Evangelical Christianity

Evangelical Christianity in the North

After 1954, when Vietnam was partitioned, the Northern Evangelical Church of Vietnam was separated from its sister Southern Church. Until the 1980’s, the former Church was the only body with official legal standing. The latter Church, which had taken their roots in the Christian Evangelical Church and Missionary Alliance in the North before the Indochina War, was regarded by the regime the close allies with the American missionaries. Except for the Hanoi-based and State-sanctioned Evangelical Church, other Evangelical denominations in the North suffered as much intolerance as their fellow believers in the South before and after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975.

In the 1980’s, conversions to Evangelical Christianity in the Northwestern provinces surfaced and rapidly developed into a movement. Sources said that such unprecedented events spread in a quasi spontaneous manner in the ethnic minority communes Owing to radio emissions diffused in various local languages in Southeast Asia in the Philippines, conversions to Christianity as well as Catholicism grew remarkably. The H'mong and other ethnic minorities of the mountainous regions of Lai Chau, Lao Kay, and Dien Bien were among the first converts. Since then, mass conversions to Christianity has never ceased to grow. A report on the situation of Christianity in Vietnam that consecrates several pages to the H'mong Christians of Evangelical conversions estimates the Christian population in this mountainous region at 250,000. It even adds that, since the birth of the movement, the new converts have never ceased to face with tragic repression acted on them by the Vietnamese authorities in their attempts to stop, break, and muzzle entirely the development.

From the outset, H’mong Christians have ever suffered violent persecution. Hundreds of Christian chiefs were imprisoned without a cause. Towards the mid-1990, the Vietnamese Communist Party executed the policy of enmity against the H'mong Christians. These new converts were forced to renounce Christianity and ordered to go back with the practices of their traditional worship of "ma" --ghosts worship, which is practically superstitious. On the other hand, non-Christian H'mong were encouraged to engage in the fight for defense of traditional beliefs, deterring the development of Christianity. This religious "internal treatment" operated on a great scale along with systematic campaigns of propaganda against the H'mong Christians, particularly in the provinces of Lai Chau, Lao Kay and Dien Bien. The purpose was to stop if not reverse the growth of the Christian movement. Meetings and ceremonies during which the participants were forced to sign the document of abjuration. They drank a mixture of animal blood and rice wine in the gatherings organized for a whole region. Brochures and other materials for propaganda were prepared under the supervision of the cadres in charge. and were distributed to the public.

The emissions from a Christian radio in the H'mong language also had reports about a movement of conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the 1980's. According to the source, at least 150,000 H'mong professed themselves to be Christians. Certain H'mong believed that the figure must be, at least, the double. The government showed particular concerns over regards this religious evolution. Conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the not created social, economic, and political problem with it. Measure were first taken to prevent claims for religious freedom and independence from this strong ethnic minority. Persecution against protesters was later carried on without respite. Beginning in 1977. this action pushed some 15,000 H'mong to leave their ancestral homes and lands to seek refuge in the Central Highlands. A great number of these H'mong attested they had truly suffered the deceitful threat of violence and had abandoned their homeland to travel as far as Dak Lak in the South, more than 1,200 kilometers away. Some could only sell at a loss some possessions for their long journey. They were exploited on the route as well as at their arrival.

Evangelical Christianity in the South

After the partition of the country in 1954, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam in the North was the only official Church operating under the direction of the Father Front. The Evangelical Church of the South, which had legal recognition before 1975, was outlawed soon after the Communist takeover of Saigon. The dissolution of the Church presented problems and difficulties in the religious normalization to both the administration and the Church as well. The Church’ s population was estimated at a little more than 170,000 whereas the Evangelical Church‘s faithful in the North became increasingly obsolete, with the total of some 10,000 followers and five aged pastors serving their faith in Hanoi (1975-76).

In the South, the Christian Evangelical Church operated independently as a religion from the state authorities. Religious institutions operated under the aegis of the tenets of the religion and in accordance with the constitution of the Church. There was separation of powers between the religion and the state. Religious congregations were independent from state authority. In 1975, before the fall of Saigon, there were 500 Evangelical congregations to which was added a hundred of smaller others. All these congregations belonged to the Churches created by various missionary organizations that arrived after 1960. In all, the Christian community in 1975 was estimateded at a little more than 150,000 followers .

Confiscation of Properties

As a result of the southern pastors’ refusal to come to terms with the new regime, not only churches were closed down and religious services prohibited but religious establishments and facilities were confiscated. Sev. Almost all religious institutions and social and educational establishments of the Church in Saigon were dispossessed. In the smaller cities, townships, and provinces, the administration closed down houses for prayers and transformed them into storage houses, offices, or the headquarters for the Communist Youth groups.

