RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM (1954-1975)

                                         

　

THE LAWS

 

In the wake of the takeover of North Vietnam (1954), the administration applied again the methods it had learned from other Communist countries, frustrating the effects of the religions and negating their role in the people's life. On July 22, 1954, prior to the withdrawal of the French Expeditionary Corps from North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh called upon the Vietnamese, regardless of social status, religious belief, and political opinion and all parties irrespective of political tendencies to which they belonged to cooperate with him to work for the Fatherland and struggle for peace, national unity, independence, and democracy. In his 1954 Christmas message to his fellow countrymen of the Catholic Church, he promised that "the Government sincerely respects freedom of religion. As regards deceived Catholics who have gone to the South, the government has issued instructions to the local administration to take under its custody their rice fields, gardens, and other properties and to restore these to them on their return."

On June 14, 1955, before the land reforms resumed, Ho Chi Minh promulgated the decree 234/SL on the protection of freedom of conscience and worship. Among other things, the law stipulates that "... the government shall guarantee the freedom of conscience and freedom of worship of the people. Nobody is allowed to. infringe these freedoms. Every Vietnamese citizen shall have the right to practice a religion or not to practice any (Article 1)," that "In the process of land reform, a part of the land property owned by religious groups which was requisitioned by the Government, either with or without reparations for distribution to peasants, shall be left to the church, pagoda or sanctum concerned with a large enough area to ensure the performance of worship and to provide for living conditions of priests and religious dignitaries in order for them to carry out their religious activities. The size of such allotment is to be determined by peasants in the locality in which such church, pagoda, or sanctum is situated. In rural areas during land distribution, church and pagoda servants are entitled to receive their lots as any other working peasant (Article 10)," and that "the authorities at province level shall not interfere in the domestic affairs of the various religions (Article 13). Freedom of conscience and freedom of worship are the rights of the people. The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam always respect these rights and help the people in the practice of these rights (Article 15).

Ideological Premises

The official daily Nhan Dan (The People), on July 4, 1955, ran a long article praising the new religious policy of the Vietnamese Workers' Party, saying,

 

" ... the respect for and guarantee of freedom of religion has always been a consistent policy of the Workers’ Party of Vietnam and the Government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The Workers' Party is a Marxist-Leninist Party, professing dialectical materialism, which is founded on the scientific analysis of the laws of nature and society. It does not admit the existence of divinities, and it has always propagated its socialism and encouraged patriotism. But, at the same time, on the basis of the Marxist-Leninist outlook, the Party recognizes that religion is a social objective phenomenon, and its appearance, development, or disappearance have deep economic and social origins and are not dependent upon the subjective will of any group of individuals.

 

The Party always recognizes that religion is a matter of freedom of creed and freedom of opinion for the people, which neither force nor coercion can infringe or suppress. The Party entertains unqualified confidence in the scientific accuracy of Marxism - Leninism, but it also admits that such belief must be self-imposed and freely accepted and cannot be forced upon anyone. The Workers’ Party of Vietnam advocates unity with any patriotic Vietnamese, regardless of political tendencies, race, or religion, in the struggle for a peaceful, united, independent, and democratic Fatherland. Historical facts have shown that communists and followers of other political doctrines and believers of different religions may and have come together in a united National Front. This Front is, at present, expanding and being further consolidated. Respect for freedom of religion and the unity policy of the Workers’ Party of Vietnam is a sincere and long-term policy.

The Party’s Declaration has made it clear: "Believers of all religions must have the right to freedom of conscience." Ever since its foundation, the Party has always stuck to this policy. Respect and guarantee of freedom of religion has been also a major policy of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It is the reflection of the feature of the people’s power, which always looks after the material and spiritual interests, of the people including freedom of religion and freedom of opinion. This policy is embedded in many practical policies and deeds of the Government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

 

A resolution passed by the National Assembly in its 4th session, has laid down in clear terms principles for the guarantee of the right to freedom of conscience. Implementing this resolution, on June 14, 1955, President Ho Chi Minh has enacted a decree concerning the guarantee of freedom of religion. This act once more defines in no uncertain terms the main principles of the policy of the Workers’ Party of Vietnam, with regard to religion and to freedom of religion and of worship and at the same time indicates clearly and comprehensively practical steps to guarantee such people’s rights. Article 15 of the decree reads: "Freedom of conscience and freedom of worship are the rights of the people. The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam always respect these rights and help the people in the practice of these rights." Such are the intents and purposes of the decree. It is a fresh evidence of the concern and care given to the people’s interests in every field by the Government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Freedom of religion is one of the people’s rights. It has now been enacted by the laws of the State, and everyone must correctly carry it out. Those who infringe this people’s right contravene the laws and shall be punished in accordance with the law.

