was prohibited.
Personnel from the U.S. Embassy traveling by car to the region were blocked for security reasons.
Q: How important is the Christian faith for the Montagnards?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: One hears from different quarters talk about persecution against Christian Montagnards. Despite the persecution and the exodus of priests and missionary pastors at the time the Communist regime was established, the Montagnards have kept the faith.
In my diocese alone there are more than 180,000 Catholic Montagnards. We have gathered several testimonies of Montagnards who have been able to keep the faith and not forget the liturgical prayers by listening to Radio Veritas, which broadcasts from Manila the program of the Vietnamese office of Vatican Radio.
The regime has threatened them, demanding that they abandon the Christian faith, but they have refused to do so.
They have lost their jobs, they cannot send their children to the public school, but they continue to defend their faith. They recently built six wooden churches in six different villages.
Q: Vietnam needs to develop and to do so it will have to make democratic overtures. What is your opinion in this respect?
Father Hoang Minh Thang: From the point of view of human rights and religious freedom, the government is obliged to keep them in mind for commercial reasons. But in general it tends to resist changes.
To tell the truth, no Communist believes any longer in Communist ideology, which they themselves have betrayed, now following the capitalist system. The only thing they believe in is money, a lot of money, and power.
This explains the plague of corruption never before seen in the history of Vietnam. And to achieve this objective the government continues to use the specter of communism and socialism to oppress and spread terror and fear to be able to squeeze the people more effectively.
But this cannot last forever, because the seed bears in itself its own destruction.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:04 PM (GMT)
Code: ZE04070522
Date: 2004-07-05
Vietnam Tightening Religious Freedom
HANOI, Vietnam, JULY 5, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A newly adopted bill that regulates religious practices is worse than the one adopted in the 1950s by Ho Chi Minh, says a Vietnamese cardinal.
The new law, as of Nov. 15, requires stricter terms and conditions for registering religious organizations and associations. It also bans people in prison from presiding over religious ceremonies.
The statute was six years in the making and has six chapters and 41 articles. The first approved draft of the bill, presented in December 2000, caused negative reactions among clergy and bishops.
Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City, stated unofficially that it would be better if the newly approved legislation had been dropped. He said the new law is worse than the one adopted in 1955, though the earlier statute was never implemented.
Government authorities have said that the new law, approved by the National Assembly, helps religious practice. But sources in Hanoi told the AsiaNews agency that in reality the new regulations are more restrictive of religious freedom.
The Communist government does not allow the direct naming of bishops. It insists that the Holy See present several nominees, among which the government chooses the candidate.
Date: 2004-07-05
Vietnam Tightening Religious Freedom
HANOI, Vietnam, JULY 5, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A newly adopted bill that regulates religious practices is worse than the one adopted in the 1950s by Ho Chi Minh, says a Vietnamese cardinal.
The new law, as of Nov. 15, requires stricter terms and conditions for registering religious organizations and associations. It also bans people in prison from presiding over religious ceremonies.
The statute was six years in the making and has six chapters and 41 articles. The first approved draft of the bill, presented in December 2000, caused negative reactions among clergy and bishops.
Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City, stated unofficially that it would be better if the newly approved legislation had been dropped. He said the new law is worse than the one adopted in 1955, though the earlier statute was never implemented.
Government authorities have said that the new law, approved by the National Assembly, helps religious practice. But sources in Hanoi told the AsiaNews agency that in reality the new regulations are more restrictive of religious freedom.
The Communist government does not allow the direct naming of bishops. It insists that the Holy See present several nominees, among which the government chooses the candidate.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:07 PM (GMT)
Code: ZE04070904
Date: 2004-07-09
Vietnam Observer Expects the Worst Under New Law
ROME, JULY 9, 2004 (Zenit.org).- When a new law on religious beliefs comes into force on Nov. 15, "there will be no more religious freedom " in Vietnam, says a Vatican Radio staffer.
Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang, of Vatican Radio's Vietnamese editorial staff, is an expert on the Southeast Asian country.
The priest told ZENIT that "the law on religious freedom approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly represents a worsening of conditions for the Catholic Church."
"In legislative terms, this law is worse than the one applied by Ho Chi Minh in 1955," he said.
According to Father Thang, it is "a modern form of blackmail, where nothing is permitted. The freedom of every act is decided by the government."
Whether it is the construction of a church or a school, or appointments to the episcopate -- "everything must be authorized by the government," he said.
Even "candidates for the priesthood will have to pass an examination of the socialist authorities" who will decide "if the seminarians can be priests," Father Thang added.
"It is a step backward and it is sad, especially for young people, to see that the authorities restrict religious freedom," he lamented.
Date: 2004-07-09
Vietnam Observer Expects the Worst Under New Law
ROME, JULY 9, 2004 (Zenit.org).- When a new law on religious beliefs comes into force on Nov. 15, "there will be no more religious freedom " in Vietnam, says a Vatican Radio staffer.
Father Giuseppe Hoang Minh Thang, of Vatican Radio's Vietnamese editorial staff, is an expert on the Southeast Asian country.
The priest told ZENIT that "the law on religious freedom approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly represents a worsening of conditions for the Catholic Church."
"In legislative terms, this law is worse than the one applied by Ho Chi Minh in 1955," he said.
According to Father Thang, it is "a modern form of blackmail, where nothing is permitted. The freedom of every act is decided by the government."
Whether it is the construction of a church or a school, or appointments to the episcopate -- "everything must be authorized by the government," he said.
Even "candidates for the priesthood will have to pass an examination of the socialist authorities" who will decide "if the seminarians can be priests," Father Thang added.
"It is a step backward and it is sad, especially for young people, to see that the authorities restrict religious freedom," he lamented.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:07 PM (GMT)
Code: ZE04071122
Date: 2004-07-11
Montagnard Refugees Face 2nd Danger, in Cambodia
Government Says It Fears a Separatist Movement
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, JULY 11, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A group of Christian Montagnards who fled repression in Vietnam are now facing a hostile backlash on Cambodian soil.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is considering sending troops into his country's forested northeast to root out more than 200 Montagnards who fled Vietnam's central highlands after a police crackdown on protesters last April. The protesters were seeking land and religious rights.
The refugees have been living off tubers and rainwater in Cambodia's malaria-ridden jungles for months. Local hill tribe sources have told the Cambodia Daily that up to 250 Montagnards may be hiding in the border region and that several have fallen seriously ill.
Groups of the Montagnards have been photographed and interviewed by reporters from the English-language newspaper. The Hun government has alternately denied their existence, called them illegal immigrants or accused them of plotting a separatist movement, AsiaNews reported.
"We must examine if they are illegal immigrants or if they want to form an autonomous zone," Hun said. "If they have hidden campsites to form an autonomous zone, we will use force to break them."
The prime minister said the government would allow the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to open an office in the northeast, so long as it was not used as a refugee camp.
In the meantime, the UNCHR has been restricted to operating in Phnom Penh and forbidden from opening an office where the refugees could be interviewed and given asylum.
Hun Sen's comments follow recent appeals from King Norodom Sihanouk, who is in self-exile in North Korea, that the refugees receive humanitarian assistance.
A team of palace officials who made a four-hour tour of the vast border region said they could not find any refugees to whom to distribute the rice and medicine ordered by the king.
"The villagers are afraid of us. They hide information," said Um Em, undersecretary of state at the palace after returning from the tour. "We need to have a network to show us where the Montagnards are located, but right now we can't find the network."
Local and international human rights groups have criticized the Cambodian government's handling of the Montagnards. Only the Cambodian Red Cross, headed by Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, says that aiding the refugees falls outside its mandate of helping natural disaster victims.
The Vietnamese government has denied the existence of Montagnard refugees and barred international agencies and reporters from entering the central highlands at the time of the protests.
Hundreds of Montagnards who fled Vietnamese oppression to Cambodia in 2001 were eventually granted refugee status and asylum in the United States.
Date: 2004-07-11
Montagnard Refugees Face 2nd Danger, in Cambodia
Government Says It Fears a Separatist Movement
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, JULY 11, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A group of Christian Montagnards who fled repression in Vietnam are now facing a hostile backlash on Cambodian soil.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is considering sending troops into his country's forested northeast to root out more than 200 Montagnards who fled Vietnam's central highlands after a police crackdown on protesters last April. The protesters were seeking land and religious rights.
The refugees have been living off tubers and rainwater in Cambodia's malaria-ridden jungles for months. Local hill tribe sources have told the Cambodia Daily that up to 250 Montagnards may be hiding in the border region and that several have fallen seriously ill.
Groups of the Montagnards have been photographed and interviewed by reporters from the English-language newspaper. The Hun government has alternately denied their existence, called them illegal immigrants or accused them of plotting a separatist movement, AsiaNews reported.
"We must examine if they are illegal immigrants or if they want to form an autonomous zone," Hun said. "If they have hidden campsites to form an autonomous zone, we will use force to break them."
The prime minister said the government would allow the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to open an office in the northeast, so long as it was not used as a refugee camp.
In the meantime, the UNCHR has been restricted to operating in Phnom Penh and forbidden from opening an office where the refugees could be interviewed and given asylum.
Hun Sen's comments follow recent appeals from King Norodom Sihanouk, who is in self-exile in North Korea, that the refugees receive humanitarian assistance.
A team of palace officials who made a four-hour tour of the vast border region said they could not find any refugees to whom to distribute the rice and medicine ordered by the king.
"The villagers are afraid of us. They hide information," said Um Em, undersecretary of state at the palace after returning from the tour. "We need to have a network to show us where the Montagnards are located, but right now we can't find the network."
Local and international human rights groups have criticized the Cambodian government's handling of the Montagnards. Only the Cambodian Red Cross, headed by Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, says that aiding the refugees falls outside its mandate of helping natural disaster victims.
The Vietnamese government has denied the existence of Montagnard refugees and barred international agencies and reporters from entering the central highlands at the time of the protests.
Hundreds of Montagnards who fled Vietnamese oppression to Cambodia in 2001 were eventually granted refugee status and asylum in the United States.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:07 PM (GMT)
Code: ZE04072003
Date: 2004-07-20
Vietnam Allowing More Seminarians in Hanoi
HANOI, Vietnam, JULY 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The government of Vietnam has authorized 90 students to enter St. Joseph's Major Seminary in Hanoi this year, an unprecedented decision.
Bishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Lang Son, apostolic administrator of the Hanoi Archdiocese, said that the authorization is a sign of hope for the Church in northern Vietnam, Vatican Radio reported.
In the 2004-2005 school year, the seminary will have a record number of students. The seminary opened its doors in 1989.
In previous years, the maximum number of seminarians who could register was 60 every two years.
Because of the government's control over the seminaries, most dioceses in northern Vietnam have a shortage of priests. In Hanoi, for example, each parish priest has to assist between 5,000 and 10,000 faithful.
Date: 2004-07-20
Vietnam Allowing More Seminarians in Hanoi
HANOI, Vietnam, JULY 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The government of Vietnam has authorized 90 students to enter St. Joseph's Major Seminary in Hanoi this year, an unprecedented decision.
Bishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Lang Son, apostolic administrator of the Hanoi Archdiocese, said that the authorization is a sign of hope for the Church in northern Vietnam, Vatican Radio reported.
In the 2004-2005 school year, the seminary will have a record number of students. The seminary opened its doors in 1989.
In previous years, the maximum number of seminarians who could register was 60 every two years.
Because of the government's control over the seminaries, most dioceses in northern Vietnam have a shortage of priests. In Hanoi, for example, each parish priest has to assist between 5,000 and 10,000 faithful.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:07 PM (GMT)
21 July, 2004
VIETNAM
"Cyber" Catechesis
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews/UCAN) – Young Vietnamese are turning to the internet to share and spread the Christian message. This is happening despite a law that will come into force on November 15 that bans spreading the Gospel, whether door-to-door or online, and government measures designed to stop access to catholic websites. The number of the faithful going online for their own spiritual growth is in actual fact on the rise.
“Internet is the fastest, cheapest and safest way to bring the word of God to others,” said Hoang, a Ho Chi Minh City-based catechist. Through internet he has been able to improve his knowledge about religion and the Church. Fittingly, he decided to share his online experiences with other, more distant believers.
As a telephone company employee Hoang has unlimited access to the net and has set for himself the task of offering “online catechesis.” Every week he sends an e-mail letter to about 200 people containing homilies by the Pope, thoughtful observations about the Gospels, prayers, news about the Church and information about family issues. Addressees are encouraged to forward the letter to others. “What counts is that the letter be brief. No more than two pages,” he adds.
Not everyone in fact can surf the net freely. Young people especially must make do with the brief moments they have in cybercafés to share prayers and thoughts with their friends. Hat Huong, a female student, and Tuan Viet, a candidate for the Carmelite Order, agree that “in general, people have no time to read long letters so sending prayers is the most effective way to help them meditate on the word of God.
Since internet’s arrival in Vietnam 7 years ago, the number of surfers is rising. Official figures put it at over 1 million registered users.
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1179
VIETNAM
"Cyber" Catechesis
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews/UCAN) – Young Vietnamese are turning to the internet to share and spread the Christian message. This is happening despite a law that will come into force on November 15 that bans spreading the Gospel, whether door-to-door or online, and government measures designed to stop access to catholic websites. The number of the faithful going online for their own spiritual growth is in actual fact on the rise.
“Internet is the fastest, cheapest and safest way to bring the word of God to others,” said Hoang, a Ho Chi Minh City-based catechist. Through internet he has been able to improve his knowledge about religion and the Church. Fittingly, he decided to share his online experiences with other, more distant believers.
As a telephone company employee Hoang has unlimited access to the net and has set for himself the task of offering “online catechesis.” Every week he sends an e-mail letter to about 200 people containing homilies by the Pope, thoughtful observations about the Gospels, prayers, news about the Church and information about family issues. Addressees are encouraged to forward the letter to others. “What counts is that the letter be brief. No more than two pages,” he adds.
Not everyone in fact can surf the net freely. Young people especially must make do with the brief moments they have in cybercafés to share prayers and thoughts with their friends. Hat Huong, a female student, and Tuan Viet, a candidate for the Carmelite Order, agree that “in general, people have no time to read long letters so sending prayers is the most effective way to help them meditate on the word of God.
Since internet’s arrival in Vietnam 7 years ago, the number of surfers is rising. Official figures put it at over 1 million registered users.
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1179
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:07 PM (GMT)
VT6541.1299 July 30, 2004 66 EM-lines (837 words)
VIETNAM 'New Way Of Praying' Course Helps Young Couples In Hung Hoa Diocese
YEN BAI, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Young Catholic couples in northern Vietnam, many of them newly baptized, say they can pray better in private and with their families thanks to a "new way of praying" they learned in a diocesan program.
After taking the weeklong course, Marie Dao Thi Quyen, one of the newly baptized, told UCA News, "Now, I not only pray by myself directly to God, I also share the word of God with others and apply it to my daily life."
Like other new adult Catholics, Quyen converted to the faith while preparing to marry a Catholic. She said that if she did not take the course, she and others like her would not have learned how to pray or understand the liturgy while attending Mass or praying with others.
The prayer course was run July 12-17 in Yen Bai parish in Yen Bai province, 180 kilometers northwest of Ha Noi. The 60 participants, including 22 newly baptized, came from Yen Bai and My Hung parishes in Hung Hoa diocese. They took it after finishing a six-month marriage preparation course in late June.
According to Marie Tran Thi Thu, one of two prayer course instructors, all 22 new Catholics were baptized on July 11. Father Joseph Nguyen Dinh Dau of Yen Bai parish, who also administers My Hung parish, presided at the Mass and Baptism ceremony. About 2,000 people attended the ceremony, including non-Catholic relatives and friends of those being baptized.
The 59-year-old priest told the congregation after the Mass it was the first time the parish was offering a special prayer course for couples. The course, developed as part of the diocese's evangelization program, was designed to "help couples maintain prayer in the family and community," he explained.
Father Dau pointed out that some couples in the past, including the newly baptized, "did not know how to pray, so they neglected religious activities such as going to confession or receiving Communion, and eventually gave up the faith." One reason for that, he said, is they never learned how to pray.
Newly baptized Joseph Nguyen Trung Kien said the prayer course provided him with a "valuable fortune" that he would count on to keep up family prayers.