In Saigon, the Military Administration Council confiscated the properties belonging to an American Church. It dispossessed the Office Building of the French "Reformists" administered by the Reverend Motu at 2 Bis Thong Nhat Boulevad and the Church’s Building at 7 Tran Cao Van administered by the Reverend Ho Hieu, and the social facilities of the American Assembly of God at 3 Nguyen Van Thoai Street. In Gia Dinh Province, the local authorities dispossessed the Church’s buildings at the cemetery in Cau Hang, Go Vap District. Later, to carry out the Communist Party’s "lines of revolution," the authorities of Saigon stepped up campaigns of "uprooting anti-revolutionary elements." Chapels and houses of worships in the local precincts and districts were closed down. In 1983, they confiscated the Church’s chapel in An Dong where the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong was in charge of the Church’s religious services. In December of the same year, they arrested the Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and his assistant, Nguyen Van Tuoi, on charges of "preaching against the Revolution" and confiscated their chapel on Tran Cao Van Street.

Chapels and worship places in the provinces were either dispossessed or closed down. Local authorities confiscated the Institute for Theology in Nha Trang. The cathedral at Thanh My in Lam Dong Province was erased by bulldozer in December 1977. In all, during the period of 1975-1989, the Communist administration confiscated at least 100 buildings belonging to the Christian congregations. To this day, many of these properties are still held by the regime. Churches, chapels, and worship places face tight control with limitations to or restrictions on their use, repair, or extension.

 
Arrests and Imprisonment

After the takeover of Saigon, Christian chaplains, pastors, ministers, and prestigious members of the Church became the target for repression. They were arrested and sent to the reeducation camps. The new administration executed harsh measures against the clergy. Many pastors and ministers were arrested and imprisoned without a charge. Terrorism intensified. It harbored prejudices against the Christians whom they condemned as the American henchmen. The faith itself was projected as the American religion, and, thus the Evangelical Christians were liable to "do something for the CIA."

Persecution against the Churches of Evangelical Christianity persisted in the South after the failures of the first five-year economic development plan. The local authorities executed harsh measures to put various Evangelical denominations under the control of the State. Pastors especially those who were trained by American missionaries were targeted with distrust. Evangelicals were identified with "the American imperialists." During the first years after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam, Church leaders in the provinces of Thuan Hai, Phan Rang, Song Be, and Saigon were subject to strict control and arrest. They were commonly labeled as the "lackeys of imperialism" on unfounded charges of "illegal religions or subversive activities." The Reverend Dang Van Sung, who served as a missionary with the Stieng tribal minority, has reportedly been detained since 1975 in the Phuoc Long District. No news of him has been received since that time. The Reverend Vo Xuan, the Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Anh, the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong, the Reverend Le Thuong Dong, the Reverend Ho Hieu Ha, the Reverend Tran The Thien Phuoc, and Nguyen Van Tuoi were arrested on unfounded charges. The Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Anh., the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong and the Reverend Le Thien Dong were arrested on charges of "subversive activities."

The House Church Movement

Regardless of harsh repression, groups of Christians assembled for prayers in private residences. House Church assembly operated in hiding and grew fast. To stop its growth, the security police launched raids to repress assemblies and rallies for prayers. In the mid- and late eighties of the twentieth century, the house church movement gained momentum in the plains of the South. It spread so rapidly that it constituted a serious threat to the Communist regime. To hold it down, the regime sought to oust the founders of the movement from the State-affiliated Evangelical Church. Arrests and proceedings for detention of the leaders of the movement began to take place.

In the Central Highlands. re-known personalities were arrested and imprisoned. The pastors Tran Xuan Tu, Nguyen Chu, Vo Minh Hong, Tran The Thien Phuoc, Ya Tiem, Ha Wan, Ha Hak, R’Man Boi, and Vo Xuan were arrested on charges of "illegal" preaching, conducting "illegal" religious activities, or using religion as a cover to oppose the government’s religious policy. House church movement leaders in the various areas in the provinces and Saigon were also arrested. Among them were the pastors Tran Mai, Dinh Thien Tu, Tran Dinh Ai, R’Ma Luan, Phan Quang Thieu, Le Quang Trung, Vu Minh Xuan, Hong Van Phung, Bui Tuan Se, Vo Van Lac, and Phan Vu Anh.

Discontent was felt in all congregations. To prevent popular opposition after and appease dissent of members of all faiths as a consequence of the economic failures of the second five-year economic development plan, Hanoi promised that it would gradually carry out a new religions policy. No sooner had the promise been pronounced than it was broken. Hanoi stepped up harsh measures to stop the house church movement. House church leaders, on the other side of the fence, did not anticipate this a good omen. Rather, it would be a problem. A suffocating atmosphere fanned throughout the South and Central Vietnam. The authorities’ decisions still fluctuated between periods of police harassment and raids here and there. Gatherings and assemblies for Bible readings and assemblies and rallies for prayers were plagued with instances of terror and repression. In Saigon, the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong and the Reverend the Le Thien Dong were arrested on charges of "subversive activities" in 1983. The authorities confiscated the Church’s chapel in An Dong where the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong performed religious services. In December of the same year, they arrested Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and his assistant, Nguyen Van Tuoi, on charges of "preaching against the Revolution" and confiscated their chapel on Tran Cao Van Street.