The gist of the decree is the guarantee of the people’s freedom of religion and worship. It clearly points out that " ... the Government shall guarantee the freedom of conscience and worship of the people. Nobody is allowed to infringe these freedoms. Every Vietnamese citizen shall have the right to practice a religion or not to practice any." (Article I)." The authorities shall not interfere in the domestic affairs of various religions." (Article 13) On the other hand, the decree underlines that those who use the signboard of religion to serve imperialism by destroying peace, unity, independence, and democracy shall be punished in accordance with the law. This provision is not at all repugnant to freedom of conscience. On the contrary, it constitutes the very substance of the guarantee of this freedom ... (Foreign Publishing House, 1956., pp. 20-23).

The Flip Side of the Coin

 

The flip side of the coin proved to be true as soon as the laws were promulgated. The Geneva Accords of July 20, 1954 partitioned the country into two regions, the one north of the 17th Parallel was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the other south of it, the Republic of Vietnam. After the withdrawal of the French Expeditionary Corps and the Viet Minh troops took over Haiphong, the city of last hope of the immigrants to the South, Ho Chi Minh, again, made "volte face." The Communist regime carried out oppressive measures against all religions they had learned from the Soviet Union and Communist China to put them under its control.

 

The Workers’ Party of Vietnam, the reincarnation of the Communist Party of Indochina, within 10 years, had made efforts to repress the religions, especially the largest Churches, the Buddhist Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The Party and its administration, step by step, eliminated all Buddhist organizations. They instituted in their place the Association of Patriotic Buddhists and placed them all under the control of the Communist-linked Fatherland Front. hey closed down all institutes of Buddhist studies. They returned home monks and nuns. Only old bonzes were allowed to perform religious services in State-patronized pagodas. Religious education and renewals at monasteries were strictly prohibited. The Buddhist faith could only survive in silence.

 

As regards the Roman Catholic Church, unable to destroy the Church's religious organizational structure, the Communists stroke at the Church’s pastors and priests, diluting their clerical duties with interdiction and restriction. They sought to separate the faithful from the clergy, wearing out the clergy’s prestige, and frustrate their influence among the faithful. Still, they made efforts to prevent the faithful from practicing their religious faith and restricting the priest from performing their religious services. Other measures consisted of cancellation of the formation and ordination of priests, denial of permission to provide monks and novices at abbeys and monasteries with foods and the necessities of life, and the prevention of the faithful from attending masses.

Under the direction of the Party, the authorities and cadres initiated the so-called anti-superstition campaigns to ridicule Christ and saints and deride religious practices and activities. They fabricated incidents of opposition activities, intimidated the clergy and laymen, and placed them under strict surveillance. They even attributed to certain priests or prominent laymen as the reactionary elements to arrest and send hem to reeducation camps. To weaken the Church’s propagation of the faith, they prohibited all religious associations to operate. They created the Association of Patriotic Catholics to direct religious activities. Like its fellow Buddhist association, this organ evolved within the orbit of the Father land Front, trying to replace the bishop as the representative of the Church beside the Communist leadership.

To divert the faithful from their religious practices, the atheists oriented them towards achieving to their purposes --to dutifully serve the Party’s political policies. With a scheme in sight, from 1954 to 1975, the Party tried hard to dismantle the Church and win over the faithful’ s minds. As a result, all through the period after the partition of the country, the Roman Catholic Church suffered tragic losses, both materially and institutionally. The formation and ordination of priests were in alarming decline. There were only 277 priests, including the priests who were ordained in hiding, for the whole North. The total number of priests was lesser than that of the clerical body of Saigon Diocese. In many regions cathedrals and chapels turned into granaries or store houses or became ruined.

 

By a similar approach, the atheist regime neutralized all religious services and activities of Evangelical Christianity. Ministers’ and pastors’ religious services at chapels and houses of worship were restricted. All congregations became the target of suspicion and control, and religious activities were made inactive. Only few pastors were allowed to practice the faith, being used as an instrument in the hands of the administration. Their role as the representatives of the Church was nominal. Bui Hoanh Thu, the President of Hanoi Congregation, was one of them.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION DURING THE INDOCHINA WAR (1946-1954)

Overview

In May 1945, the Fascist Germany-Italy Axis surrendered to the Allies in Europe. Two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. On August 19, 1945, the Viet Minh seized power in Hanoi by a "coup d’etat," overthrowing the administration of the Tran Trong Kim government in the North. All through the period that followed it, members of national party leaders of all faiths were targeted wit elimination. Religious leaders and the clergy were not an exception. The Communist-led Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi abbreviated Viet Minh sought to destroy all forces they regarded the enemies to the "Revolution" while wooing free-floating party members and credulous believers to unite under their leadership to serve the fatherland.