Joseph Tran Quang Toan told UCA News the course was useful because, even if he is a Catholic, he never knew how to pray, or meditate on and share the word of God. He would just recite prayers like a machine, he said.
Toan said he so "enjoyed" the new way of praying that he has recommended such courses be conducted regularly for much younger people, not least because learning to pray just before getting married is a bit late.
During the course on prayer, instructor Thu explained, participants were taught to have "a cozy conversation" with God on their sorrows and joys, much as they would with their friends. They were also taught how to share the word of God with others and how to hold prayer sessions in the family or community.
The new way of praying does not involve "long hours of boring" recitation of prayers, she said, but only 40 minutes of praying to the Holy Spirit, sharing the word of God, reciting a decade of the rosary and giving thanks to God.
Thu encouraged the participants to pray as families for peace and love in the family, love for God and others, as well as for peace in their parishes and the Vietnam Church and for the pope.
Father Dau recalled that during the past 10 years, a considerable number of non-Catholics converted to Catholicism while preparing to marry Catholics. He said that though this was "a good chance for evangelization," some of them left the Church because the parish did not help them "nourish their faith."
Thu, a member of Hung Hoa diocese's pastoral council, pointed out that the diocese began offering courses on prayer in 2000 as part of its project of "evangelization and re-evangelization." That project was developed to restore the tradition of prayer in Catholic families and villages.
To date, Thu estimates, about 300 courses on prayer have been conducted for parish and subparish council members, catechists and laypeople. Many parishes were able to hold prayer sessions for groups of 15-20 families, she said. She added that the diocese will continue offering such courses in the future for laypeople and associations, with 30-50 people taking part in each one.
Joseph Trinh Van Thuan, an elderly layman of Yen Bai parish, told UCA News he hopes the new way of praying will help restore the tradition of prayer within the family. Instead of praying together as a family as in the past, he lamented that family members now spend time watching television or videos.
Yen Bai and My Hung parishes together have about 7,000 Catholics. In 2003, Church sources say, Hung Hoa diocese's 75 parishes served 197,436 Catholics, including 11,315 ethnic minority people. Among them were 24 priests, 27 seminarians, 105 Lovers of the Holy Cross nuns and 2,030 catechists.
END
VIETNAM 'New Way Of Praying' Course Helps Young Couples In Hung Hoa Diocese
YEN BAI, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Young Catholic couples in northern Vietnam, many of them newly baptized, say they can pray better in private and with their families thanks to a "new way of praying" they learned in a diocesan program.
After taking the weeklong course, Marie Dao Thi Quyen, one of the newly baptized, told UCA News, "Now, I not only pray by myself directly to God, I also share the word of God with others and apply it to my daily life."
Like other new adult Catholics, Quyen converted to the faith while preparing to marry a Catholic. She said that if she did not take the course, she and others like her would not have learned how to pray or understand the liturgy while attending Mass or praying with others.
The prayer course was run July 12-17 in Yen Bai parish in Yen Bai province, 180 kilometers northwest of Ha Noi. The 60 participants, including 22 newly baptized, came from Yen Bai and My Hung parishes in Hung Hoa diocese. They took it after finishing a six-month marriage preparation course in late June.
According to Marie Tran Thi Thu, one of two prayer course instructors, all 22 new Catholics were baptized on July 11. Father Joseph Nguyen Dinh Dau of Yen Bai parish, who also administers My Hung parish, presided at the Mass and Baptism ceremony. About 2,000 people attended the ceremony, including non-Catholic relatives and friends of those being baptized.
The 59-year-old priest told the congregation after the Mass it was the first time the parish was offering a special prayer course for couples. The course, developed as part of the diocese's evangelization program, was designed to "help couples maintain prayer in the family and community," he explained.
Father Dau pointed out that some couples in the past, including the newly baptized, "did not know how to pray, so they neglected religious activities such as going to confession or receiving Communion, and eventually gave up the faith." One reason for that, he said, is they never learned how to pray.
Newly baptized Joseph Nguyen Trung Kien said the prayer course provided him with a "valuable fortune" that he would count on to keep up family prayers.
Joseph Tran Quang Toan told UCA News the course was useful because, even if he is a Catholic, he never knew how to pray, or meditate on and share the word of God. He would just recite prayers like a machine, he said.
Toan said he so "enjoyed" the new way of praying that he has recommended such courses be conducted regularly for much younger people, not least because learning to pray just before getting married is a bit late.
During the course on prayer, instructor Thu explained, participants were taught to have "a cozy conversation" with God on their sorrows and joys, much as they would with their friends. They were also taught how to share the word of God with others and how to hold prayer sessions in the family or community.
The new way of praying does not involve "long hours of boring" recitation of prayers, she said, but only 40 minutes of praying to the Holy Spirit, sharing the word of God, reciting a decade of the rosary and giving thanks to God.
Thu encouraged the participants to pray as families for peace and love in the family, love for God and others, as well as for peace in their parishes and the Vietnam Church and for the pope.
Father Dau recalled that during the past 10 years, a considerable number of non-Catholics converted to Catholicism while preparing to marry Catholics. He said that though this was "a good chance for evangelization," some of them left the Church because the parish did not help them "nourish their faith."
Thu, a member of Hung Hoa diocese's pastoral council, pointed out that the diocese began offering courses on prayer in 2000 as part of its project of "evangelization and re-evangelization." That project was developed to restore the tradition of prayer in Catholic families and villages.
To date, Thu estimates, about 300 courses on prayer have been conducted for parish and subparish council members, catechists and laypeople. Many parishes were able to hold prayer sessions for groups of 15-20 families, she said. She added that the diocese will continue offering such courses in the future for laypeople and associations, with 30-50 people taking part in each one.
Joseph Trinh Van Thuan, an elderly layman of Yen Bai parish, told UCA News he hopes the new way of praying will help restore the tradition of prayer within the family. Instead of praying together as a family as in the past, he lamented that family members now spend time watching television or videos.
Yen Bai and My Hung parishes together have about 7,000 Catholics. In 2003, Church sources say, Hung Hoa diocese's 75 parishes served 197,436 Catholics, including 11,315 ethnic minority people. Among them were 24 priests, 27 seminarians, 105 Lovers of the Holy Cross nuns and 2,030 catechists.
END
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:08 PM (GMT)
VT6570.1300 August 4, 2004 73 EM-lines (828 words)
VIETNAM Young Martyr's Example Inspires Catechists Across Country
QUY NHON, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catechists and young people throughout Vietnam are finding inspiration in the example of a local catechist martyred 360 years ago at the age of 19.
They took part in several events organized around the July 26 death anniversary of Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen.
During a training session July 25-26 at Quy Nhon diocese's Mang Lang parish, a catechist of the diocese promised to proclaim the Good News by leading a self-sacrificing life of service, following Blessed Andrew's example. Speaking to UCA News, he described the martyr as "a young Vietnamese man who dared to sacrifice his own life for Christ."
About 450 catechists from several central and southern dioceses took part in the training session, for which they camped out. Blessed Andrew was born in Mang Lang parish, Phu Yen province, 1,165 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
Participants from Ban Me Thuot, Da Nang, Kon Tum, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon dioceses as well as Ho Chi Minh City and Hue archdioceses shared experiences, studied the martyr's life and staged cultural performances. The theme of the gathering was "Catechists Following Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen's Example on the Road of Service."
According to Catholic historians, Blessed Andrew was born in 1625 and beheaded on July 26, 1644. On March 5, 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified the youth regarded as the first Vietnamese Catholic martyr. According to Jesuit missioner Father Alexandre de Rhodes, who documented the martyrdom, a local official sentenced Blessed Andrew to death for refusing to abandon his ministry as a catechist and renounce his faith.
Louis Nguyen Dinh Luyen, 70, who has been teaching catechism since he was 18, told UCA News catechists play an important role in evangelization. The layman from Quy Nhon diocese said the role of the catechist is not only to provide religious knowledge but also to visit, advise and correspond with the people they teach.
Standing in front of his tent he related that he has made it a point to talk and joke with people he meets on buses or on the street. He recalled that a woman he became friends with during a bus trip corresponded with him regularly afterward. Eventually she asked to be baptized just before she died of cancer.
Marie Hrang, an ethnic minority Bana from Kon Tum diocese, mentioned positive developments within her family since becoming a catechist. "My father has been drinking less and has been going to Mass more regularly," she said. Thus encouraged, she pledged to do a good job as a catechist and "enable children to love God much more."
Bishop Pierre Nguyen Soan of Quy Nhon, who celebrated Mass during the meeting, urged catechists to be charitable and generous toward all people, whether in their family, village, school or factory, or on the street.
This was the first time catechists from various dioceses have met to celebrate the feast of Blessed Andrew, patron of Vietnamese catechists, since he was beatified, according to Father Joseph Truong Dinh Hien, head of Phu Yen deanery. A deanery is a grouping of parishes.
In Bao Loc, 1,480 kilometers south of Ha Noi, 1,000 catechists from 25 parishes of Da Lat diocese's Bao Loc deanery met July 26 to share their experiences and to take part in contests and other activities.
Some catechists staged a play featuring the beheading of Blessed Andrew. Many participants told UCA New the event inspired them to work for evangelization and to become exemplary Catholics.
Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Da Lat, who joined them, called on the catechists to live in accordance with what they say and teach.
Meanwhile in northern Vietnam, 8,000 young Catholics marked Blessed Andrew's death by having a discussion on religious vocation and young people's role in evangelization, including the challenges they face in evangelizing.
The meeting on "Evangelization of Youth and Evangelization by Youth" was held July 26 at Hai Phong diocese's Dai Lo (Ke Rua) parish, 60 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
A participant, Marie Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, told UCA News some youth do not evangelize because they know nothing about catechism, while others do not consider evangelization the work of young people.
Bishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hai Phong noted that many young people have not received adequate catechetical instruction because many priests and other Catholics fled south in 1954 after communist victories in northern Vietnam.
The diocese is now organizing catechism and Bible training courses for young people as a priority, he told the participants, who came from Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Quang Ninh provinces and Hai Phong city.
Bishop Thien invited the young people to consider who Christ is and what role religion plays in their lives. He then stressed two convictions for each Christian to be able to "live his or her vocation in the Church" -- that Christ is the only Savior and that evangelization is a duty.
The bishop concluded, "Only youth can evangelize youth effectively."
VIETNAM Young Martyr's Example Inspires Catechists Across Country
QUY NHON, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catechists and young people throughout Vietnam are finding inspiration in the example of a local catechist martyred 360 years ago at the age of 19.
They took part in several events organized around the July 26 death anniversary of Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen.
During a training session July 25-26 at Quy Nhon diocese's Mang Lang parish, a catechist of the diocese promised to proclaim the Good News by leading a self-sacrificing life of service, following Blessed Andrew's example. Speaking to UCA News, he described the martyr as "a young Vietnamese man who dared to sacrifice his own life for Christ."
About 450 catechists from several central and southern dioceses took part in the training session, for which they camped out. Blessed Andrew was born in Mang Lang parish, Phu Yen province, 1,165 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
Participants from Ban Me Thuot, Da Nang, Kon Tum, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon dioceses as well as Ho Chi Minh City and Hue archdioceses shared experiences, studied the martyr's life and staged cultural performances. The theme of the gathering was "Catechists Following Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen's Example on the Road of Service."
According to Catholic historians, Blessed Andrew was born in 1625 and beheaded on July 26, 1644. On March 5, 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified the youth regarded as the first Vietnamese Catholic martyr. According to Jesuit missioner Father Alexandre de Rhodes, who documented the martyrdom, a local official sentenced Blessed Andrew to death for refusing to abandon his ministry as a catechist and renounce his faith.
Louis Nguyen Dinh Luyen, 70, who has been teaching catechism since he was 18, told UCA News catechists play an important role in evangelization. The layman from Quy Nhon diocese said the role of the catechist is not only to provide religious knowledge but also to visit, advise and correspond with the people they teach.
Standing in front of his tent he related that he has made it a point to talk and joke with people he meets on buses or on the street. He recalled that a woman he became friends with during a bus trip corresponded with him regularly afterward. Eventually she asked to be baptized just before she died of cancer.
Marie Hrang, an ethnic minority Bana from Kon Tum diocese, mentioned positive developments within her family since becoming a catechist. "My father has been drinking less and has been going to Mass more regularly," she said. Thus encouraged, she pledged to do a good job as a catechist and "enable children to love God much more."
Bishop Pierre Nguyen Soan of Quy Nhon, who celebrated Mass during the meeting, urged catechists to be charitable and generous toward all people, whether in their family, village, school or factory, or on the street.
This was the first time catechists from various dioceses have met to celebrate the feast of Blessed Andrew, patron of Vietnamese catechists, since he was beatified, according to Father Joseph Truong Dinh Hien, head of Phu Yen deanery. A deanery is a grouping of parishes.
In Bao Loc, 1,480 kilometers south of Ha Noi, 1,000 catechists from 25 parishes of Da Lat diocese's Bao Loc deanery met July 26 to share their experiences and to take part in contests and other activities.
Some catechists staged a play featuring the beheading of Blessed Andrew. Many participants told UCA New the event inspired them to work for evangelization and to become exemplary Catholics.
Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Da Lat, who joined them, called on the catechists to live in accordance with what they say and teach.
Meanwhile in northern Vietnam, 8,000 young Catholics marked Blessed Andrew's death by having a discussion on religious vocation and young people's role in evangelization, including the challenges they face in evangelizing.
The meeting on "Evangelization of Youth and Evangelization by Youth" was held July 26 at Hai Phong diocese's Dai Lo (Ke Rua) parish, 60 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
A participant, Marie Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, told UCA News some youth do not evangelize because they know nothing about catechism, while others do not consider evangelization the work of young people.
Bishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hai Phong noted that many young people have not received adequate catechetical instruction because many priests and other Catholics fled south in 1954 after communist victories in northern Vietnam.
The diocese is now organizing catechism and Bible training courses for young people as a priority, he told the participants, who came from Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Quang Ninh provinces and Hai Phong city.
Bishop Thien invited the young people to consider who Christ is and what role religion plays in their lives. He then stressed two convictions for each Christian to be able to "live his or her vocation in the Church" -- that Christ is the only Savior and that evangelization is a duty.
The bishop concluded, "Only youth can evangelize youth effectively."
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:08 PM (GMT)
VT4970.1259 October 21, 2003 62 EM-lines (687 words)
VIETNAM Bishops Urge Catholics To Proclaim Good News To Others Through Action
VUNG TAU, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The Catholic bishops of Vietnam have called Catholics regardless of their vocation to proclaim the Good News through prayer, life example and dialogue with people who are not Catholics.
The Vietnam Bishops' Conference issued a pastoral letter titled "The Mission of the Church in Vietnam Today To Proclaim the Good News " at the end of its annual meeting, held Oct. 6-10 at the Marian Shrine in Bai Dau, a coastal resort near Vung Tau, about 1,810 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
Twenty-nine bishops attended the meeting. Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Ha Noi, 84, and Salesian Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem of Bui Chu, 65, did not participate due to health reasons.
In their letter, the bishops suggest that since the Vietnam Church dedicated 2003 as "the Year of Evangelization," Catholics regardless of their vocation and function should be active "in proclaiming the Good News."
The bishops identify various means for such proclamation and say Catholics should preach through their life example before preaching through words.
The bishops ask laypeople to bear witness to the existence of the Kingdom of God and to join compatriots in building up a "healthy" society by setting an example of respect for life and human dignity. They emphasize that lives of witness to unity and love in families, villages, parishes and dioceses are more convincing than verbal preaching.
The Church leaders encourage Catholics to visit individuals and families who are not Catholics, congratulating these neighbors on happy occasions and consoling them on sad and unfortunate occasions. By doing this, the letter says, Catholics can make the Gospel come alive and can help others "to identify the portrait of Jesus, the Savior, and understand better his religion."
Meanwhile, Catholics should dialogue with others on certain topics because this will lead to "mutual sympathy, understanding and respect."
The bishops ask Catholics to "be brave" in reaching out to those who have never heard of the Good News and to witness to the Gospel in cultural, political, economic, scientific and technological fields. "All these domains need the presence of Christ," the pastoral letter says.
In offering practical suggestions, the Church leaders advise each parish to set up an evangelization committee with the collaboration of all under the guidance of the pastor. The committee should promote prayers and mobilize all parishioners for the work of evangelization, the bishops say.
