The Repression

The Vincent Cathedral Incident

Having failed to subdue the priest in residence at the Vincent Cathedral located on Tran Quoc Toan Street, Tenth Precinct, Saigon, under control, the local military authorities had its agents planted "counter-evolutionary" documents and arms and ammunitions in the facilities inside the cathedral, using this scheme as a pretext to arrest the pastor, intimidate the parishioners, and confiscate the cathedral, its dependent premises, and facilities. On February 13, 1976, the security police laid siege on the cathedral. After the many-hour siege, they arrested the Chaplain Nguyen Quang Minh of the old Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Ngoc Thiet, and the lawyer Nguyen Khac Chinh. The official press reported that the local authorities had unearthed a cache of arms and ammunitions and the evidences of a conspiracy to overthrow the new regime. That conspiracy was intimately linked to an operation of the American CIA. The authorities never produced any evidences or proofs whatsoever. The chaplain and the other two laymen were charged with masterminding a scheme to overthrow the newly-established government. Nguyen Huu Thiet was shot dead. The chaplain was given the death sentence without a trial. He later died out of maltreatment in the prison. Nguyen Khac Chinh was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The lawyer was released in early March 1992. after 17 years in prison.

The Dac Lo Incident

The Reverend Le Thanh Que was among the nine Jesuit priests who were arrested in late 1980 and early 1981 when the authorities of Ho Chi Minh City executed the order of the closure of the Catholic Dac Lo Center on Yen Do Street. He and the other priests were charged with the crimes of carrying out subversive activities, disseminating counterrevolutionary propaganda materials with a scheme to overthrow the regime. The arrests of the Jesuit priests were supposedly linked to the publication of the journal "Dao Nhap The" (The Religion Incarnated) and, of most importance, because of the admiration the Catholic Youths had for the priests and their frequent assemblies at the canter. The Reverend Le Thanh Que, and a group of 13 Jesuit priests and young laymen were brought to stand trial at bar .on June 30, 1983. They were all accused of "having conducted counterrevolutionary propaganda and attempted to overthrow the legitimate administration," although the Court could not produce any evidence. The Reverend Le Thanh Que was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The Jesuit priest Nguyen Cong Doan was arrested in December 1980 with nine other Jesuit priests when the authorities closed the Dac Lo (Alexandre de Rhodes) Center on Hien Vuong Street, Saigon. He was charged with "plotting conspiracy to overthrow the government and carrying out counterrevolutionary propaganda" as expressed in his viewpoints on religious faith in the review "Dao Nhap The" (The Religion Reincarnated). He was brought to stand trial on June 29, 1983, after two and a half years under administrative detention. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. Also arrested was the Reverend Dominique Ngo Quang Tuyen. The priest was arrested in October 1982, but it was until June 1986 that he was brought to stand trial in court. He was convicted of "having organized illegal evasions to foreign countries" and of " having incited corruption among the party cadres." He was sentenced to 25 years in prison but the sentence was later commuted to 18 years. He was detained at Camp Z30, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province.

Trials and Imprisonment

The following is an excerpt from the official narrative about the Dac Lo (Alexandre de Rhodes) Center case from the semiofficial magazine Cong Giao va Dan Toc (Catholicism and the Nation):

"During June 29-30, the People’s Court of Justice in Ho Chi Minh City tried in a court of first instance Nguyen Van Hien and a certain number of people belonging to the Center of Dac Lo who had relationship with him. They were accused of having conducted counterrevolutionary activities with an attempt to overthrow the administration.

The Court consists of the president of the People’s Court of the city Huynh Vinh Thanh and his assistant jurors, Nguyen Van Tung, Party vice-secretary of the Union of Construction, and Huynh Thi Hien, Party secretary at the Metal Chemical Industry. The prosecutor is Tran Luan, Vice-president of the Office of the Prosecutors of Ho Chi Minh City. The defense lawyers for the accused were Tran Thoi Vuong and Phan Thanh. The clerk is Tran Thi Phung.