On September 23, 1945, the French troops with the help of British General Gracey, the commander of the Allied Forces, attacked Saigon to retake Vietnam on the order of De Gaulle, who then headed the French Privy Government in Congo Brazaville. The War of Resistance began in the South and developed into a war of attrition throughout Indochina. For ten years, from September 1945 to July 1954, the Viet Minh led the war and regained national dependence. They drove the invaders out of the country and, at the same time, achieved the elimination of all national party forces and furtively dismantled the country’s religious organizations to which they attributed as the counterrevolutionary elements. The question of religious freedom from then on presents a problematic issue without a solution. The Communist administration resorted to violence, political measures and practices, and the laws but has still failed to subdue the believers under its control. Arrests and imprison clergymen and believers. Instances of persecution persisted though all periods under the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The Persecution

Having seized power in China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China, in December 1949, declared its recognition of the Republic Democratic of Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh. In 1950, Red China sent military advisers and arms and ammunitions to North Vietnam to support the Viet Minh. Along with military aids, Maoism was introduced into the country. Beginning in 1951, the Vietnamese Workers’ Party, the incarnation of the Communist Party of Indochina, modified its lines of strategy, pushing forward the people’s struggle from the period of anti-imperialism to that of anti-feudalism. The strategy inspired from the Chinese advisors aimed at the same time to establish a new economic system of the Republic Democratic of Vietnam, destroy the influence of French imperialism and subordinate all sectors of society to the new rule and pave the way for the Maoist-style socialism.

To carry out the new strategy, the Party executed plans for thought reform with which it transplanted methods of agrarian reforms training and thought reform into the minds of party-members and cadres for the performance of the task. In 1952, courses of political struggle were conducted with utmost fervor to prepare ground for a class struggle in the Maoist-oriented revolution. Sessions of crimes revelations and denunciations of the elements of imperialism and feudalism unfolded. The clergy of all faiths were also targeted with elimination. Among the victims were the mandarins of the French regime, rich peasants, members of national parties, Catholic priests and Buddhist monks. Communist cadres and their servile followers spied on these priests and monks. and ransacked their cathedrals pagodas and temples for the least suspicion.

Terror plagued the countryside. The Communists carried out their political struggle with which they vowed to eradicate the remnants of feudalism and destroy the vestiges of imperialism. It was a true class struggle in the rural areas. Village authorities were to submit to the central government a list of at least 5 typical reactionaries consisting of a landlord, a Buddhist monk, a Catholic priest, a laureate Confucian scholar, and a mandarin. This class struggle was a prelude to the performance of the agrarian reforms that took place after the defeat of the French Expeditionary Corps at Dien Bien Phu in Summer 1956.

As in a gale, the struggle blew up and swept away with it all traditional moral and spiritual values. Sons- and daughters- in law denounced false crimes or corrupted manners, treachery, and treason of their parents. Blood relatives avoided contact with each other or stayed away from one another out of fear of being accused of having blood relation with some traitors, wicked landowners or village bullies. Bovine peasants turned out to become fanatic executioners who acted freely and violently against the victims of all ages. There was a total loss of a sense of kinship. Filial piety, traditional social conduct, and the cultural system of values were made to disappear. There existed no respect for the old age, the prestigious intellectuals, and the priests and monks of thought and behavior. Along with the erosion of traditional moral, spiritual, and cultural values, the cult of ancestors gradually declined, and the cult of ancestors and worship of titular genius degenerated.

Before the battle of Dien Bien Phu ended (1954), the Vietnamese Workers’ Party had launched a "sky-splitting" campaign paving the way for the Land Reform (1953-1956). The campaign was, first, preceded by the implementation of the Chinese system of taxes, namely the Land Rent Reduction (1953), whose aim was to carry out social, politico, and economic measures to gradually transform the agricultural Vietnam into a s society in the Maoist-style socialism. Those who evaded taxes were regarded the reactionaries and, were subjected to investigation. Quite a few victims were charged with false crimes such as treason, association with dangerous elements of clandestine political organizations or espionage for the French. A black list was dressed. There had to be from three to five individuals in each village, a landlord, a Buddhist monk, a Catholic priest, a laureate scholar, and a mandarin.. In Thanh Hoa Province, as a case in poit, the landlord Nguyen Huu Ngoc and the Buddhist Monk Thich Tue Chau were given the death sentence, the Catholic priest Mai Ba Nhac, and two compradors were sentenced to 15 years of forced labor. The old mandarin Ha Van Ngoan, and the laureate scholar Le Trong Nhi did not appear before court: they died in prison.