Popular dissidence was on the rise as a consequence of the failures of the second five-year economic development plan. The Communist administration, again, sought to impose stricter control on all religions. The Evangelicals were of a primary target as conversions to Christianity grew steadily at a remarkably speed. It carried out, this time, the political strategy of "divide to govern," granting legal recognition to some Evangelical Churches while dissolving those Churches that would not submit themselves to the arbitrary supervision of atheism. The. latter congregations, which had long operated on their original Constitution, resiliently preserved their legitimacy and resisted union with in the Northern Evangelical Church. The non-cooperation of these independent Churches presented a potential threat to the regime. In addition, the house church movement spread rapidly in various regions in the South.

Unable to disband the various Evangelical denominations in the South, the new regime sought to integrate them into one organization under the leadership of the Communist Party. Due to distinct schisms, the Christians in the South resisted State repression and united all Christians under a single organization, partly. Taking advantage of the services of Bui Hoanh Thu, a longtime "protege" the Vietnamese Communist Party, the Hanoi rule eased pressure on independent denominations, nominating docile leaders to an executive board, facilitating access to some church facilities for religious services, and wooing them into working in union with the State-sanctioned Evangelical Church. Hanoi nevertheless failed to reconcile the Northern and Southern Churches. Most denominations remained loyal to their religious principles and operated independently regardless of oppression and repression.

The Christian clergy and laity became the target of successive instances of suppression. Recognized among the victims persecuted for their faith during this period were:

1. The Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and the two pastors lost their appeals against prison sentences that had been imposed by the People's Court in 1987. They were held at Chi Hoa prison, Ho Chi Minh City; 2. The Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and the two pastors lost their appeals against prison sentences that had been imposed by the People's Court in 1987. They were to be held at Chi Hoa prison in Ho Chi Minh City; 3. Pastor Phan Tu of Binh Tuy was arrested in January 1987, for allegedly holding assembly in his home, and detained in Binh Tuy; 4. Pastor R’mah Boi, house church leader, accused of serving his faith with the Jerai tribe, in the districts of Chu Pa, Gia Lai, and Kontum, Central Highlands. Arrested in August 1989, for allegedly holding an assembly of 200 tribesmen, detained without trial at Camp A20, Dong Xuan, Phu Yen Province, and released on December 8, 1992; 5. Pastor Tran The Thien Phuoc, house church leader in Saigon, arrested in December 1989 on his way to an assembly, detained without trial at Tong Le Chan Camp, Song Be Province, and released on December 1,1991; 6. Nguyen Van Tuoi, arrested in 1983 on charge of propaganda against the "Revolution," sentenced to four years in prison, and released in April 1990; 7. Le Thien Dung, arrested in 1983, brought to stand trial on August 27, 1987 on charge of propagandizing against the "Revolution," sentenced to four years in prison, and released in April 1990; .8. H’ Lap, member of the Koho tribe, arrested in December 1989, on charge of propagandizing against the "Revolution," sentenced to five years in prison, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; 9. Em, member of the Koho tribe, arrested in December 1989, on charge of having contacts with "illegal" religious groups, sentenced to three years in prison, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; 10. Nguye Ngoc Anh, a resident in Dak Lak, Quang Duc Province, arrested in December 1989 and released in 1990. 11. The Reverend Vo Minh Hung is a minister from Pleiku. He had been arrested for the third time in December 1989 during a church assembly in his home. He had never been tried. He was detained in Camp A20, Dong Xuan, Phu Yen Province. He was released on January 16, 1993, 12. Pastor Ha Wan, a house church pastor, Koho tribe. was arrested some time during 1989-1990. He was possibly tried along with Pastors Ya Tiem and Ha Hak. He was sentenced to three years in prison on charge of illegal preaching and pursuing religious practices without permission, and detained in Da Kat, Lam Dong Province. He was released on July 2, 1993, upon completion of his sentence; 13. Two members of the Jorai tribe, Y De and Y Thang, who had been arrested and maltreated, were re-arrested in December 1980, was put under detention; 14. The Reverend R'mah Boi and two Christians of the Jorai Christendom of Chu Pa were imprisoned in October 1989. Two lay Christians were sentenced without a trial to forced labor --to reap an immense rice-field-- for having sheltered the Christians for prayers in their homes at the suggestion of the Reverend Boi. The arrest was termed as an "administrative measure," which is, in fact, an unlawful sentence and is apparently contrary to the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

 

Overview

Under the new political regime, except for Catholicism, all religions legally recognized by the Republic of South Vietnam were outlawed. As a consequence, the legitimate Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam faced with severe disintegration then dissolution following the creation of the State-affiliated Buddhist Church in 1981. The clergy of the Church have ever since resisted persecution of the Vietnamese Communist Party and administration. Until 2014, after 39 years of struggle for survival, the Church still have braved hostilities --harassment, violence, isolation, arrest, imprisonment, and administrative surveillance-- to preserve its legitimacy. The Church’s leadership, Shanga, and faithful have ever persisted to preach the Buddhist faith, religious freedom, and national cause.