They also suggest that long-established parishes link up with remote parishes or missions, and that each Catholic family connect with a non-Catholic family by praying, visiting, interacting and sharing material goods.
They urge Catholics to carry out charitable work such as providing relief for disaster victims and helping the poor. "Charitable work," the bishops explain, "should be aimed at comprehensive development to help the poor live with human dignity, as development is the new name for peace."
The letter calls on Catholics not only to pray for evangelization but also to make sacrifices for the work of evangelization.
The October meeting was the first general assembly the bishops were able to hold outside Ha Noi since the reunification of the country in 1975.
They plan to hold the next general assembly Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2004, in the capital. At that meeting, they will elect a new standing committee and new heads for various episcopal commissions. Next year's pastoral letter is to focus on the Eucharist.
Representatives of the government's Bureau of Religious Affairs and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province visited the bishops during the recent meeting. Local authorities asked the bishops and Xuan Loc diocese, which serves the province, to encourage Catholics to contribute more in developing the local economy.
A Church source told UCA News that the Vietnam government on Oct. 2 allowed the bishops to open a two-year intensive course on theology and philosophy for elder seminarians from seven dioceses throughout the country at Sao Bien Major Seminary in Nha Trang, 1,040 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
According to reports at the meeting, Vietnam has 5,572,579 Catholics including 2,694 priests, 10,426 Religious, 1,295 seminarians, 1,611 seminary candidates and 51,156 catechists, 1,271 of whom are ethnic minority people.
VIETNAM Bishops Urge Catholics To Proclaim Good News To Others Through Action
VUNG TAU, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The Catholic bishops of Vietnam have called Catholics regardless of their vocation to proclaim the Good News through prayer, life example and dialogue with people who are not Catholics.
The Vietnam Bishops' Conference issued a pastoral letter titled "The Mission of the Church in Vietnam Today To Proclaim the Good News " at the end of its annual meeting, held Oct. 6-10 at the Marian Shrine in Bai Dau, a coastal resort near Vung Tau, about 1,810 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
Twenty-nine bishops attended the meeting. Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Ha Noi, 84, and Salesian Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem of Bui Chu, 65, did not participate due to health reasons.
In their letter, the bishops suggest that since the Vietnam Church dedicated 2003 as "the Year of Evangelization," Catholics regardless of their vocation and function should be active "in proclaiming the Good News."
The bishops identify various means for such proclamation and say Catholics should preach through their life example before preaching through words.
The bishops ask laypeople to bear witness to the existence of the Kingdom of God and to join compatriots in building up a "healthy" society by setting an example of respect for life and human dignity. They emphasize that lives of witness to unity and love in families, villages, parishes and dioceses are more convincing than verbal preaching.
The Church leaders encourage Catholics to visit individuals and families who are not Catholics, congratulating these neighbors on happy occasions and consoling them on sad and unfortunate occasions. By doing this, the letter says, Catholics can make the Gospel come alive and can help others "to identify the portrait of Jesus, the Savior, and understand better his religion."
Meanwhile, Catholics should dialogue with others on certain topics because this will lead to "mutual sympathy, understanding and respect."
The bishops ask Catholics to "be brave" in reaching out to those who have never heard of the Good News and to witness to the Gospel in cultural, political, economic, scientific and technological fields. "All these domains need the presence of Christ," the pastoral letter says.
In offering practical suggestions, the Church leaders advise each parish to set up an evangelization committee with the collaboration of all under the guidance of the pastor. The committee should promote prayers and mobilize all parishioners for the work of evangelization, the bishops say.
They also suggest that long-established parishes link up with remote parishes or missions, and that each Catholic family connect with a non-Catholic family by praying, visiting, interacting and sharing material goods.
They urge Catholics to carry out charitable work such as providing relief for disaster victims and helping the poor. "Charitable work," the bishops explain, "should be aimed at comprehensive development to help the poor live with human dignity, as development is the new name for peace."
The letter calls on Catholics not only to pray for evangelization but also to make sacrifices for the work of evangelization.
The October meeting was the first general assembly the bishops were able to hold outside Ha Noi since the reunification of the country in 1975.
They plan to hold the next general assembly Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2004, in the capital. At that meeting, they will elect a new standing committee and new heads for various episcopal commissions. Next year's pastoral letter is to focus on the Eucharist.
Representatives of the government's Bureau of Religious Affairs and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province visited the bishops during the recent meeting. Local authorities asked the bishops and Xuan Loc diocese, which serves the province, to encourage Catholics to contribute more in developing the local economy.
A Church source told UCA News that the Vietnam government on Oct. 2 allowed the bishops to open a two-year intensive course on theology and philosophy for elder seminarians from seven dioceses throughout the country at Sao Bien Major Seminary in Nha Trang, 1,040 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
According to reports at the meeting, Vietnam has 5,572,579 Catholics including 2,694 priests, 10,426 Religious, 1,295 seminarians, 1,611 seminary candidates and 51,156 catechists, 1,271 of whom are ethnic minority people.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:09 PM (GMT)
VT6596.1301 August 10, 2004 136 EM-lines (No count of words)
VIETNAM UCAN Interview - Church Must Be Patient, Seek Common Ground With Government
BANGKOK (UCAN) -- The Vietnam Church can serve society in educational and social fields, and can even evangelize in a climate of "controlled freedom," according to Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City.
In such an environment, Cardinal Man, 70, said the Church needs to be "patient" and must look for common ground with the government in areas where it can work to develop society.
While in Bangkok for meetings, Cardinal Man talked with UCA News Aug. 4 on his nomination as cardinal, his vision for the archdiocese, his ways of carrying out Church ministries, and Church-government relations.
Pope John Paul II named him cardinal on Sept. 28, 2003, but it was not until three days later, on Oct. 1, that he found out about this. Vietnam's government welcomed his elevation after some international news reports said it might not. Episcopal appointments within the country are made with the approval of the government, which has rejected some appointments proposed by the Holy See.
The pope inducted the Ho Chi Minh City archbishop into the College of Cardinals on Oct. 21, 2003, at the Vatican. Vietnam now has two cardinals, the other being 85-year-old Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Ha Noi.
The interview with Cardinal Man follows:
UCA NEWS: Did you dialogue with the government concerning your nomination as Cardinal?
CARDINAL JEAN BAPTISTE PHAM MINH MAN: I made the first step to meet with government officials to find out what was going on. I had heard rumors about my nomination from my priests and other bishops.
I told (the official) I received the news about the nomination like everyone else and had no prior knowledge about it. I also said "cardinal" is a title, not a new responsibility, that nothing changes except the color of the robe.
I also told them I have to accept it. The official then told me to write to the prime minister so he would recognize me as cardinal. That was Oct. 1, three days after the nomination. I flew back to Ho Chi Minh City that day, and the next day I met with city authorities who congratulated me. They asked me about my transfer to Ha Noi. Then I understood the government's thinking that to be a cardinal means I must move to Ha Noi. They told me to obey my superior (the pope) and move to Ha Noi. I said I should obey what I can do, but what I cannot do, I cannot do.
A week later, I went to Rome for the celebration and Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe (prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) told me the pope was happy to set up a second "cardinalate," the see of the cardinal, in Vietnam.
As cardinal, are you more courageous to speak out?
I don't think I should be more courageous. I have always said what is true and just, even before becoming a cardinal. I have always asked Catholics to contribute to the development of the country based on truth, justice and charity. Nonetheless, since becoming a cardinal, more people have come to me, especially diplomats.
How do you regard the new law on religion to take effect in November?
The new law on religion still keeps the old system of "requesting and giving" for everything. This kind of system changes the right of freedom to the permission of freedom. I told the government several times that when foreign diplomats asked me if I agreed with them that Vietnam has no freedom, I said, "No! Vietnam has no 'rights' freedom, but 'permitted' freedom." We have freedom here, but it is permitted, limited and controlled.
I told the government that the freedom the people would like to have is as big as a table. But freedom in Ho Chi Minh City is like a dish on this table, and in other places it is only a cup. This is a reality. So (through the new law) they try to make things more open. But I still see the same system. We have to request and wait to have freedom.
How does this affect being Catholic and living one's faith in Vietnam?
Catholics as individuals have no problems of going to church and practicing their faith. But the government does not recognize a religious organization as a body. To live the faith in the present environment is very difficult. For example, in schools, whether they are primary, secondary schools or universities, not all but most students are cheating. How do Catholic students view their faith in this environment? There is also too much corruption in businesses and offices. How do Catholics live in this environment? This is the big problem facing them.
The Church's primary mission is to spread the Good News. Is that possible in a society that officially embraces atheism?
I tell Catholics there are so many difficulties and social ills in society. They and their families alone cannot overcome these difficulties. They should get together (to evangelize). Now I have formed a group of medical doctors with about 100 members; a group of Catholic artists, almost 100; a group of Catholic businessmen, several hundreds; a group of Catholic teachers, several thousands. I will also gather Catholics from among elected government officials.
I ask them what it is like being Catholics in this present environment. I told them they should protect the truth, justice and charity in their work for the development of society and the country. How can they do that? That is their duty to find out. This is evangelization.
Through religious congregations the archdiocese has set up missions in areas where there are no Catholics, setting up schools for the disabled, job training schools and kindergartens. We also have many "underground" activities. I told government officials about the work for prostitutes that some congregations have carried out. The Religious collect these women, put them in their homes, help the pregnant ones to give birth, raise the children and find new jobs for the women. Many congregations have several such homes and the government knows about them. One congregation even rented a house from a policeman.
What are your most difficult challenges, and how do you face them?
One time I asked about 10 U.S. Congressmen, who came to visit me and who asked if they could do anything to help me, to show me the way to change the views, or the minds, of people. And they laughed. One Catholic congressman told me "you should pray hard." So I asked them to "pray with me."
To dialogue you should find the same common ideas, and at the same time you should be very patient.
Another difficulty is to develop the country. The challenge is (more) education. As for me, I could not build hospitals or schools, then I set up a group of Catholic businessmen to carry out such work. Our ministries should be dictated by our faith to show Vietnamese people that God loves them.
The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is concerned about the family. What challenges face the family in Vietnam?
After Vietnam opened its doors, good and bad things have come in. Globalization comes in. With globalization, you have the "culture of death," a threat to the family. Many mothers have written to ask me to pray for their families because their children are involved in social ills. Other mothers wrote me that their sons and daughters were put in camps for many years.
In Ho Chi Minh City, three years ago the government had a list of 17,000 young drug addicts. The government put them in social centers, but these centers are run like prisons. Now it is not 17,000, but 32,000 young people in 15 centers. Catholics are among them. The city now looks as if it is clean.
Since many of the young people in these centers have HIV/AIDS, they decided to put them in one camp. Since it had nobody to take care of them, the government asked me to get Religious sisters to care for them. AIDS is a big issue, and the number of patients has increased more and more to several thousands.
I set up a pastoral committee for people with AIDS to organize a campaign against AIDS and to care for people with it. The committee organized training for religious and laypeople to equip them to care for people with HIV/AIDS in the city. The campaign is aimed at reaching more than 120,000 families, or about 600,000 Catholics living in the archdiocese's 200 parishes. We also plan to make compact discs on how to care for people with HIV/AIDS and how to prevent HIV infection, to be sent to about 500 priests in the archdiocese.
HIV/AIDS is one social ill, not the only one. I asked the families to always get together to pray and protect themselves from the threat of this culture of death.
Why have you invited so many cardinals to Vietnam?
The deep reason behind it is communion of the Church, especially in Asia. The other reason is to open the door wider. Since 1975 (after the reunification of North and South Vietnam), no bishop or even cardinal in the country could invite foreign bishops to stay overnight in his residence. None! So in the year 2002, I started to do that by inviting Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," to come and visit Vietnam. Late last year, I also invited cardinals from Asia to come to my thanksgiving Mass as cardinal. In the past I had to submit in paper my request. Now I just tell them that this is what I am going to do.
You seem optimistic about the future of the Church in Vietnam. Are you?
Yes!
VIETNAM UCAN Interview - Church Must Be Patient, Seek Common Ground With Government
BANGKOK (UCAN) -- The Vietnam Church can serve society in educational and social fields, and can even evangelize in a climate of "controlled freedom," according to Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City.
In such an environment, Cardinal Man, 70, said the Church needs to be "patient" and must look for common ground with the government in areas where it can work to develop society.
While in Bangkok for meetings, Cardinal Man talked with UCA News Aug. 4 on his nomination as cardinal, his vision for the archdiocese, his ways of carrying out Church ministries, and Church-government relations.
Pope John Paul II named him cardinal on Sept. 28, 2003, but it was not until three days later, on Oct. 1, that he found out about this. Vietnam's government welcomed his elevation after some international news reports said it might not. Episcopal appointments within the country are made with the approval of the government, which has rejected some appointments proposed by the Holy See.
The pope inducted the Ho Chi Minh City archbishop into the College of Cardinals on Oct. 21, 2003, at the Vatican. Vietnam now has two cardinals, the other being 85-year-old Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung of Ha Noi.
The interview with Cardinal Man follows:
UCA NEWS: Did you dialogue with the government concerning your nomination as Cardinal?
CARDINAL JEAN BAPTISTE PHAM MINH MAN: I made the first step to meet with government officials to find out what was going on. I had heard rumors about my nomination from my priests and other bishops.
I told (the official) I received the news about the nomination like everyone else and had no prior knowledge about it. I also said "cardinal" is a title, not a new responsibility, that nothing changes except the color of the robe.
I also told them I have to accept it. The official then told me to write to the prime minister so he would recognize me as cardinal. That was Oct. 1, three days after the nomination. I flew back to Ho Chi Minh City that day, and the next day I met with city authorities who congratulated me. They asked me about my transfer to Ha Noi. Then I understood the government's thinking that to be a cardinal means I must move to Ha Noi. They told me to obey my superior (the pope) and move to Ha Noi. I said I should obey what I can do, but what I cannot do, I cannot do.
A week later, I went to Rome for the celebration and Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe (prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) told me the pope was happy to set up a second "cardinalate," the see of the cardinal, in Vietnam.
As cardinal, are you more courageous to speak out?
I don't think I should be more courageous. I have always said what is true and just, even before becoming a cardinal. I have always asked Catholics to contribute to the development of the country based on truth, justice and charity. Nonetheless, since becoming a cardinal, more people have come to me, especially diplomats.
How do you regard the new law on religion to take effect in November?
The new law on religion still keeps the old system of "requesting and giving" for everything. This kind of system changes the right of freedom to the permission of freedom. I told the government several times that when foreign diplomats asked me if I agreed with them that Vietnam has no freedom, I said, "No! Vietnam has no 'rights' freedom, but 'permitted' freedom." We have freedom here, but it is permitted, limited and controlled.
I told the government that the freedom the people would like to have is as big as a table. But freedom in Ho Chi Minh City is like a dish on this table, and in other places it is only a cup. This is a reality. So (through the new law) they try to make things more open. But I still see the same system. We have to request and wait to have freedom.
How does this affect being Catholic and living one's faith in Vietnam?
Catholics as individuals have no problems of going to church and practicing their faith. But the government does not recognize a religious organization as a body. To live the faith in the present environment is very difficult. For example, in schools, whether they are primary, secondary schools or universities, not all but most students are cheating. How do Catholic students view their faith in this environment? There is also too much corruption in businesses and offices. How do Catholics live in this environment? This is the big problem facing them.
The Church's primary mission is to spread the Good News. Is that possible in a society that officially embraces atheism?
I tell Catholics there are so many difficulties and social ills in society. They and their families alone cannot overcome these difficulties. They should get together (to evangelize). Now I have formed a group of medical doctors with about 100 members; a group of Catholic artists, almost 100; a group of Catholic businessmen, several hundreds; a group of Catholic teachers, several thousands. I will also gather Catholics from among elected government officials.
I ask them what it is like being Catholics in this present environment. I told them they should protect the truth, justice and charity in their work for the development of society and the country. How can they do that? That is their duty to find out. This is evangelization.
Through religious congregations the archdiocese has set up missions in areas where there are no Catholics, setting up schools for the disabled, job training schools and kindergartens. We also have many "underground" activities. I told government officials about the work for prostitutes that some congregations have carried out. The Religious collect these women, put them in their homes, help the pregnant ones to give birth, raise the children and find new jobs for the women. Many congregations have several such homes and the government knows about them. One congregation even rented a house from a policeman.