The Buddhist Church

In his memoirs addressed to Party Secretary-general Do Muoi, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do denounced how the Communists had exterminated the traditional Buddhist Church in North Vietnam. Among other things, he wrote:

"Before the Communist takeover of Hanoi in 1954, the Most Venerable Thich To Lien was the chairman of the Executive Board of the General Association of Buddhists in North Vietnam. He was the leader of the Buddhist Church in the North. The General Association of Buddhism at that time consisted of 6 congregations of "Sangha," including the laity Buddhists throughout the region. The Church was admitted to the membership of the World Buddhist Friendship. In 1957, three years after the [Communist] takeover of the North, a number of monks and nuns, for unknown reasons or possibly out of fear, threat, and personnel interests, assembled at Quan Su Pagoda and denounced with crimes against the Most Venerable Thich To Lien. They then offered the pagoda to the state-affiliated National Salvation Buddhist Association. The Most Venerable Thich Tri Do was invited to live in it. A new Buddhist organization was founded. It was actually the State-created Unified Buddhist Church of [North] Vietnam with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Do at the head. The traditional General Association of Buddhists of Vietnam in the North was consequently absolved.

Not only did the Communists eliminate the legitimate Buddhist organizations, they also destroyed all its affiliated religious institutions and establishments. They expropriated the Duoc Tue Printing House and closed down the Institute for the Studies of Buddhism, the Khuong Viet High School and all libraries and religious establishments belonging to this organization. After having used the very Buddhist monks and nuns of the General Association of Buddhists in the North to eliminate it, the Communists forced them not only to raise pigs as a form of obligatory social contribution but also to kill pigs and poultry to serve the Communist party [to provide it with food] ... The purposes were to disfigure the solemn aura at the worship place and at the same time to destroy the Sangha' s Buddhist spirit of clemency and atomize the most popular Buddhist commandment, which prohibits the killing of living creatures.

At each pagoda, only an old monk was allowed to live and assumed the function of a head of a "ho" (household). Young monks had to return to their secular life in their villages, to work for [economic] production. When an old monk passed away, the pagoda naturally became abandoned. In the cities, empty pagodas were requisitioned by the State. They were used as workplaces for production, instead. In the countryside, empty pagodas were demolished for more land for production. Anyone who felt enthusiastically attached to the religious life or wanted to become a monk had to apply for the priesthood. He had to give a curriculum vitae to the security police. Until he got authorization from it, could he be a student-priest. Many young devotees, who are old now, have had to wait until these days (1995) to become monks; yet, they have not got the authorization from the security police. In Thai Binh Province, fervent devotees would prepare celebrations in hiding at a pagoda to congratulate a relative or friend who entered the priesthood. If found out, they were immediately arrested..

Together with coercive measures on religious practices, programs of religious education were abolished. Worship places in the French-occupied zones communal houses, pagodas, and temples, were demolished under the pretext that they would be easily used as military headquarters of the French. In the rural areas where the Viet Minh were in control, communal houses and pagodas were requisitioned. They became the commune cooperative' granary, warehouse, pigsty, and so on. In other areas, they became a warehouse for craft or handicraft productions, an office for the village People's council or a meeting hall or a place for gatherings for political propaganda. Many pagodas were also used for domestic animal house for the agricultural commune. In the pagodas where the monks were still in residence, the Communists allowed common people to occupy the pagoda's dependent houses. The new occupants dried their clothes everywhere around the worship place, thus disfiguring its solemn and serene aura.

The State-created Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam had its main seat at Quan Su pagoda. The principal task was to serve the Vietnamese Communist Party's political goals, carrying out its political programs. State-affiliated monks fulfilled their nominal role --to participate in the Party conference or religious international in Mongol or Moscow. Until 1991, that is nearly forty years after the Communist takeover of North Vietnam,, most pagodas disappeared. In Thai Binh, the most populous province in the Tonkin delta, there was only a small number of old monks and nuns. They were 70 years old or over.