In the morning of June 29, after having examined the curriculum vitae of each of the accused, the Court had the secretary read the indictment.

According to the indictment, Nguyen Van Hien, 61, a native of Dong Hoi in the province of Binh Tri, has served as a spy for the American CIA from 1954. The said agent has involved in a number of counterrevolutionary incidents after the revolution. Le Thanh Que, 45, a native of Hai Hau in the province of Ha Nam Ninh, and a Jesuit priest, like Nguyen Van Hien, is accused of having conducted counterrevolutionary activities with an attempt to overthrow the administration.

Apart from being accused of having connections with counterrevolutionary elements in the country and abroad, Le Thanh Que is also accused of having published fraudulently a journal entitled the "Vietnamese Catholicism Reformed" which is then re-entitled "The Religion Reincarnated." This journal serves as a means of propaganda propagating counterrevolutionary intoxication, distortion, and calumny.

"The Religion Reincarnated" is the means of propaganda for the Companionship of Jesus, which is under the sponsorship and direction of the members of this organization such as Fr. Do Quang Chinh, Khuat Duy Linh, and specifically, Fr. Nguyen Cong Doan. The latter priest had received orders from Rome to come to Saigon several months before the liberation to become the provincial director to direct the companionship and to reform the Dac Lo Center. He nevertheless regrouped and organized counterrevolutionary elements to carry out propaganda. Apart from this, Fr. Le Thanh Que took charge of the editorship and managed the journal "The Religion Reincarnated.’ There were also conferences and sessions of exchanges of ideas. These activities were conducted under the direction of Brother Pham Huu Lai. In these conferences and meetings, the participants utsed reactionary and decadent books written by lackey writers before the liberation that are currently forbidden to circulate such as "Cong Truong Voi Tim (The School Gate with Violet Walls) by Nha Ca and "Dung Bo Em Mot Minh" (Don’t Leave Me Alone) by Nhat Giang. Moreover, to raise fund, which activity would allow them to actuate their activities, the accused salvaged money and gold from people who left the country to live overseas. They borrowed them money and gold and reimbursed them in the foreign currency through the intermediary of the Companionship of Jesus overseas.

Another group of people that had connection to the illegal activities at the Dac Lo Center were also brought to stand trial before the Court. They were Hoang Kim Khanh, Truong Van Tuyen, Mai Kim Loan, Vu Duc Ha, and Fr. Nguyen Van Hoa. The Court’s deliberation lasted all day on 29 June. In the morning of June 30, the Court listened to the pleading of the defense lawyers and the representative of the Office of Prosecutors.

At 2:00 p.m. on June 30, 1983, after the analysis of the crimes of each of the accused, the Court passed the following sentences:

1. Bguyen Van Hien, life imprisonment; Le Thanh Que, 15 years in prison; 2. Nguyen Cong Doan ,12 years in prison; 3. Do Quang Chinh, 5 years in prison; 4. Hoang Kim Khanh, 4 years in prison; 5. Pham Huu Lai, 4 years in prison; 6. Khuat Duy Linh, 4 years in prison and 3 years on probation; 7 Truong Van Tuyen, 3 years in prison; 8. Hoang Sy Quy, 2 years in prison and 4 years on probation; 9. Nguyen Van Hoa, Mai Kim Loan, Dinh Van Trung, and 10. Vu Duc Ha received warnings (Cong Giao va Dan Toc, 1983: 1-2)

The indictment on the accused of the Court was, however, was contrary to facts. The Dac Lo Center was founded in Saigon before the Communist takeover of South Vietnam. It had a Student Union Club for Catholic Youths and Students, most of whom were the students at the Saigon universities. There were at the center a theater and a television studio. There were also classrooms for foreign languages --English, French, and so on. The Jesuit priests in residence and concerned intellectuals regularly organized conferences or conducted of sessions of Bible studies.