What are your most difficult challenges, and how do you face them?
One time I asked about 10 U.S. Congressmen, who came to visit me and who asked if they could do anything to help me, to show me the way to change the views, or the minds, of people. And they laughed. One Catholic congressman told me "you should pray hard." So I asked them to "pray with me."
To dialogue you should find the same common ideas, and at the same time you should be very patient.
Another difficulty is to develop the country. The challenge is (more) education. As for me, I could not build hospitals or schools, then I set up a group of Catholic businessmen to carry out such work. Our ministries should be dictated by our faith to show Vietnamese people that God loves them.
The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is concerned about the family. What challenges face the family in Vietnam?
After Vietnam opened its doors, good and bad things have come in. Globalization comes in. With globalization, you have the "culture of death," a threat to the family. Many mothers have written to ask me to pray for their families because their children are involved in social ills. Other mothers wrote me that their sons and daughters were put in camps for many years.
In Ho Chi Minh City, three years ago the government had a list of 17,000 young drug addicts. The government put them in social centers, but these centers are run like prisons. Now it is not 17,000, but 32,000 young people in 15 centers. Catholics are among them. The city now looks as if it is clean.
Since many of the young people in these centers have HIV/AIDS, they decided to put them in one camp. Since it had nobody to take care of them, the government asked me to get Religious sisters to care for them. AIDS is a big issue, and the number of patients has increased more and more to several thousands.
I set up a pastoral committee for people with AIDS to organize a campaign against AIDS and to care for people with it. The committee organized training for religious and laypeople to equip them to care for people with HIV/AIDS in the city. The campaign is aimed at reaching more than 120,000 families, or about 600,000 Catholics living in the archdiocese's 200 parishes. We also plan to make compact discs on how to care for people with HIV/AIDS and how to prevent HIV infection, to be sent to about 500 priests in the archdiocese.
HIV/AIDS is one social ill, not the only one. I asked the families to always get together to pray and protect themselves from the threat of this culture of death.
Why have you invited so many cardinals to Vietnam?
The deep reason behind it is communion of the Church, especially in Asia. The other reason is to open the door wider. Since 1975 (after the reunification of North and South Vietnam), no bishop or even cardinal in the country could invite foreign bishops to stay overnight in his residence. None! So in the year 2002, I started to do that by inviting Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," to come and visit Vietnam. Late last year, I also invited cardinals from Asia to come to my thanksgiving Mass as cardinal. In the past I had to submit in paper my request. Now I just tell them that this is what I am going to do.
You seem optimistic about the future of the Church in Vietnam. Are you?
Yes!
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:10 PM (GMT)
VT6607.1301 August 11, 2004 66 EM-lines (752 words)
VIETNAM New Thanh Hoa Bishop Sets Focus On Unity, Dialogue
THANH HOA, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The new bishop of Thanh Hoa in northern Vietnam has called on the local government and other religions to work with the diocese in developing and building a harmonious society.
Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa was ordained bishop Aug. 4 on the cathedral grounds in Thanh Hoa city, 150 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
In his speech after the ordination in front of an estimated 30,000 people, Bishop Linh said: "God made me a bishop due to you all. I pledge to serve you all my life, and I would like everybody to unite with me in building the Kingdom of God in our fatherland."
Besides Catholics, the crowd included Buddhists, Protestants, Taoists and local government representatives.
Bishop Linh, 54, asked the local government to dialogue and collaborate with the Church to develop Thanh Hoa province economically, socially and culturally, improve people's lives and build unity among the religious and secular sectors. The province is the most heavily populated of Vietnam's provinces as well as one of the poorest.
Addressing representatives of other religions, the local Catholic Church's new leader said, "We have different beliefs, but we belong to the same country and have the same fatherland. We can dialogue with each other, respect each other's religion and learn from each other's teachings."
Father Jean Baptiste Trinh Quoc Vuong, the chief organizer of the event, told UCA News the number of participants was a "record."
Bishop Paul Nguyen Van Hoa of Nha Trang, president of the Vietnam Bishops' Conference, presided at the ordination. Bishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Lang Son, administrator of Ha Noi archdiocese, 16 other bishops and about 600 priests including a representative of the Paris Foreign Missions Society from France concelebrated the Mass.
Bishop Linh expressed his gratitude to Bishop Hoa, who had ordained him a priest of Nha Trang diocese in 1992, and to all God's people for helping him the past years. He also thanked the authorities of Thanh Hoa and Khanh Hoa provinces for sending him flowers and congratulatory messages. Khanh Hoa province in central Vietnam comes under Nha Trang diocese.
Looking ahead, he said his priorities would be giving retreats for priests and visiting parishes, including the parish in Ba Lang, his native village, to encourage evangelization.
Pope John Paul II named then Father Linh, professor at Nha Trang-based Sao Bien Major Seminary, bishop of Thanh Hoa on June 12. As bishop he succeeds the late Bishop Bartholomew Nguyen Son Lam, who died on June 9, 2003. Prior to the ordination Aug. 4, Bishop Kiet had been administering Thanh Hoa diocese.
Bishop Linh, the fourth bishop of Thanh Hoa, was born on Nov. 22, 1949. He fled to the South with his family in 1954, at age 5. He has eight brothers and sisters.
The new bishop's logo is three hands joined together in a triangle with a boat in the center. Father Vuong explained that the boat refers to Paris Foreign Missions Father Alexandre de Rhodes, who landed in Cua Bang, Thanh Hoa, on March 19, 1627, and began evangelization in northern Vietnam.
Thanh Hoa diocese, covering the whole province, has 125,697 Catholics among 3.5 million people in its territory. Most people are peasant farmers, small merchants and fisherfolk. The Kinh, or majority Vietnamese, make up 85 percent of the population, and about 20 ethnic groups account for the rest.
The diocese, founded in 1932, has 41 priests, 155 nuns and 46 seminarians.
Father Vuong said the ordination organizing committee featured national culture and the history of evangelization in the area. He said the committee wished to illustrate Bishop Linh's pastoral theme, which is to unite and cooperate with everybody to evangelize.
His episcopal motto "Ut Unum Sint" (that they may be one) shows that he wants to unite with clergy, Religious and laypeople in preserving the faith heritage and building and strengthening the diocese, Father Vuong added.
On the eve of the ordination, 10,000 people attended a cultural performance with girls in "ao dai" (Vietnamese dresses) and "non la" (palm-leaf conical hats). Seminarians performed a play depicting a Catholic priest visiting and dialoguing with a Buddhist monk at a pagoda.
Joseph Tran Van Ly, 70, told UCA News after the Mass, "This is the largest attendance and the richest cultural event I have ever attended." He added that it was the first episcopal ordination to be held in Thanh Hoa diocese since the late Bishop Pierre Pham Tan was ordained a bishop in 1975.
VIETNAM New Thanh Hoa Bishop Sets Focus On Unity, Dialogue
THANH HOA, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The new bishop of Thanh Hoa in northern Vietnam has called on the local government and other religions to work with the diocese in developing and building a harmonious society.
Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa was ordained bishop Aug. 4 on the cathedral grounds in Thanh Hoa city, 150 kilometers south of Ha Noi.
In his speech after the ordination in front of an estimated 30,000 people, Bishop Linh said: "God made me a bishop due to you all. I pledge to serve you all my life, and I would like everybody to unite with me in building the Kingdom of God in our fatherland."
Besides Catholics, the crowd included Buddhists, Protestants, Taoists and local government representatives.
Bishop Linh, 54, asked the local government to dialogue and collaborate with the Church to develop Thanh Hoa province economically, socially and culturally, improve people's lives and build unity among the religious and secular sectors. The province is the most heavily populated of Vietnam's provinces as well as one of the poorest.
Addressing representatives of other religions, the local Catholic Church's new leader said, "We have different beliefs, but we belong to the same country and have the same fatherland. We can dialogue with each other, respect each other's religion and learn from each other's teachings."
Father Jean Baptiste Trinh Quoc Vuong, the chief organizer of the event, told UCA News the number of participants was a "record."
Bishop Paul Nguyen Van Hoa of Nha Trang, president of the Vietnam Bishops' Conference, presided at the ordination. Bishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Lang Son, administrator of Ha Noi archdiocese, 16 other bishops and about 600 priests including a representative of the Paris Foreign Missions Society from France concelebrated the Mass.
Bishop Linh expressed his gratitude to Bishop Hoa, who had ordained him a priest of Nha Trang diocese in 1992, and to all God's people for helping him the past years. He also thanked the authorities of Thanh Hoa and Khanh Hoa provinces for sending him flowers and congratulatory messages. Khanh Hoa province in central Vietnam comes under Nha Trang diocese.
Looking ahead, he said his priorities would be giving retreats for priests and visiting parishes, including the parish in Ba Lang, his native village, to encourage evangelization.
Pope John Paul II named then Father Linh, professor at Nha Trang-based Sao Bien Major Seminary, bishop of Thanh Hoa on June 12. As bishop he succeeds the late Bishop Bartholomew Nguyen Son Lam, who died on June 9, 2003. Prior to the ordination Aug. 4, Bishop Kiet had been administering Thanh Hoa diocese.
Bishop Linh, the fourth bishop of Thanh Hoa, was born on Nov. 22, 1949. He fled to the South with his family in 1954, at age 5. He has eight brothers and sisters.
The new bishop's logo is three hands joined together in a triangle with a boat in the center. Father Vuong explained that the boat refers to Paris Foreign Missions Father Alexandre de Rhodes, who landed in Cua Bang, Thanh Hoa, on March 19, 1627, and began evangelization in northern Vietnam.
Thanh Hoa diocese, covering the whole province, has 125,697 Catholics among 3.5 million people in its territory. Most people are peasant farmers, small merchants and fisherfolk. The Kinh, or majority Vietnamese, make up 85 percent of the population, and about 20 ethnic groups account for the rest.
The diocese, founded in 1932, has 41 priests, 155 nuns and 46 seminarians.
Father Vuong said the ordination organizing committee featured national culture and the history of evangelization in the area. He said the committee wished to illustrate Bishop Linh's pastoral theme, which is to unite and cooperate with everybody to evangelize.
His episcopal motto "Ut Unum Sint" (that they may be one) shows that he wants to unite with clergy, Religious and laypeople in preserving the faith heritage and building and strengthening the diocese, Father Vuong added.
On the eve of the ordination, 10,000 people attended a cultural performance with girls in "ao dai" (Vietnamese dresses) and "non la" (palm-leaf conical hats). Seminarians performed a play depicting a Catholic priest visiting and dialoguing with a Buddhist monk at a pagoda.
Joseph Tran Van Ly, 70, told UCA News after the Mass, "This is the largest attendance and the richest cultural event I have ever attended." He added that it was the first episcopal ordination to be held in Thanh Hoa diocese since the late Bishop Pierre Pham Tan was ordained a bishop in 1975.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:10 PM (GMT)
VT6623.1302 August 16, 2004 59 EM-lines (690 words)
VIETNAM New Bishop Urges Renewed Commitment To Evangelization On Return Visit To Historic Home Parish
BA LANG, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catholics are called to follow in missioners' evangelizing footsteps, the new bishop of Thanh Hoa said as he returned to his native parish, the seedbed of evangelization in northern Vietnam.
Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, 54, visited his native Ba Lang parish, 200 kilometers south of Ha Noi, on Aug. 5, a day after his episcopal ordination. On the church grounds he led a Mass attended by 8,000 Catholics, a number of them from other provinces, other parts of the country and even abroad.
"We," he said, acknowledging the various groups including parishioners from Nha Trang and Phan Thiet dioceses, "are gathered here to give thanks to God, and to review foreign missioners' process of evangelization and follow their example to evangelize."
The bishop added that the ancestors of local Catholics were the first people to receive the Good News in northern Vietnam, after Jesuit Fathers Alexandre de Rhodes and P. Marques landed in Cua Bang, now Ba Lang, in 1627. "We should be proud of our native land, the cradle of the evangelizing mission in Dang Ngoai (northern Vietnam)," he said.
Ba Lang parish was founded as Cua Bang parish in 1846, in Tinh Gia district. It now has five subparishes and 8,604 Catholics, mostly fisherfolk.
In the 1954 exodus after communist forces defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu, two-thirds of the local Catholics fled to the southern coastal dioceses of Nha Trang and Phan Thiet. They settled and founded new parishes there. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, many members of those parishes emigrated to foreign countries.
Bishop Linh said he left Ba Lang when he was 5 years old so he does not remember much about the area. "However, my heart is leaping at your zealous faith life and warm sentiments for me," he added.
The new bishop encouraged everyone to love one another and to develop the parish in faith and social life. He asked them all to "follow Father de Rhodes' example by bringing the Good News to our neighbors."
Redemptorist Father Rocco Nguyen Tu Do, a Catholic historian, spoke to the gathered people about the history of evangelization in the region.
Father Do, 76 said Father de Rhodes began teaching Catholicism in Vietnamese to Vietnamese sailors and merchants who were doing business with Westerners. He and his fellow missioner gave Cua Bang the name St. Joseph's Port and, with local Catholics, erected a cross on top of Mount Du Xuyen, near the sea. The French missioner baptized 6,200 people including members of the royal family during three years of work, before he left in 1930, amid persecution, for the Portuguese colony of Macau, a Jesuit base. Later he traveled to preach in Thanh Long, now Ha Noi, but he again had to leave Vietnam in 1645. He died in 1660 in Iran.
The Ba Lang parish "tradition house," located on the church premises, keeps a number of books by Father de Rhodes including a Vietnamese-Portuguese-Latin Dictionary, published in 1651 in Rome, and "Phep Giang Tam Ngay" (catechism explained in eight days). The missioner also instituted use of "chu quoc ngu," the Romanized Vietnamese script, and set up houses to train Vietnamese catechists to help missioners evangelize in northern and southern Vietnam. A stone statue of Father de Rhodes was erected on the Ba Lang church premises.
Father Do suggested Vietnamese bishops should make Ba Lang a pilgrimage site so many people can learn about its historical role in Catholicism. Bishop Linh promised to forward this suggestion to the Vietnam Bishops' Conference.
About 20 fishing boats anchored in front of the 111-year-old church focused their lights on the crowd during Mass and the cultural shows that followed. The bishop joined in the celebration that included dancing and singing until late at night.
Jean Nguyen Trung Luong, 42, member of the Ba Lang parish council, told UCA News the parish has tried to fight social ills by providing proper faith education to everybody. During this Year of Evangelization designated by the Vietnamese bishops, it also is organizing courses for adults and children on the history of evangelization, he added.
VIETNAM New Bishop Urges Renewed Commitment To Evangelization On Return Visit To Historic Home Parish
BA LANG, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catholics are called to follow in missioners' evangelizing footsteps, the new bishop of Thanh Hoa said as he returned to his native parish, the seedbed of evangelization in northern Vietnam.
Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, 54, visited his native Ba Lang parish, 200 kilometers south of Ha Noi, on Aug. 5, a day after his episcopal ordination. On the church grounds he led a Mass attended by 8,000 Catholics, a number of them from other provinces, other parts of the country and even abroad.
"We," he said, acknowledging the various groups including parishioners from Nha Trang and Phan Thiet dioceses, "are gathered here to give thanks to God, and to review foreign missioners' process of evangelization and follow their example to evangelize."
The bishop added that the ancestors of local Catholics were the first people to receive the Good News in northern Vietnam, after Jesuit Fathers Alexandre de Rhodes and P. Marques landed in Cua Bang, now Ba Lang, in 1627. "We should be proud of our native land, the cradle of the evangelizing mission in Dang Ngoai (northern Vietnam)," he said.
Ba Lang parish was founded as Cua Bang parish in 1846, in Tinh Gia district. It now has five subparishes and 8,604 Catholics, mostly fisherfolk.
In the 1954 exodus after communist forces defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu, two-thirds of the local Catholics fled to the southern coastal dioceses of Nha Trang and Phan Thiet. They settled and founded new parishes there. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, many members of those parishes emigrated to foreign countries.
Bishop Linh said he left Ba Lang when he was 5 years old so he does not remember much about the area. "However, my heart is leaping at your zealous faith life and warm sentiments for me," he added.
The new bishop encouraged everyone to love one another and to develop the parish in faith and social life. He asked them all to "follow Father de Rhodes' example by bringing the Good News to our neighbors."