The Persecution

The Struggle for Religious Freedom

Beginning in August 1975, the Vietnamese Communist Party had forced by all means to incorporate all Buddhist denominations in a single organization to operate and serve it under the Party-affiliated Committee of Liaison of Patriotic Buddhists' patronage. The Communists nevertheless met with strong opposition, notably, from the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. To count it out, the Party and its administration dissolved the conflict with resort to violence, dismantling the Church’s infrastructure a the base and eradicating the Church’s leadership at the highest level of its supra-structure. During the campaign of "dislodging the bourgeoisie" after the takeover of Saigon, the Communist administration appropriated outright all physical properties of the Church, including the Buddhist Van Hanh University and hundreds of institutions at all levels, and secondary and primary schools of the Bo De cultural and educational systems throughout the country. It absolved all Institutes for Studies of Buddhism and forced student priests and nuns to return to their families.

The Church’s supra-structure crumbled. The clergy at all levels of hierarchy throughout the country were targeted with harassment, repression, or elimination. Right from the first months following the takeover of Saigon, the local authorities used the stratagem to "use your own stick to beat you"-- to use the monks of the Church to eliminate its own clergy. At the Holy Site An Quang Pagoda, the Committee for Liaison of Patriotic Buddhists led by Monk Minh Nguyet applied harsh pressure on the monks and nuns in residence to renounce adherence to the legitimate Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, forcing them to integrate themselves in this State Committee. The scheme came to no success, however. The authorities’ vile acts were unveiled. Monks and nuns alike protested against and refused to cooperate with the committee. The Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Secretary of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith, reacted with resilience.

In a sent to the then Vietnamese Communist Party's Secretary General Do Muoi, the Venerble Thich Quang Do denounced the evil intention of the Ho Chi Minh City authorities. To prove the legitimacy of the Unified Buddhist Church, the dignitary specified among other arguments that "if there are Patriotic Buddhists, there are naturally non-patriotic Buddhists or 'reactionary Buddhists'-- as one should interpret it according to the Communist's ideological rhetoric. In this case, the it is without doubt a reference to the reactionary Buddhists --the members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. It is then, according to the laws of class struggle, the Party’s patriotic Buddhists’ had to fight to exterminate the 'reactionary Buddhists’."

The protest came to no result. Repression persisted. At each pagoda, only a monk or a guardian was allowed to stay. Young monks had to do the military service or return home for socialist production.

The Vietnamese Communist Party and State never hesitated to execute harsh measures to put the Church under the control of its administration. To resist the regime’s oppression, the Church’s leadership, Sangha, and faithful chose to face misfortunes. The struggle for existence is enduring, nevertheless. To root up the Church from the Vietnamese soil, the administration have relentlessly executed the strictest oppressive and repressive measures against it. To protect their faith and perpetuate its presence, the Church’s priests and followers have never hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the protection of their faith." (Thuy Giao and Ngoc Phuong, 1995: 10)

Self-sacrifice for Religious Faith

In November 1975, not long after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, twelve Buddhist dignitaries and believers immolated themselves by fire at Duoc Su Pagoda in Can Tho. The incident was the first series of protest against the Communist regime’s policy of religious intolerance in the South. The local authorities had prohibited the pagoda's superior monk to fly the banner of Buddhism, to hold sessions of retreat, and to allow to receive the Buddhist members in the community to come to pay respect to Buddha.

The incident was first disclosed in December 1976 in a report to the central office of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in Saigon. The Institute for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith, in the name of the Church, sent a letter of protest to the central administration requesting it to investigate the case. Mai Chi Tho [whose real name is Phan Dinh Dong], the then-Director of Saigon Security Police Department, came to An Quang Pagoda to consult with the Church’s leadership about the incident and promised to send his agents to Can Tho to investigate. As always, the investigation came to no conclusion.

The report by Huynh Chau So of the central administration, in contrast, gave all its counter arguments against the Buddhist dignitaries’ statements concerning the incident at Duoc Su Zen Pagoda, saying that Monk Hue Hien, the priest in residence at the pagoda "had worked as an informer for the American C. I. A. and the puppet government. After the liberation of the South, fearful of being punished by the Revolution, he killed himself and at the same time forced 11 people to kill themselves. Hue Hien and the accomplices had been fully supplied with food by the Americans and the puppet government. Now, having no other sources of supply to subsist, they had to kill themselves collectively. Hue Hien and the accomplices had committed licentious acts with those nuns who killed themselves together with him. Hue Hien was fearful that his acts would be revealed, he thus had to kill himself and burned the Thanh Minh Thien Vien."

The report by Huynh Chau So was contradictory and contrary to facts. The reality is, in his letter on November 2, 1975 before his self-immolation, the Venerable Hue Hien had informed the Sangha and Buddhist faithful of the reasons for his self-sacrifice. Among other things, he had made an oath "to protect the tenets of Buddhism and the Just Laws of Buddha and the dignity and virtues of a devoted Buddhist priest. He earnestly called on the provisional revolutionary government of South Vietnam and the National Front for Liberation of South Vietnam to genuinely respect the right to religious freedom of the people."