Most historic sites were in ruins. The famous Hoa Yen Pagoda on Yen Tu Mountain, Dong Trieu District, Hai Duong Province, was burned down. The Phat Tich Pagoda in Bac Ninh Province, which was built under the Ly dynasty (13th century), was destroyed. The Thay Pagoda in Thach That District, Son Tay Province, which was built under the Ly dynasty and in which the legendary Monk Tu Dao Hanh was honored, was very much in ruins. The pagoda was supported by bamboo trees and was doomed to collapse at any time. There was no monk in residence. The sanctum of Phap Vu Pagoda, also called Dau Pagoda, in Thuong Tin District, Ha Dong Province, where the dried bodies of the two legendary monks of the Vu family under the Le Dynasty (15th century) had been honored, was destroyed. There was no monk in residence in Quynh Lam Pagoda.

The historic site pagoda of Co Phap Village, built by the legendary Monk Minh Khong (729-808) was destroyed. It was a historic site in which the Buddha statue erected by the legendary Monk Khong Lo, the Royal Teacher under the Ly dynasty stood and in which the country's most precious religious relics were preserved. There is a history about the destruction of Co Phap Pagoda. To elude their bad reputation for the destruction of this historic site, the Communists lent their hands to the French invaders to erase the site. A red flag was a good signal for a French reconnaissance agent to identify the target. Fighter planes then launched a bombing raid. The Viet Minh achieved a twofold objective. One, they could easily motivate the people's to take revenge on the invaders. Two, they borrowed the hands of French troops to destroy the pagoda to delude from the crime of destruction of religions. The villagers in the area recalled that, after the bombing, the pagoda was all in flames, and fire continued to flare up for a month. There was no rescue on the part of the Communists.

The Huong Tich pagodas in Chuong My Ha Dong were not an exception. The Thien Tru (Heaven's Kitchen) commonly called Chua Ngoai (The Outer Pagoda) suffered heavy damage. There was no monk in residence at Thien Tru Pagoda. A number of pagodas are listed in the category of historical site. All of them are under the management of the local authorities, most of whom have little knowledge of the humanities. Visitors have to pay for their visit. That's is real deceit. The Communists are real religion mongers. They "kill" Buddha and "sell" Him at the same time. " (Thuy Giao and Ngoc Phuong, 1995: 12-14)

Annual pilgrimages to famous historic sites such as Huong Tich increased considerably. Religious services and activities resumed. Seasonal festivals honoring Buddha attracted large pilgrimages. Believers in all directions, from as far as Ha Bac Province in the high plateau and Ha Nam Ninh Province in the low delta, came in crowds to pray for wealth and happiness. Tourists in crowds came to visit the Tram Gian Pagoda (One-hundred-compartment Pagoda in Ha Tay Province. The temple had been labeled a vestige of feudalism. The temple was destroyed in the way the Great Walls had during the Cultural Revolution in China. The temple’s construction materials were taken away and shared among the local cadres. It was not until after the reunification of the country, for the sake of interests, it was recreated to become tourist site, specifically to attract overseas Vietnamese.

The religious life before reunification fell into a decline Nguyen Thi Diep, aged 64 (1994), a native of Thuong Tam, Dong Hung District (formerly Thai Ninh Prefecture), Thai Binh Province, North Vietnam after her visit to her home town, remarked that, "nowadays, once in a while, the villagers, mostly women, go to pagoda. There are no more monks. There are guardians but they know nothing about Buddha, Buddhism, and Buddhist practices --ceremonies, prayers, rites, and rituals. Before 1954, there were two pagodas in the village, one in the center of the village and one outside of it, in the open fields. In 1956, the local officials had the one in the center of the village destroyed and built in its place an office for the People's Council. Now, only the one in the open fields remains. They didn't destroy it because they can control the access to it and those who come and go. They fear that a pagoda can be a haven for counterrevolutionary elements or a place of reunion for them. The communal house is also a primary target of suspicion. It is to the Communist authorities the symbol of feudalism and imperialism that has to be destroyed. There is always an exception, however. In some areas, the Communist authorities were unsuccessful. In Me So Village, Khoai Chau District, Hung Yen Province, for example, the villagers have persistently resisted the local authorities’ order to demolish their communal house (Thien Nhan, VNHRW,: Interview with Nguyen Thi Diep, 7 (March 1993).