Redemptorist Father Rocco Nguyen Tu Do, a Catholic historian, spoke to the gathered people about the history of evangelization in the region.
Father Do, 76 said Father de Rhodes began teaching Catholicism in Vietnamese to Vietnamese sailors and merchants who were doing business with Westerners. He and his fellow missioner gave Cua Bang the name St. Joseph's Port and, with local Catholics, erected a cross on top of Mount Du Xuyen, near the sea. The French missioner baptized 6,200 people including members of the royal family during three years of work, before he left in 1930, amid persecution, for the Portuguese colony of Macau, a Jesuit base. Later he traveled to preach in Thanh Long, now Ha Noi, but he again had to leave Vietnam in 1645. He died in 1660 in Iran.
The Ba Lang parish "tradition house," located on the church premises, keeps a number of books by Father de Rhodes including a Vietnamese-Portuguese-Latin Dictionary, published in 1651 in Rome, and "Phep Giang Tam Ngay" (catechism explained in eight days). The missioner also instituted use of "chu quoc ngu," the Romanized Vietnamese script, and set up houses to train Vietnamese catechists to help missioners evangelize in northern and southern Vietnam. A stone statue of Father de Rhodes was erected on the Ba Lang church premises.
Father Do suggested Vietnamese bishops should make Ba Lang a pilgrimage site so many people can learn about its historical role in Catholicism. Bishop Linh promised to forward this suggestion to the Vietnam Bishops' Conference.
About 20 fishing boats anchored in front of the 111-year-old church focused their lights on the crowd during Mass and the cultural shows that followed. The bishop joined in the celebration that included dancing and singing until late at night.
Jean Nguyen Trung Luong, 42, member of the Ba Lang parish council, told UCA News the parish has tried to fight social ills by providing proper faith education to everybody. During this Year of Evangelization designated by the Vietnamese bishops, it also is organizing courses for adults and children on the history of evangelization, he added.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:10 PM (GMT)
VT6656.1302 August 18, 2004 65 EM-lines (749 words)
VIETNAM Bishop Urges Catholics To Practice Faith 'Out Of' Church
THAI BINH, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The bishop of Thai Binh diocese in northern Vietnam has urged Catholics to live out their faith in their daily life rather than just in church.
"Nowadays it is more important for Christians to go out of the church than go into church," Bishop Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Sang told the congregation Aug. 7 at Thuan Tuy parish, Thai Binh province, southeast of Ha Noi.
Bishop Sang celebrated the Mass to mark the centenary of Thuan Tuy church. About 2,000 people attended the Mass concelebrated by 32 priests. Thuan Tuy is one of the pilgrimage sites in Thai Binh diocese during 2004, designated as the "Year of Evangelization" by the Vietnamese bishops.
Construction of the church, which has an Oriental architectural style, was started in 1904 and completed in 1910. It can accommodate 1,000 people, more than the 539 Catholics registered at the parish.
Bishop Sang, 72, described rural Catholics as living their faith like women who put on "ao dai" (Vietnamese dress) to go to church, then put it away when they get back home. "We cannot live out our faith in the same way as we use ao dai," he said.
Attending Mass, receiving the Sacraments, praying and hearing homilies are no more important than living the faith daily in the fields, markets, schools or workplaces, he preached. He told the Catholics, "We have a responsibility to bring the Good News and happiness to others."
The bishop called on Catholics to perform their evangelizing mission by sharing materially and spiritually with the poor, disabled and needy, which he said includes spending time with them. He identified living in unity and mutual affection in the family, parish and diocese also as part of that mission.
Many appeared surprised at the bishop's suggestions. They told UCA News priests are always telling them to attend Mass, say prayers and hear the word of God after a working day, while the bishop said going into church is not as important as living their faith outside it.
At the end of the Mass, seminarians explained to some women that Catholics should not cheat in the marketplace, copy from others during school exams or fail to love and help others in the workplace.
Joseph Vu Van Dao said he appreciated the bishop's ideas and wants priests to teach parishioners how to live their faith outside the church building.
Bishop Sang expressed dissatisfaction over some Catholics protesting the demolition of the old cathedral out of nostalgia.
He celebrated a Mass in December 2003 to launch construction of the new cathedral in Thai Binh town, 110 kilometers from the capital. But the diocese did not get permission to build from the local government until this August. Demolition of the old cathedral began Aug. 5.
The old cathedral, built in 1906, was damaged by storms and hit by U.S. bombs in 1967 during the Vietnam War. It was too small for the crowds that show up for major Church feasts.
Many Catholics recall helping the late Bishop Dominique Dinh Duc Tru, Thai Binh's first Vietnamese bishop, remove statues from the ruined building and repair it. Some keep copies of photos of the cathedral with the late bishop.
Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong, a layman, told UCA News the new cathedral will be much larger, more beautiful and more convenient, but he did not want to demolish the old cathedral, linked in his memory with Bishop Tru.
The new cathedral is designed in the shape of a cross, and its two stories will have a floor area of nearly 2,000 square meters. The construction cost is estimated at about 5 billion dong (US$330,000).
Bishop Sang warned that nostalgia for the old church and his predecessor could create divisiveness in the diocese and delay the process of constructing the new cathedral. He said it takes from two to four years to get government permission to build a new church in the province. If some parishioners protest against construction of a new church, the government could prevent construction.
Pierre Vu Quang Anh, a layman, agrees with Bishop Sang. "We cannot always insist on memories of the past. The construction of the new cathedral is necessary to meet the needs of the large majority of lay Catholics," he said.
Father Joseph Tran Xuan Chieu, pastor of the cathedral parish, told UCA News last year that Bishop Sang has had 400 out of about 500 deteriorating churches, Mass centers and chapels in the diocese repaired or rebuilt.
END
VIETNAM Bishop Urges Catholics To Practice Faith 'Out Of' Church
THAI BINH, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The bishop of Thai Binh diocese in northern Vietnam has urged Catholics to live out their faith in their daily life rather than just in church.
"Nowadays it is more important for Christians to go out of the church than go into church," Bishop Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Sang told the congregation Aug. 7 at Thuan Tuy parish, Thai Binh province, southeast of Ha Noi.
Bishop Sang celebrated the Mass to mark the centenary of Thuan Tuy church. About 2,000 people attended the Mass concelebrated by 32 priests. Thuan Tuy is one of the pilgrimage sites in Thai Binh diocese during 2004, designated as the "Year of Evangelization" by the Vietnamese bishops.
Construction of the church, which has an Oriental architectural style, was started in 1904 and completed in 1910. It can accommodate 1,000 people, more than the 539 Catholics registered at the parish.
Bishop Sang, 72, described rural Catholics as living their faith like women who put on "ao dai" (Vietnamese dress) to go to church, then put it away when they get back home. "We cannot live out our faith in the same way as we use ao dai," he said.
Attending Mass, receiving the Sacraments, praying and hearing homilies are no more important than living the faith daily in the fields, markets, schools or workplaces, he preached. He told the Catholics, "We have a responsibility to bring the Good News and happiness to others."
The bishop called on Catholics to perform their evangelizing mission by sharing materially and spiritually with the poor, disabled and needy, which he said includes spending time with them. He identified living in unity and mutual affection in the family, parish and diocese also as part of that mission.
Many appeared surprised at the bishop's suggestions. They told UCA News priests are always telling them to attend Mass, say prayers and hear the word of God after a working day, while the bishop said going into church is not as important as living their faith outside it.
At the end of the Mass, seminarians explained to some women that Catholics should not cheat in the marketplace, copy from others during school exams or fail to love and help others in the workplace.
Joseph Vu Van Dao said he appreciated the bishop's ideas and wants priests to teach parishioners how to live their faith outside the church building.
Bishop Sang expressed dissatisfaction over some Catholics protesting the demolition of the old cathedral out of nostalgia.
He celebrated a Mass in December 2003 to launch construction of the new cathedral in Thai Binh town, 110 kilometers from the capital. But the diocese did not get permission to build from the local government until this August. Demolition of the old cathedral began Aug. 5.
The old cathedral, built in 1906, was damaged by storms and hit by U.S. bombs in 1967 during the Vietnam War. It was too small for the crowds that show up for major Church feasts.
Many Catholics recall helping the late Bishop Dominique Dinh Duc Tru, Thai Binh's first Vietnamese bishop, remove statues from the ruined building and repair it. Some keep copies of photos of the cathedral with the late bishop.
Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong, a layman, told UCA News the new cathedral will be much larger, more beautiful and more convenient, but he did not want to demolish the old cathedral, linked in his memory with Bishop Tru.
The new cathedral is designed in the shape of a cross, and its two stories will have a floor area of nearly 2,000 square meters. The construction cost is estimated at about 5 billion dong (US$330,000).
Bishop Sang warned that nostalgia for the old church and his predecessor could create divisiveness in the diocese and delay the process of constructing the new cathedral. He said it takes from two to four years to get government permission to build a new church in the province. If some parishioners protest against construction of a new church, the government could prevent construction.
Pierre Vu Quang Anh, a layman, agrees with Bishop Sang. "We cannot always insist on memories of the past. The construction of the new cathedral is necessary to meet the needs of the large majority of lay Catholics," he said.
Father Joseph Tran Xuan Chieu, pastor of the cathedral parish, told UCA News last year that Bishop Sang has had 400 out of about 500 deteriorating churches, Mass centers and chapels in the diocese repaired or rebuilt.
END
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:10 PM (GMT)
VT6656.1302 August 18, 2004 65 EM-lines (749 words)
VIETNAM Bishop Urges Catholics To Practice Faith 'Out Of' Church
THAI BINH, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The bishop of Thai Binh diocese in northern Vietnam has urged Catholics to live out their faith in their daily life rather than just in church.
"Nowadays it is more important for Christians to go out of the church than go into church," Bishop Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Sang told the congregation Aug. 7 at Thuan Tuy parish, Thai Binh province, southeast of Ha Noi.
Bishop Sang celebrated the Mass to mark the centenary of Thuan Tuy church. About 2,000 people attended the Mass concelebrated by 32 priests. Thuan Tuy is one of the pilgrimage sites in Thai Binh diocese during 2004, designated as the "Year of Evangelization" by the Vietnamese bishops.
Construction of the church, which has an Oriental architectural style, was started in 1904 and completed in 1910. It can accommodate 1,000 people, more than the 539 Catholics registered at the parish.
Bishop Sang, 72, described rural Catholics as living their faith like women who put on "ao dai" (Vietnamese dress) to go to church, then put it away when they get back home. "We cannot live out our faith in the same way as we use ao dai," he said.
Attending Mass, receiving the Sacraments, praying and hearing homilies are no more important than living the faith daily in the fields, markets, schools or workplaces, he preached. He told the Catholics, "We have a responsibility to bring the Good News and happiness to others."
The bishop called on Catholics to perform their evangelizing mission by sharing materially and spiritually with the poor, disabled and needy, which he said includes spending time with them. He identified living in unity and mutual affection in the family, parish and diocese also as part of that mission.
Many appeared surprised at the bishop's suggestions. They told UCA News priests are always telling them to attend Mass, say prayers and hear the word of God after a working day, while the bishop said going into church is not as important as living their faith outside it.
At the end of the Mass, seminarians explained to some women that Catholics should not cheat in the marketplace, copy from others during school exams or fail to love and help others in the workplace.
Joseph Vu Van Dao said he appreciated the bishop's ideas and wants priests to teach parishioners how to live their faith outside the church building.
Bishop Sang expressed dissatisfaction over some Catholics protesting the demolition of the old cathedral out of nostalgia.
He celebrated a Mass in December 2003 to launch construction of the new cathedral in Thai Binh town, 110 kilometers from the capital. But the diocese did not get permission to build from the local government until this August. Demolition of the old cathedral began Aug. 5.
The old cathedral, built in 1906, was damaged by storms and hit by U.S. bombs in 1967 during the Vietnam War. It was too small for the crowds that show up for major Church feasts.
Many Catholics recall helping the late Bishop Dominique Dinh Duc Tru, Thai Binh's first Vietnamese bishop, remove statues from the ruined building and repair it. Some keep copies of photos of the cathedral with the late bishop.
Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong, a layman, told UCA News the new cathedral will be much larger, more beautiful and more convenient, but he did not want to demolish the old cathedral, linked in his memory with Bishop Tru.
The new cathedral is designed in the shape of a cross, and its two stories will have a floor area of nearly 2,000 square meters. The construction cost is estimated at about 5 billion dong (US$330,000).
Bishop Sang warned that nostalgia for the old church and his predecessor could create divisiveness in the diocese and delay the process of constructing the new cathedral. He said it takes from two to four years to get government permission to build a new church in the province. If some parishioners protest against construction of a new church, the government could prevent construction.
Pierre Vu Quang Anh, a layman, agrees with Bishop Sang. "We cannot always insist on memories of the past. The construction of the new cathedral is necessary to meet the needs of the large majority of lay Catholics," he said.
Father Joseph Tran Xuan Chieu, pastor of the cathedral parish, told UCA News last year that Bishop Sang has had 400 out of about 500 deteriorating churches, Mass centers and chapels in the diocese repaired or rebuilt.
END
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/133/32.0.html
VIETNAM Bishop Urges Catholics To Practice Faith 'Out Of' Church
THAI BINH, Vietnam (UCAN) -- The bishop of Thai Binh diocese in northern Vietnam has urged Catholics to live out their faith in their daily life rather than just in church.
"Nowadays it is more important for Christians to go out of the church than go into church," Bishop Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Sang told the congregation Aug. 7 at Thuan Tuy parish, Thai Binh province, southeast of Ha Noi.
Bishop Sang celebrated the Mass to mark the centenary of Thuan Tuy church. About 2,000 people attended the Mass concelebrated by 32 priests. Thuan Tuy is one of the pilgrimage sites in Thai Binh diocese during 2004, designated as the "Year of Evangelization" by the Vietnamese bishops.
Construction of the church, which has an Oriental architectural style, was started in 1904 and completed in 1910. It can accommodate 1,000 people, more than the 539 Catholics registered at the parish.
Bishop Sang, 72, described rural Catholics as living their faith like women who put on "ao dai" (Vietnamese dress) to go to church, then put it away when they get back home. "We cannot live out our faith in the same way as we use ao dai," he said.
Attending Mass, receiving the Sacraments, praying and hearing homilies are no more important than living the faith daily in the fields, markets, schools or workplaces, he preached. He told the Catholics, "We have a responsibility to bring the Good News and happiness to others."
The bishop called on Catholics to perform their evangelizing mission by sharing materially and spiritually with the poor, disabled and needy, which he said includes spending time with them. He identified living in unity and mutual affection in the family, parish and diocese also as part of that mission.
Many appeared surprised at the bishop's suggestions. They told UCA News priests are always telling them to attend Mass, say prayers and hear the word of God after a working day, while the bishop said going into church is not as important as living their faith outside it.
At the end of the Mass, seminarians explained to some women that Catholics should not cheat in the marketplace, copy from others during school exams or fail to love and help others in the workplace.
Joseph Vu Van Dao said he appreciated the bishop's ideas and wants priests to teach parishioners how to live their faith outside the church building.
Bishop Sang expressed dissatisfaction over some Catholics protesting the demolition of the old cathedral out of nostalgia.
He celebrated a Mass in December 2003 to launch construction of the new cathedral in Thai Binh town, 110 kilometers from the capital. But the diocese did not get permission to build from the local government until this August. Demolition of the old cathedral began Aug. 5.
The old cathedral, built in 1906, was damaged by storms and hit by U.S. bombs in 1967 during the Vietnam War. It was too small for the crowds that show up for major Church feasts.
Many Catholics recall helping the late Bishop Dominique Dinh Duc Tru, Thai Binh's first Vietnamese bishop, remove statues from the ruined building and repair it. Some keep copies of photos of the cathedral with the late bishop.
Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong, a layman, told UCA News the new cathedral will be much larger, more beautiful and more convenient, but he did not want to demolish the old cathedral, linked in his memory with Bishop Tru.
The new cathedral is designed in the shape of a cross, and its two stories will have a floor area of nearly 2,000 square meters. The construction cost is estimated at about 5 billion dong (US$330,000).
Bishop Sang warned that nostalgia for the old church and his predecessor could create divisiveness in the diocese and delay the process of constructing the new cathedral. He said it takes from two to four years to get government permission to build a new church in the province. If some parishioners protest against construction of a new church, the government could prevent construction.