The State’s acts of overt oppression against Buddhism intensified, regardless of rising discontent among Buddhist congregations. Since April 30, 1975, the Institute for the Propagation for the Buddhist Faith had sent 62 letters of protest against the arrests of Buddhist priests and laymen and acts and words of blasphemy of the cadres and incidents of destruction of Buddha's idols and articles of worship. No direct explication was given from the authorities The report on the Thanh Minh Thien Vien incident by the State cadre Chau Quoc Tuan was the only information provided. The Communist Party and its administration showed indifference to the entreaties of the Buddhist clergy, thus raising deep dissent among the Buddhist Shanga and faithful. On the morning of January 22, 1977, 300 Buddhist delegates from the provinces in South Vietnam assembled at An Quang Pagoda in Saigon, regardless of threat and signs of repression from the city authorities.

On March 17, 1977, the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang sent a letter to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. While presenting the case with evidences. The dignitary attested fact that he Communist authorities had committed acts of repression against Buddhism. He cited instances of violence such cases of destruction and confiscation of Buddhist facilities, disaffection of pagodas and statues, arrests of priests, and the dissolution of Buddhist organizations. The dignitary also requested the State to authorize the Church to perform all forms of religious practices and activities. To profess the Church’s will of resistance, 3,000 monks and Buddhists marched and chanted slogans through the streets of Saigon. The security police were ordered to disband the demonstration.

As the conflict between Communist China and Communist Vietnam became increasingly tense, the Vietnamese Communist administration, in face of the opposition of the Unified Buddhist Church, made a step backwards. To diverted public opinion from the administration unwilling concession, the propaganda machinery distorted the situation, divulging false news and putting blame on the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church, and accusing the demonstrators of conspiring with the American imperialists and the Beijing hegemony to create social disturbance and destroy the State's religious policy. Using this distortion as a pretext, on April 6, 1977, the police blocked all entrances the streets surrounding the An Quang Pagoda, They broke into the worship place and arrested without charge the monks in residence. Among the arrested were four high-ranking dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Venerable Thich Thuyen An, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, and the Venerable Thich Thien Minh. They were all imprisoned without a trial.On December 8, 1978, under the pressure of international human rights foundations and agencies, the imprisoned Buddhist leaders were brought to stand trial before a court of justice. The Venerable Thich Quang Do was acquitted. The other dignitaries were sentenced to 2-7 years in prison.

On June 9, 1977, the Venerable Thich Man Giac, the Vice-chancellor of Van Hanh University, denounced, in his Appeal for the Defense of Human Rights the systematic destruction of the Unified Buddhist Church organizations and its institutions of the political regime. He accused the Communist administration of its audacious violations of religious freedom, unlawfully confiscated the Church’s thousands of schools, clinics, and orphanages. It destroyed statues of Buddha. It executed with strict measures to close Van Hanh University, the School for Social Services, and the Church's Publishing House. In addition to the destruction of the Church’s physical infrastructure, the Vietnamese Communist Party and State decidedly dismantled the Church’s religious supra-structure, creating the State-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam to operate as a unique Buddhist organization in its place.

The Communist Party and its administration practically laid heavy hands on the Vietnam Unified Church of Vietnam. Hostilities towards Buddhist monks of the Unified Buddhist Church were evident. The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh (Phan Tan Dat) of Lien Tri Pagoda, Thu Duc District, Saigon. was targeted with suspicion due to his support for the Church’s religious cause. On August 20, 1977, he went on a hunger strike to protest against the arrest of the Buddhist clergy at An Quang Pagoda on Su Van Hanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City. In October 1977, he was arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned. He had never received a trial. It was not until 1987 that he was released from prison.

Later, to eradicate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the central administration executed a minute plan to dismantle the Church.’ s highest body of leadership and its base organization in Saigon. On February 12, 1980, Radio Hanoi announced the creation of a national Buddhist Committee. This organ, according to the source, was destined to unify various sects of Buddhism in the country. The committee would operate under the sponsorship of the State. This State-affiliated religious organ was later re-entitled as the Committee for the Unification of Buddhist Organizations. Several dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were invited to join it. During the process, the Venerable Thich Tri Thu of Hue was appointed the president of the committee and the Venerable Thich Minh Chau, the former Chancellor of Van Hanh University, the secretary. The Venerable Thich The Long, the Venerable Thich Minh Nguyet, the Venerable Thich Tri Tinh, and the Venerable Thich Mat Hien were nominated the Vice-presidents. The Venerable Thich Don Hau and the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan (of North Vietnam) were nominated the advisors.