The Roman Catholic Church

During the first phase of agrarian reform of 1952-1953, the Viet Minh launched a new wave of terror in the territory of Thanh Hoa Diocese, prestigious and fervent Catholics were attributed to as members of the Interfaith anti-Communist groups of "Lien Ton Diet Cong." Catholics and non-Catholics were arrested and abducted to unknown whereabouts. In Hung Hoa Diocese, many priests were brought to stand trial before the People’s Court for having evaded taxes. Among them were Phero Nang, Phero Thuyet, and Phero Ngo. They were imprisoned and were released until the Geneva Agreements (July 1954).

In Phat Diem Diocese, in October 1953, the Viet Minh authorities in Ninh Binh held a 5-day congress at Trinh Dong, Village Nho Quan District, executed the decision to order the Catholics to cut off connection with Bishop Le Huu Tu. This congress also denounced the Catholic priests of the Chau Son Order of which Bishop Le Huu Tu was a member as a network of espionage for the French. As a consequence, several of priests of the Order were abducted to unknown whereabouts. Chaos spread. The Viet Minh troops attacked Hoa Lac Parish. Fr. Gioan Huong was abducted. Fr. Phaolo Duc, the pastor of Yen Quy, was abducted, imprisoned, and tortured.

Elsewhere, the Communist administration imposed strict laws, rules, and regulation on all sectors of the social life. The religions were primary targets for elimination. Catholics who survived the periods of hardship and religious repression during 1952-1956 told about the State measures of control that were so severe that even the most fervent Catholics were resigned to submission without the t least resistance. In the distant rural areas, the agricultural commune kept a close watch on the daily life activities of every laborer living in it. Everything was for socialist production. Cathedrals and chapels were closed down. The teaching of Bible was outlawed. Assembly for prayers were forbidden. Religious practices were performed in hiding, and religious activities went underground.

Persecution against Catholicism became increasingly atrocious as soon as the Viet Minh gained control of the self-administrative zones of Phat Diem and Bui Chu. After the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, the Laniel government of France planned the withdrawal of troops from outlining areas of the Red River delta, shortening their lines in order to protect Hanoi, Haiphong, and the connecting Route 5 The withdrawal from Phat Diem, Bui Chu, Nam Dinh, Phu Ly, and Ninh Binh occurred in late June. Laniel’s successor, Premier Mendes France, informed US Ambassador Douglas Dillon on June 2 that the French had offered to provide transportation for those of the local people who desired to move with them. However, many had preferred to stay where they were because since Dien Bien Phu the Viet Minh had behaved very well toward the local people, which might be a temporary policy to facilitate the Geneva negotiations." (Wiesner, 1988:215).

As the immigration was moving on, it attracted along the way increasing crowds of refugees. In fact, many Catholics were persecuted for their faith. Many others feared of the same fate and sought to leave their parishes. The Pentagon Papers reported that ".. as soon as the [1954] truce became effective, the Catholic bishops entered a test of power with the Viet Minh, using their self-defense forces to back DRV occupation. The response was predictably ruthless. Catholic villages were attacked by the People’s Army of Vietnam). In two instances, inhabitants reportedly were massacred, churches were burned, church property confiscated, priests tortured or jailed, and heavy taxes levied on church land and buildings Among the consequences of violence was a Catholic propaganda campaign against the Viet Minh -- the Virgin-had-gone Saigon theme-- and mass migrations of whole parishes (Pentagon Papers, 1972:12)

At the close of the withdrawal of the French and the forces of the National Army from North Vietnam, the executions of Catholic clergy and faithful of the Viet Minh resumed at various parishes. Fr. Phero Dinh, the pastor of Viet Lam Parish and the owner of the Yen Binh farm in Tuyen Quang Province, was charged with crimes of treason and was persecuted on July 16, 1954. The Bible instructor Thuyet of Phu Nhan in Son Tay Province was executed without an explanation. From the end of June 1954, the French troops withdrew from the southern provinces of the Tonkin delta. the dioceses of Phat Diem and Bui Chu fell into the hands of the Viet Minh. On June 30, 1954, the Viet Minh troops from two directions, Phuc Nhac and Dien Ho, advanced to occupy Phat Diem. The self-defense groups "Nghia Dung Quan" had to withdraw. They were disbanded afterwards. The Catholics, one group after another, evacuated to Hanoi and major townships and cities in the delta. The Viet Minh troops stormed into Catholic villages. They destroyed cathedrals, diocesan office buildings, schools and other establishments. Witnesses on either side of the Tra Chinh River saw with horror dead bodies were floating in waves towards the Kim Doi sea-mouth. They were all Catholics, the victims of a blood bath, having failed to resist the Viet Minh massacre.