Pierre Vu Quang Anh, a layman, agrees with Bishop Sang. "We cannot always insist on memories of the past. The construction of the new cathedral is necessary to meet the needs of the large majority of lay Catholics," he said.
Father Joseph Tran Xuan Chieu, pastor of the cathedral parish, told UCA News last year that Bishop Sang has had 400 out of about 500 deteriorating churches, Mass centers and chapels in the diocese repaired or rebuilt.
END
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/133/32.0.html
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:10 PM (GMT)
VT6703.1303 August 25, 2004 61 EM-lines (730 words)
VIETNAM Young Volunteers Happy To Clean Vietnam's Largest Marian Shrine
LA VANG, Vietnam (UCAN) -- In spite of the hot weather, Antoine Nguyen Ngoc Bao walked on his rounds among pilgrims at Vietnam's most popular Marian shrine, picking up bits of trash and putting them into a can he took with him.
His sweaty face broke into a smile as Bao, 23, told UCA News: "I am really happy to contribute to cleaning the Marian shrine, helping every pilgrim love Our Blessed Mother more."
When his can was full, the young man from Luong Van parish in Hue archdiocese emptied it at a garbage dump and continued his job.
Bao was among 55 people aged 15-30, a third of them women, who volunteered to clean Aug. 13-15 at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in Quang Tri province, 600 kilometers south of Ha Noi. He has done this volunteer cleaning work for eight years. The shrine is in the territory of Hue archdiocese.
The Blessed Mother is believed to have appeared in La Vang in 1798 and consoled persecuted Vietnamese Catholics during feudal times. In 1961 the bishops of Vietnam declared the site the national Marian shrine.
This year approximately 200,000 Vietnamese pilgrims from all parts of the country and foreign countries, including patients and disabled people in wheelchairs, visited the shrine to celebrate the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption.
Bishop Pierre Nguyen Soan of Quy Nhon, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Vu Duy Thong of Ho Chi Minh City and some 100 other priests led Masses. Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The of Hue was out of the country at the time.
Pilgrims came to La Vang several days before the feast, sleeping on the ground at night. They attended Masses, prayed, said the rosary, sang hymns, marched in processions, danced and played gongs until midnight.
Pilgrims collected bundles of leaves and bottles of water at the shrine and placed them under the feet of the statue of Mary to take home as souvenirs.
Bao and others cleaned up after them, and some spoke to UCA News about their experience.
Marie Dao Thi My Hanh, 20, described the work as tiring but important. She said most pilgrims littered where they ate, slept and prayed, even though 100 trashcans stood around the shrine grounds.
"I am proud of my work," Hahn added, pointing out that each cleaner received only 30,000 dong (about US$2) a day for meals.
Some schoolgirl volunteers said they were tired but happy to have fulfilled the task entrusted to them by the archdiocese. They expressed confidence the Blessed Mother would acknowledge their work and help them stay healthy and do their studies well.
Father Pierre Nguyen Huu Giai, who was in charge of keeping the shrine clean, told UCA News volunteers such as Bao and Hanh had to collect garbage, clean indoor toilets, spread lime over the outdoor toilet facilities and make sure that all water tanks were full and available for use. Many on the cleaning crew have volunteered at the shrine since 1991, he added.
The priest, pastor of An Bang parish, said the cleaners were overloaded with work this year because the number of pilgrims was larger than he had expected.
Jean Don Bosco Nguyen Van Dien noted that he and others had to work throughout the night to clean the toilet area. But he did not complain.
"I do this job out of a love for God and Our Blessed Mother. I believe God and the Blessed Mother will award my family and me a lot of grace for what I have done," explained the 20 year old, a five-year cleaning veteran.
In the view of Joseph Nguyen Cong Duc, a 12th grader who volunteered, "a clean environment will please everybody." He added with conviction, "More people will certainly come to visit the Blessed Mother next year."
Anna Vo Thi Luu, 70, a pilgrim, had the impression there were fewer cleaners this year, but "every place was clean and water always available for everybody to drink or to wash themselves." Luu, who said she comes to La Vang every year, told UCA News, "If there were not these cleaners, the Marian shrine would be an enormous garbage dump after pilgrims have gone home."
As pilgrims boarded buses to leave after the main Mass on Aug. 15, rain poured down. But the cleaners were still making their rounds, in raincoats, collecting the trash.
END
VIETNAM Young Volunteers Happy To Clean Vietnam's Largest Marian Shrine
LA VANG, Vietnam (UCAN) -- In spite of the hot weather, Antoine Nguyen Ngoc Bao walked on his rounds among pilgrims at Vietnam's most popular Marian shrine, picking up bits of trash and putting them into a can he took with him.
His sweaty face broke into a smile as Bao, 23, told UCA News: "I am really happy to contribute to cleaning the Marian shrine, helping every pilgrim love Our Blessed Mother more."
When his can was full, the young man from Luong Van parish in Hue archdiocese emptied it at a garbage dump and continued his job.
Bao was among 55 people aged 15-30, a third of them women, who volunteered to clean Aug. 13-15 at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in Quang Tri province, 600 kilometers south of Ha Noi. He has done this volunteer cleaning work for eight years. The shrine is in the territory of Hue archdiocese.
The Blessed Mother is believed to have appeared in La Vang in 1798 and consoled persecuted Vietnamese Catholics during feudal times. In 1961 the bishops of Vietnam declared the site the national Marian shrine.
This year approximately 200,000 Vietnamese pilgrims from all parts of the country and foreign countries, including patients and disabled people in wheelchairs, visited the shrine to celebrate the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption.
Bishop Pierre Nguyen Soan of Quy Nhon, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Vu Duy Thong of Ho Chi Minh City and some 100 other priests led Masses. Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The of Hue was out of the country at the time.
Pilgrims came to La Vang several days before the feast, sleeping on the ground at night. They attended Masses, prayed, said the rosary, sang hymns, marched in processions, danced and played gongs until midnight.
Pilgrims collected bundles of leaves and bottles of water at the shrine and placed them under the feet of the statue of Mary to take home as souvenirs.
Bao and others cleaned up after them, and some spoke to UCA News about their experience.
Marie Dao Thi My Hanh, 20, described the work as tiring but important. She said most pilgrims littered where they ate, slept and prayed, even though 100 trashcans stood around the shrine grounds.
"I am proud of my work," Hahn added, pointing out that each cleaner received only 30,000 dong (about US$2) a day for meals.
Some schoolgirl volunteers said they were tired but happy to have fulfilled the task entrusted to them by the archdiocese. They expressed confidence the Blessed Mother would acknowledge their work and help them stay healthy and do their studies well.
Father Pierre Nguyen Huu Giai, who was in charge of keeping the shrine clean, told UCA News volunteers such as Bao and Hanh had to collect garbage, clean indoor toilets, spread lime over the outdoor toilet facilities and make sure that all water tanks were full and available for use. Many on the cleaning crew have volunteered at the shrine since 1991, he added.
The priest, pastor of An Bang parish, said the cleaners were overloaded with work this year because the number of pilgrims was larger than he had expected.
Jean Don Bosco Nguyen Van Dien noted that he and others had to work throughout the night to clean the toilet area. But he did not complain.
"I do this job out of a love for God and Our Blessed Mother. I believe God and the Blessed Mother will award my family and me a lot of grace for what I have done," explained the 20 year old, a five-year cleaning veteran.
In the view of Joseph Nguyen Cong Duc, a 12th grader who volunteered, "a clean environment will please everybody." He added with conviction, "More people will certainly come to visit the Blessed Mother next year."
Anna Vo Thi Luu, 70, a pilgrim, had the impression there were fewer cleaners this year, but "every place was clean and water always available for everybody to drink or to wash themselves." Luu, who said she comes to La Vang every year, told UCA News, "If there were not these cleaners, the Marian shrine would be an enormous garbage dump after pilgrims have gone home."
As pilgrims boarded buses to leave after the main Mass on Aug. 15, rain poured down. But the cleaners were still making their rounds, in raincoats, collecting the trash.
END
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:11 PM (GMT)
VT6738.1305 September 6, 2004 65 EM-lines (722 words)
VIETNAM Senior Church Leader Warns Of New Challenges Facing Evangelization
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Trends toward materialism, individualism and a more rational approach to religion are challenging faith formation and evangelization in Vietnam, a senior bishop says.
Retired Bishop Jean Baptiste Bui Tuan of Long Xuyen observes that Catholics today demand more scholarly preachers and increased personal independence while demonstrating a growing indifference toward Church and community issues.
As a result, evangelization including faith formation is becoming "more and more difficult as the civilization of materialism is accelerating and proving attractive," he said in an article published recently.
Bishop Tuan, 76, said in the article, which appeared in the Aug. 20 issue of the Catholic weekly "Cong giao va Dan Toc" (Catholicism and Nation), that such attitudes are developing among people in general.
The article by Bishop Tuan, who retired in September 2003 as bishop of Long Xuyen, the diocese with the largest Catholic population in Vietnam, was titled "New Challenges on the Way of Evangelization." He regularly contributes to the weekly, which is based in Ho Chi Minh City, 1,710 kilometers south of Ha Noi. His former diocese is to the west, in the Mekong delta region.
Authenticity is one current issue the bishop cited, saying religion teachers today must have "a true religious life, true standards of religious and secular education and genuine personal development to be true disciples of the Lord." People will listen to religious teachers if they live what they teach, not because of a teacher's position, power or vestments, he added.
Beyond this, he said, students no longer "readily believe" what religion teachers tell them "but will ask for a reasonable explanation."
Bishop Tuan explained that common sense is not the main factor in religions, but that scientific, philosophical or sociological knowledge cannot be absent from them. In addition, he pointed out that some areas pertaining to religion such as construction, organization, public relations and statistical information require high degrees of accuracy and rationality.
Nonetheless, he said that through his own evangelization work, he "realized that many people make use of reason or misrepresent it to create difficulties to prevent evangelization."
Concerning personal independence, he observed that today people choose the meaning, orientation and criteria for happiness in their life and assume responsibility for their choices. This is true even among Catholics, who used to be "very obedient," he noted. Many individuals no longer accept community norms without question and often defy community traditions, he said, whereas in the past an individual would think the same way as other members of her or his family, parish or Religious congregation.
In the past community mores were accepted and each community member thought and acted in the same way, but now "such similarity is considered a hindrance to the development of creativity," he said.
Bishop Tuan commented, "Unity today is considered as mutual affection and respect in differences, and not the elimination of personal values."
However, he warned that the yardstick of personal independence tends to be misused in standards of morality and religion. "Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit," he said, "this tendency will cause confusion between good and evil, and worsen faith life."
Self-centered independence is a main cause for Catholics' general indifference to Church issues, according to the retired bishop.
Religion is still a need in life, but many people do not think highly of it, he said. Rather, they are concerned about only those religious issues that touch their life. This indifference is increasing in many places, especially where consumerist lifestyles determine people's choices, the bishop said.
In response to these challenges, Bishop Tuan advised that it is "more necessary than ever for missioners to live out the values of the Good News, highlight closeness to God and believe as strongly in God as Mary, who said, 'I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.'"
"Missioners, with humility and hope, will be gradually guided by the Holy Spirit and find out what they should do during their process of evangelizing in this beloved Vietnam," he said.
The Vietnam Bishops' Conference selected 2004 as the Year of Evangelization.
Bishop Tuan was ordained bishop on April 30, 1975, the day when northern communist forces entered Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. His former coadjutor, Bishop Joseph Tran Xuan Tieu, succeeded him as bishop of Long Xuyen.
END
VIETNAM Senior Church Leader Warns Of New Challenges Facing Evangelization
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Trends toward materialism, individualism and a more rational approach to religion are challenging faith formation and evangelization in Vietnam, a senior bishop says.
Retired Bishop Jean Baptiste Bui Tuan of Long Xuyen observes that Catholics today demand more scholarly preachers and increased personal independence while demonstrating a growing indifference toward Church and community issues.
As a result, evangelization including faith formation is becoming "more and more difficult as the civilization of materialism is accelerating and proving attractive," he said in an article published recently.
Bishop Tuan, 76, said in the article, which appeared in the Aug. 20 issue of the Catholic weekly "Cong giao va Dan Toc" (Catholicism and Nation), that such attitudes are developing among people in general.
The article by Bishop Tuan, who retired in September 2003 as bishop of Long Xuyen, the diocese with the largest Catholic population in Vietnam, was titled "New Challenges on the Way of Evangelization." He regularly contributes to the weekly, which is based in Ho Chi Minh City, 1,710 kilometers south of Ha Noi. His former diocese is to the west, in the Mekong delta region.
Authenticity is one current issue the bishop cited, saying religion teachers today must have "a true religious life, true standards of religious and secular education and genuine personal development to be true disciples of the Lord." People will listen to religious teachers if they live what they teach, not because of a teacher's position, power or vestments, he added.
Beyond this, he said, students no longer "readily believe" what religion teachers tell them "but will ask for a reasonable explanation."
Bishop Tuan explained that common sense is not the main factor in religions, but that scientific, philosophical or sociological knowledge cannot be absent from them. In addition, he pointed out that some areas pertaining to religion such as construction, organization, public relations and statistical information require high degrees of accuracy and rationality.
Nonetheless, he said that through his own evangelization work, he "realized that many people make use of reason or misrepresent it to create difficulties to prevent evangelization."
Concerning personal independence, he observed that today people choose the meaning, orientation and criteria for happiness in their life and assume responsibility for their choices. This is true even among Catholics, who used to be "very obedient," he noted. Many individuals no longer accept community norms without question and often defy community traditions, he said, whereas in the past an individual would think the same way as other members of her or his family, parish or Religious congregation.
In the past community mores were accepted and each community member thought and acted in the same way, but now "such similarity is considered a hindrance to the development of creativity," he said.
Bishop Tuan commented, "Unity today is considered as mutual affection and respect in differences, and not the elimination of personal values."
However, he warned that the yardstick of personal independence tends to be misused in standards of morality and religion. "Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit," he said, "this tendency will cause confusion between good and evil, and worsen faith life."
Self-centered independence is a main cause for Catholics' general indifference to Church issues, according to the retired bishop.
Religion is still a need in life, but many people do not think highly of it, he said. Rather, they are concerned about only those religious issues that touch their life. This indifference is increasing in many places, especially where consumerist lifestyles determine people's choices, the bishop said.
In response to these challenges, Bishop Tuan advised that it is "more necessary than ever for missioners to live out the values of the Good News, highlight closeness to God and believe as strongly in God as Mary, who said, 'I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.'"
"Missioners, with humility and hope, will be gradually guided by the Holy Spirit and find out what they should do during their process of evangelizing in this beloved Vietnam," he said.
The Vietnam Bishops' Conference selected 2004 as the Year of Evangelization.
Bishop Tuan was ordained bishop on April 30, 1975, the day when northern communist forces entered Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. His former coadjutor, Bishop Joseph Tran Xuan Tieu, succeeded him as bishop of Long Xuyen.
END
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:11 PM (GMT)
21 October, 2004
VIETNAM – YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST
The Eucharist at the centre of Huê Archdiocese’s mission
Huê (AsiaNews/UCAN) – After the Year of Evangelisation in 2004, Vietnam’s bishops in communion with the Holy Father proclaimed 2005 the Year of the Eucharist. The Archdiocese of Huê’s action plan for the coming Year involves encouraging local Catholics to evangelise and develop a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Fr Jean-Baptiste Le Quang Quy, director of the archdiocesan committee for the proclamation, presented the plan on October 10at a meeting in Hue. Its theme was ‘With the Eucharist and Our Lady of La Vang, we are confident to begin to proclaim the Good News’. About 1,500 people attended including priests, religious people, parishioners, members of Christian associations, university students and catechumens, some 50 ethnic of whom are ethnic Van Kieu.
“Our pastoral plan,” Father Quy said, “includes daily adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, rosary twice a day, visit someone in a spirit of evangelisation and develop positive behaviour by giving up drinking, smoking or speaking maliciously of others.
Father Quy said that “each family must meet to pray, meditate the Word of God, save money to help the poor and embrace a family from a different faith through prayers and deeds”. Catholics from everywhere will be asked to attend mass once week, attend mass on the first Saturday of each month, pray for mission and take part in charitable work.