A Hidden Scheme

Repression intensified as the Communist leadership progressed towards establishing the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church. In February 1981, the Paris-based Vietnamese Human Rights League and the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners in Vietnam provided a list of 77 priests and 36 monks imprisoned for unfounded reasons. At the same time, the Committee for the Union of Buddhist Organizations in Vietnam held its formal sessions in Hanoi. Quite surprisingly, the leaders of the Committee met with Hoang Quoc Viet, the president of the Fatherland Front, brought to the attention of this member of politburo the absence of the leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam all though the time the Committee was in session for the project for unification of all Buddhist Churches. The Committee protested against the State intervention in the Church’s internal affairs. Because of this intervention, the committee had met with strong opposition from the leadership of the newly-created Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Sessions of meeting between the members of the committee and the Front had proceeded without the participation of the members of the leadership of the Unified of Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

On September 9, 1981, when attempts were made to integrate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the State-created Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church at An Quang Pagoda, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, the spokesman of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, out of prudence, categorically rejected the State-created Church’s initiatives to unify various Buddhist Churches under its direction because the latter Church’s initiatives were only the arbitrary pre-dispositions by the Communist administration.

Subsequent to the unbending will of the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, on October 11, 1981, the question of dissolution of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was raised again in a meeting at An Quang Pagoda. In a moment, while the meeting was in session, the police broke in and arrested the Venerable Thich Quang Do and a great number of dignitaries of the Church. who were in attendance at the meeting. Among those arrested were the Church’s highest dignitaries, the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Venerable Thich Thong Buu, the Venerable Thich Thuyen An, and the Venerable Thich Thong Hue. The dignitaries were all detained thereafter. This measure was to prevent the dignitaries from expressing their disagreement and stop opposition from the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

　

The Eradication of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church

Not long after that, the state-sponsored Congress for the Unification of Vietnamese Buddhism took place. In Hanoi, on November 4, 1981, 160 delegates representing 9 Buddhist organizations and denominations took part in it. The Buddhist Church of Vietnam was founded. Hanoi Radio announced that the role of the Church was defined as "... the only Buddhist Church of Vietnam" and "the only Buddhist organization representative of Vietnamese Buddhism in all its relations inside the country or overseas." The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was outlawed. On February 25, 1982, the two prominent dignitaries of the Church, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Secretary-general, and the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang-- the vice-president, were arrested. The security police broke into their pagodas and confiscated all the Church’s documents, letters, photographs, manuscripts, and the typed texts of religious matters.

To protest against the State’s violence inflicted on their spiritual leaders, on February 28, 1982, thousands of Buddhists assembled at An Quang Pagoda, the Holy Seat of the Unified Church of Vietnam and Thanh Minh Zen Monastery where the Venerable Thich Quang Do was in residence, to pray for the safety of the dignitaries. In the following days, representatives of the laity were convoked to the headquarters of the Fatherland Front. They were informed that the Venerable Thich Quang Do and the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang had requested to return to their native villages. Nevertheless, such an untrue motive could not blind public opinion. The fact is, in the Resolution No. 71 QD--UB, the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City, revealed that the two dignitaries were "a danger to the order and security in a region of great political, economic, and strategic importance."

On July 18, 1984, the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the new president of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, sent a letter to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. In it, the dignitary put into question many provisions of the decree that regulate religious activities. He underlined, in particular, the bias of the provisions defined by Article 1 of the decree according to which freedom of faith is guaranteed while, at the same time, it accumulates violations on the principle of religious freedom by dissolving the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The fact is equally evidenced by the creation of a State-sponsored Buddhist Church while at the same time imprisoning independent Buddhist monks and even forcing to abandon their priesthood, and renouncing their religious faith. He further stated that, by exercising its control of the State over the religions, the government "has exceeded its monopoly of power overly. It violates the independence of the Church. blatantly and unlawfully, applying arbitrarily Article 15 of Chapter II on it unlawfully and on false charge of "diffusion and possession of the cultural works whose contents oppose socialism."

The Most Venerable Huyen Quang also expressed deep concerns about other provisions of the law as they are vague and paradoxical. For instance, any religious practice or activity could be interpreted as an act of opposition. The clergy of the Unified Buddhist Church would certainly face serious difficulties as it always vows to preserve its legal status as an independent religion, to allow itself to possess the rights to religious education and the priesthood, a tradition that dates back thousands of years ago. These and other right were recognized by all royal dynasties and political regimes. The Communist regime could not in the name of anything whatsoever to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church, to meddle with the formation and ordination of monks. Likewise, the nomination of monks does not need the approval or refusal of the government authorities. The conduct of religious affairs, which is not in any way the interference of this worldly power; it does not in any way an office of the civil administration. The Most Venerable also pointed out the incoherence of the law reflected in the government conduct of affairs in Article 16 of Chapter II. In this provision, the government allows the religious organizations to contribute to humanitarian services, although it had confiscated all charitable establishments of all Churches in 1975 and 1976.

The Unified Buddhist Church was outlawed without a notice. The State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church had all favorable conditions to intensify its influence and control over the pagodas and temples throughout South Vietnam. It laid its siege at An Quang Pagoda and assumed the leadership, beginning on July 7, 1982. A week later, the Venerable Thich Don Hau, in the name of the Executive Council of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, wrote to the Venerable Thich Tri Thu, Advisor to the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Church, expressing his astonishment over the unjustified attack of the security police at An Quang Pagoda and the unspecified occupation of this main siege of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The question came to no answer.