After April 1975, at the suggestion of the Archbishop of Saigon Nguyen Van Binh, the Jesuit priests engaged themselves in series of orientation sessions to accommodate the Church’s activities to the new situation. The Reverend Nguyen Cong Doan was nominated the counselor beside the prelate. The Roman Catholic Church nevertheless met, at that time, with ever-growing difficulties. The Church’s responsible at the Dac Lo Center were forced by the authorities to voluntarily offer the totality of this religious establishment to the State, including the chapel where holy masses were celebrated everyday. Sessions of Bible studies used to be conducted and choral hymns periodically practiced in the chapel. All these activities attracted large groups of Catholic youths. Therefore, the responsible at the center refused to comply with the authority’s decision. The center caused a thorny problem to the authorities.

On December 2, 1980, the security police broke into the center and arrested the Reverend Le Thanh Que, who, at that moment, was talking to a person named Nguyen Van Hien, the principal accused on the trial. On the same day, they arrested the Reverend Hoang Sy Quy, the Reverend Dinh Van Trung, and Brother Pham Huu Lai. All these priests were brought to the police headquarters. The Reverend Khuat Duy Linh, the guardian of the chapel, was placed under house arrest. The center was officially dispossessed.

On January 6, 1981, the Reverend Nguyen Cong Doan was arrested. He was brought to the security police headquarters where his colleague priests had been detained. He and the other priests were then put under imprisonment in separate cells. They were detained in this condition for a year. In the meantime, the reverend Khuat Duy Linh and the Reverend Do Quang Chinh, who had been placed under house arrest since January 1981, were arrested. In June 1981, the Dominican priest Nguyen Van Hoa was also arrested. Until then, there was no mention of any reason or justification for the arrests of the priests and their associates on the part of the authorities.

In February 1982, Mai Chi Tho, Chairman of the People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City, gave decision on the day of trial of the Jesuit priests. Two months later, the official daily Quan Doi Nhan Dan ran an article entitled "The Impostors" and foretold the contents of the verdict. The Jesuit priests were portrayed as the "reactionaries in disguise as priests."

As in many other trials taking place during and before the promulgation of the Penal Code (1985), there was always in a trial a mysterious personage among the accused --an officer of the old regime who masterminds the plotting. Only one of the seven Jesuit priests and four lay Catholics of the Dac Lo Center, according to the Court’s indictment, had met this mysterious person twice and within a few minutes each time, and that was fair enough for all of them to be accused of having attempted to overthrow the regime (Jran Mais, EDA. 1986: 17-18)

The Dong Cong Incident

The incident of the Order Dong Cong (Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix) marked the most serious friction between the administration and the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam during the period after the Communist takeover South Vietnam. All properties of this monastic Order in the provinces throughout South Vietnam --Binh Dinh, Da Lat, Di Linh, Lam Dong, Phuoc Long, and so on --had been one by one confiscated and came under the possession of the State. Fifteen priests of the Order were abducted to unknown whereabouts while a number of others were arrested. Among them was the seminarian Dinh Khiem Ton who was later tortured to death.

The only property left to the Order was the Dong Cong Monastery in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City. On May 15, 1987, the security police, the local authorities, and about 40 armed servicemen blockaded all entrances to the monastery, closed in, and burst into it while a religious course for new converts was in session. The Reverend Tran Dinh Thu, the Superior Priest of the Order, was arrested on grounds of carrying out counterrevolutionary activities. The local authorities put into effect the decision to seize the Order’s monastery. A number of priests in residence were also arrested. The authorities’ action met with strong opposition from the local Catholic communities. Protests and demonstrations ensued. The situation was aggravated by the descent of large security police reinforcements at the monastery. The demonstrators were disbanded after fierce clashes with the police. The security police penetrated the monastery and seized hold of the properties of the Order, particularly a reserve of 20 tons of rice.