In the meeting, Mgr Étienne Nguyen Nhu The, Archbishop of Huê, asked the participants to announce the Gospel during this Year of the Eucharist. He urged everyone, families and the entire community to “live out the Good News through prayers, visits, reconciliation, sharing and building up the community.” The Archbishop told students they could evangelize by helping friends with studies and avoiding social ills.
“Young people should lead a healthy life,” he said, “spreading virtue to their environment while adults should set a good example in their religious and secular activities”.
The prelate stressed that evangelisation is better in deeds than in words, "so we should listen to the experiences of each individual, family and community and learn from one another.”
During the meeting some participants shared their experiences. Joseph Parhung, an ethnic Van Kieu, said he used to be a shaman in his tribal community until he met a nun who encouraged him to follow the path of Christ.
The Archdiocese of Huê covers three provinces: Quan Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Its population is around two million people, 65.770 of whom are Catholic. It has 111 priests, 672 religious people, 33 seminarian and 1,456 cathecumens.
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1736
VIETNAM – YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST
The Eucharist at the centre of Huê Archdiocese’s mission
Huê (AsiaNews/UCAN) – After the Year of Evangelisation in 2004, Vietnam’s bishops in communion with the Holy Father proclaimed 2005 the Year of the Eucharist. The Archdiocese of Huê’s action plan for the coming Year involves encouraging local Catholics to evangelise and develop a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Fr Jean-Baptiste Le Quang Quy, director of the archdiocesan committee for the proclamation, presented the plan on October 10at a meeting in Hue. Its theme was ‘With the Eucharist and Our Lady of La Vang, we are confident to begin to proclaim the Good News’. About 1,500 people attended including priests, religious people, parishioners, members of Christian associations, university students and catechumens, some 50 ethnic of whom are ethnic Van Kieu.
“Our pastoral plan,” Father Quy said, “includes daily adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament, rosary twice a day, visit someone in a spirit of evangelisation and develop positive behaviour by giving up drinking, smoking or speaking maliciously of others.
Father Quy said that “each family must meet to pray, meditate the Word of God, save money to help the poor and embrace a family from a different faith through prayers and deeds”. Catholics from everywhere will be asked to attend mass once week, attend mass on the first Saturday of each month, pray for mission and take part in charitable work.
In the meeting, Mgr Étienne Nguyen Nhu The, Archbishop of Huê, asked the participants to announce the Gospel during this Year of the Eucharist. He urged everyone, families and the entire community to “live out the Good News through prayers, visits, reconciliation, sharing and building up the community.” The Archbishop told students they could evangelize by helping friends with studies and avoiding social ills.
“Young people should lead a healthy life,” he said, “spreading virtue to their environment while adults should set a good example in their religious and secular activities”.
The prelate stressed that evangelisation is better in deeds than in words, "so we should listen to the experiences of each individual, family and community and learn from one another.”
During the meeting some participants shared their experiences. Joseph Parhung, an ethnic Van Kieu, said he used to be a shaman in his tribal community until he met a nun who encouraged him to follow the path of Christ.
The Archdiocese of Huê covers three provinces: Quan Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Its population is around two million people, 65.770 of whom are Catholic. It has 111 priests, 672 religious people, 33 seminarian and 1,456 cathecumens.
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1736
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:11 PM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1848
8 November, 2004
VIETNAM
New Ordinance on Religions does not provide freedom, says the Archbishop of Huê
Archbishop Nguyên Nhu Thê says: “we still remain within a framework of asking for permission.” “Pray for our Church,” he adds. “The government wants to control religious sentiment,” expelled missioner says.
Huê (AsiaNews) – The new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions adopted by the government of Vietnam does not satisfy Catholic Bishops. The new rules do not grant the Church the freedom it needs to organise its own affairs. “We are still in the situation of asking for permission,” Mgr Étienne Nguyên Nhu Thê, Archbishop of Huê (central Vietnam), told AsiaNews. The Bishop asked Catholics around the world to “pray for the Church in Vietnam”.
According to Bishop Nguyên Nhu Thê, the Ordinance is not “sufficiently open” vis-à-vis religious freedom because “we still remain within a framework contrary to religious freedom, namely that of asking for permission that the government concedes”.
Under the Ordinance, which goes into effect on November 15, people “must ask the government for permission to do anything. If it chooses not to allow something, we cannot do anything. Hence the Church cannot organise its affairs as it should,” the Archbishop explained. “We do not have the right to organise ourselves as we see fit and must seek authorisation for every choice and decision. This means there is no full religious freedom,” he added.
Vietnam’s Bishops share the views of the Archbishop of Huê. In late September, during the General Assembly of the Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, they wrote a letter to the government’s Office of Religious Affairs in Hanoi claiming that the “new ordinance on religion follows a logic that defines religious freedom in terms of ‘ask and concede’. This is still far from full religious freedom because we are still under control”.
Archbishop Nguyên Nhu Thê ended his interview with AsiaNews asking Catholics around the world to pray “for Catholics and the Church in Vietnam”.
Contacted by AsiaNews, other bishops chose not to make any statement fearing government reprisal.
The Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions “is even more restrictive than previous ones,” this according to Fr André Maïs, of the Missions étrangères de Paris, who was a missioner in Vietnam for many years before his evangelisation activities led to his expulsion.
“The new law,” he said, “increases government control over religion. The authorities want to control religious sentiment as such,” he added.
In essence, according to Father Maïs, this means that in Vietnam religions are under increasing restrictions and that religious freedom is increasingly limited. “Until now, the government tried to control religious worship. Now, it wants to directly determine people’s religious sentiment”. (LF)
8 November, 2004
VIETNAM
New Ordinance on Religions does not provide freedom, says the Archbishop of Huê
Archbishop Nguyên Nhu Thê says: “we still remain within a framework of asking for permission.” “Pray for our Church,” he adds. “The government wants to control religious sentiment,” expelled missioner says.
Huê (AsiaNews) – The new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions adopted by the government of Vietnam does not satisfy Catholic Bishops. The new rules do not grant the Church the freedom it needs to organise its own affairs. “We are still in the situation of asking for permission,” Mgr Étienne Nguyên Nhu Thê, Archbishop of Huê (central Vietnam), told AsiaNews. The Bishop asked Catholics around the world to “pray for the Church in Vietnam”.
According to Bishop Nguyên Nhu Thê, the Ordinance is not “sufficiently open” vis-à-vis religious freedom because “we still remain within a framework contrary to religious freedom, namely that of asking for permission that the government concedes”.
Under the Ordinance, which goes into effect on November 15, people “must ask the government for permission to do anything. If it chooses not to allow something, we cannot do anything. Hence the Church cannot organise its affairs as it should,” the Archbishop explained. “We do not have the right to organise ourselves as we see fit and must seek authorisation for every choice and decision. This means there is no full religious freedom,” he added.
Vietnam’s Bishops share the views of the Archbishop of Huê. In late September, during the General Assembly of the Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, they wrote a letter to the government’s Office of Religious Affairs in Hanoi claiming that the “new ordinance on religion follows a logic that defines religious freedom in terms of ‘ask and concede’. This is still far from full religious freedom because we are still under control”.
Archbishop Nguyên Nhu Thê ended his interview with AsiaNews asking Catholics around the world to pray “for Catholics and the Church in Vietnam”.
Contacted by AsiaNews, other bishops chose not to make any statement fearing government reprisal.
The Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions “is even more restrictive than previous ones,” this according to Fr André Maïs, of the Missions étrangères de Paris, who was a missioner in Vietnam for many years before his evangelisation activities led to his expulsion.
“The new law,” he said, “increases government control over religion. The authorities want to control religious sentiment as such,” he added.
In essence, according to Father Maïs, this means that in Vietnam religions are under increasing restrictions and that religious freedom is increasingly limited. “Until now, the government tried to control religious worship. Now, it wants to directly determine people’s religious sentiment”. (LF)
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:11 PM (GMT)
8 November, 2004
VIETNAM
New law to stifle religious freedom
Hanoi (AsiaNews/UCAN) – Vietnam is imposing new restrictions on religious freedom. The Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions—which was adopted on June 18 by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly — will come into effect on November 15. It regulates religious activities as well those related to ancestor worship.
The text reaffirms the constitutional principle that guarantees religious freedom. The first article of the ordinance declares: “Citizens have freedom of belief and religion, to adopt or not to adopt a religion.” However, the significance of the principle is circumscribed by the other articles, which “permit” various activities on condition that they receive government “authorisation”.
Government control is exercised at district, provincial and national levels. The first two are under the jurisdiction of People’s Committees; the third falls to the Office of religious Affairs and the Prime Minister.
Control is also exercised through the Vietnam Fatherland Front whose members are duty-bound to “encourage ecclesiastics, religious, believers, belief followers, religious organizations and people to carry out laws on belief and religion” and “take part in building and supervising the implementation of policies and laws on belief and religion ».
The government exerts its control over religious activities by virtue of its power to:
- recognise and register every organisation through its agencies for Religious Affairs. This also applies to “congregations, convents and other analogous forms of collective religious life”;
- authorise through the Prime Minister’s Office educational institutions that train religious personnel. School curriculum, extra school programmes and admission are the prerogative of the government and must include the history and laws of Vietnam as mandatory subjects;
- authorise annually planned activities and initiatives. Events not in the plan must be approved by government agencies for religious affairs. The same principle applies to parties, observances, congresses and conferences;
- approve all forms of ecumenism, collaboration, unification, scission among and between religious organisations as well as the transfer and allocation of religious personnel;
- evaluate the moral and civic character of candidates for ordination, promotions and appointment within the various religious hierarchies, which are regulated according to the “codes and procedures” of each community”;
- authorise the publication, printing and circulation of religious material. Manufacturing and sale of objects for worship and religious activities must conform to government regulations;
- allow preaching only in places of worship which are designated by government authorities;
- confiscate property, if the lands where religious buildings stand are not regularly and permanently used.
Religious freedom in Vietnam could be suspended on the following grounds:
- threats to national unity: The clergy is required to teach believers to respect the fatherland and its laws;
- threats to national security and public order;
- threats to life, dignity, honour and property;
The Ordinance encourages religious communities to provide care for children, the sick, the poor and the disabled, but always in accordance with government regulations.
The Ordinance states that anyone who spent time in prison for religious reasons and who has purged his or her sentence can engage in religious activities such as prayers, evangelisation, observances only on the condition that government agencies for Religious Affairs approve.
Vietnam has a population of 78 million people, which includes 52 million Buddhist, 7 million Christians and 4 million members of the Cao-Dai sect. Officially, Catholics are 6 million. (MA)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1849
VIETNAM
New law to stifle religious freedom
Hanoi (AsiaNews/UCAN) – Vietnam is imposing new restrictions on religious freedom. The Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions—which was adopted on June 18 by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly — will come into effect on November 15. It regulates religious activities as well those related to ancestor worship.
The text reaffirms the constitutional principle that guarantees religious freedom. The first article of the ordinance declares: “Citizens have freedom of belief and religion, to adopt or not to adopt a religion.” However, the significance of the principle is circumscribed by the other articles, which “permit” various activities on condition that they receive government “authorisation”.
Government control is exercised at district, provincial and national levels. The first two are under the jurisdiction of People’s Committees; the third falls to the Office of religious Affairs and the Prime Minister.
Control is also exercised through the Vietnam Fatherland Front whose members are duty-bound to “encourage ecclesiastics, religious, believers, belief followers, religious organizations and people to carry out laws on belief and religion” and “take part in building and supervising the implementation of policies and laws on belief and religion ».
The government exerts its control over religious activities by virtue of its power to:
- recognise and register every organisation through its agencies for Religious Affairs. This also applies to “congregations, convents and other analogous forms of collective religious life”;
- authorise through the Prime Minister’s Office educational institutions that train religious personnel. School curriculum, extra school programmes and admission are the prerogative of the government and must include the history and laws of Vietnam as mandatory subjects;
- authorise annually planned activities and initiatives. Events not in the plan must be approved by government agencies for religious affairs. The same principle applies to parties, observances, congresses and conferences;
- approve all forms of ecumenism, collaboration, unification, scission among and between religious organisations as well as the transfer and allocation of religious personnel;
- evaluate the moral and civic character of candidates for ordination, promotions and appointment within the various religious hierarchies, which are regulated according to the “codes and procedures” of each community”;
- authorise the publication, printing and circulation of religious material. Manufacturing and sale of objects for worship and religious activities must conform to government regulations;
- allow preaching only in places of worship which are designated by government authorities;
- confiscate property, if the lands where religious buildings stand are not regularly and permanently used.
Religious freedom in Vietnam could be suspended on the following grounds:
- threats to national unity: The clergy is required to teach believers to respect the fatherland and its laws;
- threats to national security and public order;
- threats to life, dignity, honour and property;
The Ordinance encourages religious communities to provide care for children, the sick, the poor and the disabled, but always in accordance with government regulations.
The Ordinance states that anyone who spent time in prison for religious reasons and who has purged his or her sentence can engage in religious activities such as prayers, evangelisation, observances only on the condition that government agencies for Religious Affairs approve.
Vietnam has a population of 78 million people, which includes 52 million Buddhist, 7 million Christians and 4 million members of the Cao-Dai sect. Officially, Catholics are 6 million. (MA)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1849
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:11 PM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1892
12 November, 2004
VIETNAM
Protestant clergyman sentenced to three years in prison
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Nguyen Hong Quang, a Mennonite pastor, was sentenced to three years in prison “for activities against local authorities”. Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Court convicted five more people to prison terms ranging from nine months to two years. The trial, which lasted only one day, was closed to foreign journalists.
Rev Nguyen Hong Quang (see photo) was arrested on June 8 whilst hosting a scout meeting in his house in a Hanoi suburb. Trained as a lawyer, he is secretary general of the Mennonite Church—which the Vietnamese government considers illegal—, a human rights activist, defender of religious freedom, and an advocate for the rights of the Montagnard minority, farmers and political prisoners.
Judicial authorities said that he was not arrested for religious reasons, but because “he was inciting the population to resist public security officers”. The charge dates back to an incident on March 2, when Nguyen Hong Quang led tens of people in a protest against the incarceration of four Mennonite clergymen.
Rev Nguyen’s sentence is the latest in a series or repressive steps taken by the authorities against Mennonites and other Christians in Vietnam. Last month, the police demolished a Mennonite chapel in Kontum province. According to Human Right Watch, this action highlights the government’s increasingly repressive policy vis-à-vis religious freedom.
A new law—Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions—will go into effect on November 15 further restricting it. Its goal is not only to control religious organisations but also religious opinion.
Vietnam’s Catholic bishops as well as other religious leaders have condemned the law as a violation of the Church’s autonomy.
Mgr Étienne Nguyên Nhu Thê, Bishop of Huê, told AsiaNews that this law is “a system of permits and concessions that limits full religious freedom.” (LF)
12 November, 2004
VIETNAM
Protestant clergyman sentenced to three years in prison
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Nguyen Hong Quang, a Mennonite pastor, was sentenced to three years in prison “for activities against local authorities”. Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Court convicted five more people to prison terms ranging from nine months to two years. The trial, which lasted only one day, was closed to foreign journalists.
Rev Nguyen Hong Quang (see photo) was arrested on June 8 whilst hosting a scout meeting in his house in a Hanoi suburb. Trained as a lawyer, he is secretary general of the Mennonite Church—which the Vietnamese government considers illegal—, a human rights activist, defender of religious freedom, and an advocate for the rights of the Montagnard minority, farmers and political prisoners.
Judicial authorities said that he was not arrested for religious reasons, but because “he was inciting the population to resist public security officers”. The charge dates back to an incident on March 2, when Nguyen Hong Quang led tens of people in a protest against the incarceration of four Mennonite clergymen.
Rev Nguyen’s sentence is the latest in a series or repressive steps taken by the authorities against Mennonites and other Christians in Vietnam. Last month, the police demolished a Mennonite chapel in Kontum province. According to Human Right Watch, this action highlights the government’s increasingly repressive policy vis-à-vis religious freedom.
A new law—Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions—will go into effect on November 15 further restricting it. Its goal is not only to control religious organisations but also religious opinion.
Vietnam’s Catholic bishops as well as other religious leaders have condemned the law as a violation of the Church’s autonomy.