During its second annual congress held in Ho Chi Minh City, January 23-24, 1983, the Vietnam Buddhist Church announced in a notice that the clergy of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam had already been supplanted in 20 cities and provinces in Vietnam. In a detailed report on the progress accomplished by the Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Tong Ho Cam, a cadre-member in the Central Committee of Religious Affairs of the Church, presented, among other things, the changes that had taken place in the pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City since the creation of the Vietnam Buddhist Church: "The offices of this committee have been established and have operated in conformity with the directives of the Vietnam Buddhist Church. They have become an integrated part of the organization of the masses under the direction enlightened by the Party and the determination of the representatives nominated by the Buddhist organizations of the city."

Tong Ho Cam particularly mentioned that the establishment of a mausoleum at Quang Huong Gia Lam Pagoda was a remarkable achievement of the State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church. To many participants in attendance at the congress, the statement nevertheless impressed nobody. It only unveiled an untrue verity. The Buddhist laity knew very well that the mausoleum was built in memory of and dedicated to the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, who unfortunately suffered a doubtful death after an interrogation by the security police.

Arrests and Trials

Fervent lay Buddhists were equally targeted with repression. They were arrested, tried, and sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Recognized among the laity were:

1. Vo Dang Phuong, arrested in April 30, 1975 and sentenced to 10 years in prison; 2. Le Cam Son, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 3. Nguyen Van Sinh, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 4. Pham Ba Duc, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to 17 years in prison; 5. Hoang Quoc Viet, arrested in 1976, sentenced to 20 years in prison, and detained in Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 6. Thai Phi Kich, arrested on May 9, 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 7. Tran Du, arrested on December 24, 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 8. Nguyen Van Nho, arrested in 1977, and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 9. Ho Duy Loc, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 10. Tran Huu Ngan, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 11. Nguyen Van Doan, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 12. Le Van Nho, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 13. Nguyen Van Minh, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 14. Le Quy Hoa, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 15. Tran Quang Kim, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 in prison; 16. Do Ngoc Chuan, arrested on January 27, 1977, sentenced to life imprisonment, and detained at Camp Z30D, Ham Tan; 17. Nguyen Thanh, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 18. Huynh Huu, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 19. Huynh Van Tam, arrested in 1978 and and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 20. Le Quang Quang, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 21. Nguyen Trung Cu, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 22. Vo Hoa, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 23. Tran Van Anh, arrested on February 3, 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 24. Chau Van Toi, arrested on February 3, 1878 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 25. Ngo Van Liem, arrested on February 3, 1978 and sentenced to 18 years in prison; 26. Nguyen Huu Nghia, arrested on Mat 31, 1978, and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 27. Tran Thien Can, arrested on July 27, 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 28. Tran Dinh Mau, arrested on July 27, 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 29. Nguyen Van Tai, arrested in 1979 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 30. Le Van Chuong, arrested in 1979 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 31. Trinh Thanh Son, arrested on February 12, 1979 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 32. Chu Van Tan, arrested in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 33. Tran Nam Phuong, arrested in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 34. Pham Van Loi, arrested on July 16, 1980 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 35. Bui Thanh Liem, arrested on September 14, 1980 and sentenced to 17 years in prison; 36. Le Van Son, arrested on April 27, 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 37. Y Phin Nier, arrested on August 1, 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 38. Ho Ngoc An, arrested on December 11, 1981 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 39. Nguyen Long, arrested in 1962 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 40. Ngo Van So, arrested on February 5, 1982 and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 41 Pham Hong Nhat, arrested on March 15, 1982 and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 42. Nguyen Van Huy, arrested on December 23, 1983 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 43. Nguyen Thi Nghia, arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tue Sy and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu on April 2, 1984 on charge of carrying out activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government, tried in September 1988, sentenced to 7 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 44. Le Van Be (Hoang), arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 45. Do Bach Tho, arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 46. Nguyen Van De, arrested on September 15, 1986 and sentenced to life imprisonment; and 47. Nguyen Van Minh, tried on charge of playing a role in the Hue incidents, sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Recognized among the members of the clergy arrested and sentenced to prison terms were:

1. The Venerable Thich Thien Minh (Huynh Van Ba), sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 2. The Venerable Thich Tam Can (Nguyen Huu Tin), sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 3. The Venerable Thich Tri Giac, sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 4. The Venerable Thich Minh Su, sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 5. The Venerable Thich Thien Tan (Thai Thanh Hung) superior monk at Thuyen Ton Temple, Hue, arrested in August 1978 on charge of political participation in rebellious activities, sentenced to life imprisonment, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; and 6. The Venerable Thich Quang Do (Dang Phuc Tue); being a leader of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, was first arrested on April 6, 1977 in a police raid at the An Quang Pagoda in Saigon. He was detained without trial for a year and a half. In December 1978, he was brought to stand trial on charge of counter-propaganda and exploitation of religion to undermine security and order but was acquitted. In February 1982 he was re-arrested for protesting against the political regime’ s suppression against Buddhism. He was exiled to Vu Thu Village, Thai Binh Province.

The Gia Lam Incident

The repression became increasingly tense as the regime decided to proceed with harsh measures to outlaw the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and instituted a State-sponsored Buddhist Church in its place Troubles and incidents of repression marked the period of the mid- 1980’s. On March 22, 1984, the security police burst into Gia Lam Pagoda and Van Hanh University and arrested 12 Buddhists who were affiliated with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu. Among those arrested were the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, a scholar of high reputation and close associate of the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu; Nun Thich Nu Tri Hai, a translator of numerous books of philosophy and religion; the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, former professor at Van Hanh University; and the Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac, professor at the Higher School for Buddhism at Gia Lam Pagoda. On the same day, the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu was brought before the security police for interrogation. He was forced to sign a prepared confession attesting that he might have covered subversive activities by reactionary Buddhists. His refusal to admit such a false denunciation a victim of intimidation. He was brought back to his pagoda and was asked to reconsider himself. The doors of the pagoda were sealed for 10 days. On April 2, 1984, the police convoked him again to its office to confirm his confession. At 8:00 p.m. on the same day, the Most Venerable was brought back to his pagoda. He was unable to talk and his skin was pale. At 9:30 p.m., the dignitary expired his last breath.

The monks in residence at Gia Lam Pagoda were arrested on March 22, 1984 together with 19 Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers, known to have had connections to the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, the well-known Buddhist dignitary who died some days later in a suspicious manner. after an interrogation of the police. Lay Buddhists and the monks associated with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu were brought to stand trials. Tran Van Luong was given 20 years in prison. The monks were sentenced to 4-15 years in prison. The Venerable Thich Tue Sy, whose secular name is Pham Van Thuong and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, whose secular name is Le Manh That, were arrested on April 2, 1984, along with 10 other Buddhist monks in residence at Gia Lam and Van Hanh pagodas in Saigon in a police raid. The Venerable Tue Sy and the Venerable Tri Sieu were both given the death sentence. Their sentences were commuted later to to 20 years in prison by the Supreme Court in November 1988 due to pressure from international public opinion

The two dignitaries were charged with carrying out subversive activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government. They were detained four years without trial at Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon, They were brought to stand trial in September 1988 together with 20 other lay Buddhists and monks for having carried out crimes against national security In 1989, they were moved from a prison in Saigon to Reeducation Camp Z 30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. They were the transferred to Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province. The Venerable Tue Sy was later transferred to Ba Sao Camp in Nam Ha They were both released from the prison on September 1, 1988.

Two other prominent dignitaries, the Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac and the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan. were subject to arrest and imprisonment. The Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac was arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu and eight other monks and nuns during March-April 1984. also on charge of carrying out subversive activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government. He was incarcerated without trial until September 1988. He was then brought to stand trial, sentenced to 14 years in prison, and imprisoned in a reeducation camp at Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province

On August 6, 1985, the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan, the secretary-general of the Executive Board of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City. The death of the Venerable Thich Tri Thu and the arrest of the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan raised deep discontent in the Buddhist faithful in the city and played a part in wakening the opposition of Buddhism against the Communist regime, and paradoxically creating favorable conditions for the authorities to execute their plan of disbanding the organization of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. Subsequent to these tragic incidents, in September 1988, several prominent figures of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were brought to trial before the People's Supreme Court of Ho Chi Minh City. All were formally accused of crimes of participation in subversive resistance against the State.

At a time in recess, the Communist State apparently remounted persistent repression. The aim was to execute a much more secretive plan to outlaw all organizations instituted by the most loyal adherents to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam who resolutely survived hardship and who adamantly refused to submit themselves to the state-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam. As a result, the Venerable Thich Thong Buu was arrested for ungrounded reasons (1986). He was one of the most resilient disciples of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc who, in 1963, volunteered to immolate himself by fire to protest against the Ngo Dinh Diem government's repressive measures against Buddhism. The Venerable Thich Thong Buu was then exiled to Dong Xuan in the province of Phu Khanh, Central Vietnam. He was accused of having incited "illegal religious assembly. "

Nguyen Quoc Pham, a politics instructor, reported in 1987 in a conference of dignitaries of the State-affiliated Buddhist Church of Vietnam that: "We [the Vietnamese Communist Party] have reformed and unified all Buddhist organizations throughout the whole country. Reactionary organizations such as the An Quang [Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam] Sect were dissolved. We have integrated Buddhism in the bosom of the nation and have oriented it towards the right religious road. At the time of the American-installed government, Buddhism was radically divided into separate sects. It disposed of hundreds of establishments for the formation of Buddhist priests, an Institute of Buddhism, and Van Hanh University. However, after the liberation, the Buddhists of the An Quang Sect planned to create an allied movement with reactionary forces projected for opposition to the Revolution."