Mgr Étienne Nguyên Nhu Thê, Bishop of Huê, told AsiaNews that this law is “a system of permits and concessions that limits full religious freedom.” (LF)
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:12 PM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1971
24 November, 2004
VIETNAM
More violence against believers despite government’s claim about religious freedom
Wife of a jailed Mennonite clergyman is harassed and threatened. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry attacks Pope for his criticism of religious persecution in Asia claiming that in Vietnam religious freedom is guaranteed under the law.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Violence against believers continue despite the government’s claim that freedom of worship is protected.
The latest episode in a recent wave of religious persecution involves Le Thi Phu Dung, wife of Rev Nguyen Hong Quang, leader of Vietnam’s Mennonite Church and human rights activist who was recently sentenced to three years in prison. This comes just a few days after the authorities prevented members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam from visiting their ailing leader, 87-year-old Thich Huyen Quang, in hospital.
On Sunday, 40 police officers raided Ms Dung’s home in suburban Ho Chi Minh City where they disrupted a religious service under way. Those present were cited for participating in an “illegal meeting” and for using “a residence for religious purposes”.
Ms Dung, who replaced her husband as Mennonite leader in June, was charged under the 1999 Decree on Religion Nº 26 (art. 7, 19) which restricts religious activities to locations and leaders approved and authorised by the authorities, this despite the fact that the government has failed to authorise the construction of churches or other places of worship. Given the circumstances, many Christians are forced to hold religious services at home in so-called house churches.
Sunday’s police raid is but the latest in a series of acts of intimidation and harassment against Ms Dung for allegedly “disturbing the public order”. On November 13 she and her children were threatened with eviction if she did not stop her religious activities. During her husband’s trial she was also harassed and threatened.
Sources close to Freedom House said that the government prosecutor prevented Rev Nguyen Hong Quang from calling witnesses in his defence. He was eventually sentenced for “inciting people to resist law officers on duty”. The verdict refers to a March 2 incident in which Rev Quang and others protested against the incarceration of four Mennonite ministers. Western journalists were barred from his trial.
Recently, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Le Dung, stated that “in Vietnam freedom of religion is guaranteed under the law and is respected in practice”. However, a new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions adopted by the Vietnamese government has come into effect which many local religious leaders consider an impediment to religious freedom.
24 November, 2004
VIETNAM
More violence against believers despite government’s claim about religious freedom
Wife of a jailed Mennonite clergyman is harassed and threatened. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry attacks Pope for his criticism of religious persecution in Asia claiming that in Vietnam religious freedom is guaranteed under the law.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Violence against believers continue despite the government’s claim that freedom of worship is protected.
The latest episode in a recent wave of religious persecution involves Le Thi Phu Dung, wife of Rev Nguyen Hong Quang, leader of Vietnam’s Mennonite Church and human rights activist who was recently sentenced to three years in prison. This comes just a few days after the authorities prevented members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam from visiting their ailing leader, 87-year-old Thich Huyen Quang, in hospital.
On Sunday, 40 police officers raided Ms Dung’s home in suburban Ho Chi Minh City where they disrupted a religious service under way. Those present were cited for participating in an “illegal meeting” and for using “a residence for religious purposes”.
Ms Dung, who replaced her husband as Mennonite leader in June, was charged under the 1999 Decree on Religion Nº 26 (art. 7, 19) which restricts religious activities to locations and leaders approved and authorised by the authorities, this despite the fact that the government has failed to authorise the construction of churches or other places of worship. Given the circumstances, many Christians are forced to hold religious services at home in so-called house churches.
Sunday’s police raid is but the latest in a series of acts of intimidation and harassment against Ms Dung for allegedly “disturbing the public order”. On November 13 she and her children were threatened with eviction if she did not stop her religious activities. During her husband’s trial she was also harassed and threatened.
Sources close to Freedom House said that the government prosecutor prevented Rev Nguyen Hong Quang from calling witnesses in his defence. He was eventually sentenced for “inciting people to resist law officers on duty”. The verdict refers to a March 2 incident in which Rev Quang and others protested against the incarceration of four Mennonite ministers. Western journalists were barred from his trial.
Recently, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Le Dung, stated that “in Vietnam freedom of religion is guaranteed under the law and is respected in practice”. However, a new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions adopted by the Vietnamese government has come into effect which many local religious leaders consider an impediment to religious freedom.
Tetra - February 19, 2005 08:12 PM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2591
17 February, 2005
VIETNAM
Catholics Pledge Thrifty Lunar New Year Celebrations To Help Tsunami Survivors
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Hung Hoa (AsiaNews/Ucan) - Catholics in some northern Vietnamese dioceses have followed Church leaders' calls to help survivors of the recent tsunami by reducing expenses for Lunar New Year celebrations. "You should cut down unnecessary spending to share money with tsunami survivors” Bishop Antoine Vu Huy Chuong of Hung Hoa urged Catholics in his diocese in pastoral letter. Parishes have raised money on one of the three Tet days and send it to the bishop's house to pass on to the Episcopal Commission for Charitable and Social Services.
Some lay Catholics in the diocese said how they have reduced spending for the Tet holidays. Pierre Nguyen Van Phuong said his family have made only 20 "banh chung" – a Tet traditional plate -- compared with 30 last year. This would enable him to donate 100,000 dong (US.50) to help the survivors. He expressed hope that survivors would benefit during the first days of the new year "thanks to small sums of money from poor people like us." The gesture might be late but is better than contributing nothing, he added, saying he also "will pray to God for no more terrible disasters like these."
Fifteen-year-old Marie Dao Thi Mai said she have saved 20,000 dong by not making herself a new dress and would donate the money "for children missing their parents in the tsunami." She said nine members of her family earn a living by collecting firewood in the forest or working for daily wages.
Teenager Paul Nguyen Van Hung said he and his friends have not to gambled during the Tet holidays, as they used to do, and have given the money instead for the affected people.
Bishop Xavier Francois Nguyen Van Sand of Thai Binh asked lay Catholics to give Church workers Tet presents in the form of cash instead of goods so that the diocese could send it to the tsunami survivors. He also urged children to contribute to disaster-relief funds by donating the customary "red envelopes with money" that they receive as Tet presents.
Joseph Tran Van Thuong, 13, a member of the cathedral parish in Thai Binh city, said that last year he received red envelopes with money totalling 200,000 dong from his relatives. He said he have took half the money he have received this year and contribute it to the disaster relief fund, and have asked his friends to contribute too.
A 70-year-old lay Catholic said: "I have never seen all the churches in the diocese at the same time raise money to help disaster victims like this before."
17 February, 2005
VIETNAM
Catholics Pledge Thrifty Lunar New Year Celebrations To Help Tsunami Survivors
Hung Hoa (AsiaNews/Ucan) - Catholics in some northern Vietnamese dioceses have followed Church leaders' calls to help survivors of the recent tsunami by reducing expenses for Lunar New Year celebrations. "You should cut down unnecessary spending to share money with tsunami survivors” Bishop Antoine Vu Huy Chuong of Hung Hoa urged Catholics in his diocese in pastoral letter. Parishes have raised money on one of the three Tet days and send it to the bishop's house to pass on to the Episcopal Commission for Charitable and Social Services.
Some lay Catholics in the diocese said how they have reduced spending for the Tet holidays. Pierre Nguyen Van Phuong said his family have made only 20 "banh chung" – a Tet traditional plate -- compared with 30 last year. This would enable him to donate 100,000 dong (US.50) to help the survivors. He expressed hope that survivors would benefit during the first days of the new year "thanks to small sums of money from poor people like us." The gesture might be late but is better than contributing nothing, he added, saying he also "will pray to God for no more terrible disasters like these."
Fifteen-year-old Marie Dao Thi Mai said she have saved 20,000 dong by not making herself a new dress and would donate the money "for children missing their parents in the tsunami." She said nine members of her family earn a living by collecting firewood in the forest or working for daily wages.
Teenager Paul Nguyen Van Hung said he and his friends have not to gambled during the Tet holidays, as they used to do, and have given the money instead for the affected people.
Bishop Xavier Francois Nguyen Van Sand of Thai Binh asked lay Catholics to give Church workers Tet presents in the form of cash instead of goods so that the diocese could send it to the tsunami survivors. He also urged children to contribute to disaster-relief funds by donating the customary "red envelopes with money" that they receive as Tet presents.
Joseph Tran Van Thuong, 13, a member of the cathedral parish in Thai Binh city, said that last year he received red envelopes with money totalling 200,000 dong from his relatives. He said he have took half the money he have received this year and contribute it to the disaster relief fund, and have asked his friends to contribute too.
A 70-year-old lay Catholic said: "I have never seen all the churches in the diocese at the same time raise money to help disaster victims like this before."
Tetra - March 24, 2005 10:40 PM (GMT)
pictures: new archbishop of Hanoi...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10403191003
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10703190958
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10603190953
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10303190929
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10203190927
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10103190924
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10403191003
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10703190958
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10603190953
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10303190929
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10203190927
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../rjv10103190924
Tetra - April 5, 2005 10:13 PM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2960
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5 April, 2005
VIETNAM - VATICAN
Vietnamese honour the holy man who never visited them
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Pope John Paul never visited Vietnam but his name is everywhere in the communist country, be it in praise by the leadership, stories by state-run media.
Like China, Vietnam has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican, although its 8 million Catholics make the Southeast Asian country the second-biggest Catholic community in Asia after the Philippines. On Sunday, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent a message of condolence to the Vatican for Pope’s death.
News of the Pope's death on Saturday appeared within hours on the front page of the online edition of the Vietnam Communist Party's daily, Nhan Dan.
Yesterday, the party's umbrella organisation, the Fatherland Front, praised his efforts in a condolence message, sent to the Vietnam Bishops Council, which appeared on the daily's front page.
"Pope John Paul II was a religious leader who contributed much to advocating peace and reconciliation, to condemning the crime of genocide, war criminals and the threat of the HIV/Aids pandemic," Pham The Duyet, chairman of the organisation, said.
Mr Duyet called on Vietnam's bishops to follow "the moral example of the Pope".
An official of the government's Committee for Religious Affairs said Hanoi had made preparations for churches nationwide to hold mourning rites, and church officials "could go to the Vatican at their will" for the funeral.
Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet said he and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man would attend the funeral. He said Pope John Paul "loved Vietnam in a special way".
In 1988, the pontiff canonised 117 Catholic Vietnamese and European missionaries executed for their beliefs by reigning emperors in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Bishop Kiet said Pope John Paul had wanted to visit Vietnam: Catholics bishops invited him for the 200th anniversary of La Vang national shrine, but the government didn’t allow the papal trip, putting obstacles also to the local pilgrims. Bishop Kiet hoped that his successor would do so.
5 April, 2005
VIETNAM - VATICAN
Vietnamese honour the holy man who never visited them
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Pope John Paul never visited Vietnam but his name is everywhere in the communist country, be it in praise by the leadership, stories by state-run media.
Like China, Vietnam has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican, although its 8 million Catholics make the Southeast Asian country the second-biggest Catholic community in Asia after the Philippines. On Sunday, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent a message of condolence to the Vatican for Pope’s death.
News of the Pope's death on Saturday appeared within hours on the front page of the online edition of the Vietnam Communist Party's daily, Nhan Dan.
Yesterday, the party's umbrella organisation, the Fatherland Front, praised his efforts in a condolence message, sent to the Vietnam Bishops Council, which appeared on the daily's front page.
"Pope John Paul II was a religious leader who contributed much to advocating peace and reconciliation, to condemning the crime of genocide, war criminals and the threat of the HIV/Aids pandemic," Pham The Duyet, chairman of the organisation, said.
Mr Duyet called on Vietnam's bishops to follow "the moral example of the Pope".
An official of the government's Committee for Religious Affairs said Hanoi had made preparations for churches nationwide to hold mourning rites, and church officials "could go to the Vatican at their will" for the funeral.
Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet said he and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man would attend the funeral. He said Pope John Paul "loved Vietnam in a special way".
In 1988, the pontiff canonised 117 Catholic Vietnamese and European missionaries executed for their beliefs by reigning emperors in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Bishop Kiet said Pope John Paul had wanted to visit Vietnam: Catholics bishops invited him for the 200th anniversary of La Vang national shrine, but the government didn’t allow the papal trip, putting obstacles also to the local pilgrims. Bishop Kiet hoped that his successor would do so.
Tetra - April 19, 2005 12:02 AM (GMT)
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=3073
18 April, 2005
VIETNAM
Repression of Montagnards continues
Appeal court upholds three-year sentence imposed on Nguyen Hong, a Mennonite clergyman defending religious freedom and human rights.
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews/EDA) – Persecution of predominantly Christian Montagnards, who live in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, goes on unabated.
In recent days, Vietnam’s Security Minister Lê Hông Anh and Cambodia’s Interior Minister Norodom Sirivudh signed an accord “to strengthen information exchange in order to improve bilateral cooperation and maintain security and public order in border regions”. The accord cites “hostile forces that tend to sabotage the friendship between the two countries”; a not so veiled reference to the Montagnards.
In recent years in fact, many Montagnard tribes have fled into Cambodia to escape Vietnamese repression.
Cambodian authorities have responded repatriating Montagnards in violation to United Nations Conventions on political refugees.
In January, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervened on behalf of the Montagnards that they may leave for a third country or return home, but only 35 of the 700 refugees have opted for repatriation so far.
Last April 6, a court in Gia Lai province tried Rolan Hloe, 37, and Kpui Chonh, 47, for organising the illegal emigration of several Montagnards and sentenced them to seven and five years respectively.
Also in early April, two other Montagnards in Dak Nong province were sentenced to five and two years “for threatening national unity”: under Vietnamese law leaving the country illegally is considered a threat to national unity.
On April 12, the People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the sentences (three and two years respectively) imposed on two Mennonite leaders whose Church is not officially recognised by the government.
Rev Nguyen Hong Quang, a well-known defender of religious freedom and human rights, and his aide Pham Ngoc Thach were found guilty of “actions against local authorities”, i.e. they protested against the illegal arrest of other Mennonites.
Repression by Vietnamese authorities stems from allegations that the Montagnards are ‘secessionist”. For this reason, Hanoi has been pursing a policy of land expropriation at the expense of the indigenous Montagnards to the benefit of ethnic Vietnamese settlers.
Repression also involves killing. During Holy Week in April 2004, security forces took the lives of ten Montagnards engaged in a peaceful protest in Daklak province. (LF)
18 April, 2005
VIETNAM
Repression of Montagnards continues
Appeal court upholds three-year sentence imposed on Nguyen Hong, a Mennonite clergyman defending religious freedom and human rights.
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews/EDA) – Persecution of predominantly Christian Montagnards, who live in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, goes on unabated.
In recent days, Vietnam’s Security Minister Lê Hông Anh and Cambodia’s Interior Minister Norodom Sirivudh signed an accord “to strengthen information exchange in order to improve bilateral cooperation and maintain security and public order in border regions”. The accord cites “hostile forces that tend to sabotage the friendship between the two countries”; a not so veiled reference to the Montagnards.
In recent years in fact, many Montagnard tribes have fled into Cambodia to escape Vietnamese repression.
Cambodian authorities have responded repatriating Montagnards in violation to United Nations Conventions on political refugees.
In January, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervened on behalf of the Montagnards that they may leave for a third country or return home, but only 35 of the 700 refugees have opted for repatriation so far.
Last April 6, a court in Gia Lai province tried Rolan Hloe, 37, and Kpui Chonh, 47, for organising the illegal emigration of several Montagnards and sentenced them to seven and five years respectively.
Also in early April, two other Montagnards in Dak Nong province were sentenced to five and two years “for threatening national unity”: under Vietnamese law leaving the country illegally is considered a threat to national unity.
On April 12, the People's Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the sentences (three and two years respectively) imposed on two Mennonite leaders whose Church is not officially recognised by the government.
Rev Nguyen Hong Quang, a well-known defender of religious freedom and human rights, and his aide Pham Ngoc Thach were found guilty of “actions against local authorities”, i.e. they protested against the illegal arrest of other Mennonites.
Repression by Vietnamese authorities stems from allegations that the Montagnards are ‘secessionist”. For this reason, Hanoi has been pursing a policy of land expropriation at the expense of the indigenous Montagnards to the benefit of ethnic Vietnamese settlers.
Repression also involves killing. During Holy Week in April 2004, security forces took the lives of ten Montagnards engaged in a peaceful protest in Daklak province. (LF)