The Confrontation

At the news of the intrusion of the security police into the monastery Catholic parishioners in the areas nearby ran up to protect the Church’ s property and defend the priests. They challenged the police with all arms of fortune. Three policemen were seriously wounded during the confrontation that lasted many days. Many parishioners who participated in the defense of the monastery were arrested along with the priests. On the morning of May 17, 1987, Catholics in the area and from other parishes came in flock to the monastery to see what was happening. Witnessing the severe damage the authorities had done to the monastery, they gathered in a crowd protesting the rude intrusion into a worship place and resisting the police with force. The police retreated a moment. On the morning of May 20, 1987, the security e police, with reinforcements from the military, came in from all directions searching through vehicles that were passing by, positing checkpoints at crossroads, and invading the monastery. The police forces arrested 40 priests and searched for those who they thought were the masterminds.

The arrest of the Reverend Tran Dinh Thu, an 83-year-old priest and the founder and Director General of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix aroused deep wrath among the population, Catholics and non-Catholics as well. Like any other religious institutions, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam, the Order faced with serious difficulties, and the calamity that fell on it at Thu Duc Monastery truly ended its existence on the Vietnam soil. In October 1987, fifteen priests and eight parishioners were brought to stand trial before the People’s Court. The trial was coupled with campaigns of propaganda denigrating the congregation. Repression expanded to the neighboring parishes. Parishioners along the Dong Nai plains were in revolt. Groups of the "National Restoration Movement" retreated to the Ong Trinh Mountain near Vung Tau to join the Resistance under the command of Captain Giang Van Be.

The Reverend Tran Dinh Thu was condemned without a trial to life imprisonment. The sentence was later commuted to twenty years in prison due to the pressure of international opinion. The other defendants were condemned to diverse sentences none of which was less than four years in prison. Until September 1996, seven priests of the congregation were still in prison. Campaigns of anti-Catholic propaganda were organized to denigrate the priests at Dong Cong Monastery and Catholicism. They were accused with false charges of carrying out counterrevolutionary activities.

In March 1992, the Reverend Tran Dinh Thu turned down Hanoi's offer to release him from prison. The priest would only accept it if Hanoi agreed to release the other 22 priests and the seminarian Phan Chau Dat from prison. On May 18, 1993, the 89-year old priest was released from Camp K5, Long Khanh Province. He had been detained for six years.

Almost all priests of the Order of Mother Coredemptrix at Thu Duc were the victims of the persecution of the State. Among them were:

1. Brother Nguyen Thien Quoc, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 6 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 2. Brother John E. Mai Huu Nghi, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 18 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang City; 3. The Reverend Dinh Tri Thuc, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced 14 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang City; 4. Btother Michael Nguyen Minh Quan, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 16 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 5. The Reverend Hilary Do Tri Tam, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 15 years of prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 6. Brother Mark Tran Khac Kinh, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 7. Luke Vu Son Ha, arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987. and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 8. The Reverend John Doan Phu Xuan, arrested on May 15. 1987, and detained at Camp Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 9. Brother Nguyen Thien Phung (Huan) arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 20 years in prison on counterrevolutionary charges, and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 10. Brother Pius Vu Thanh Dat (Hai), arrested on May 15, 1987, tried on counterrevolutionary charges on October 30, 1987, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and detained at CamP Long Khanh, Dong Nai Province; 11. Brother Mai Duc Chuong (Nghi), arrested on May 15, 1987 for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification unity," sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa; 12. Brother Paul Nguyen Chau Dat, arrested on May 15, 1987 for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification policy," sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa; 13. Brother Nguyen Van Thin (Quan), arrested on May 15, 1987, for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification policy," sentenced to 16 years in prison and followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Ham Tan; 17. The Reverend John B. Pham Ngoc Lien (Tri), arrested on May 15, 1987 on counterrevolutionary charges, sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 5 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa; and 18. The Reverend Dinh Viet Hieu (Thuc), arrested on June 20, 1987 for "propagating against the socialist regime and breaking up unification policy," sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by 4 years of administrative surveillance, and detained at Camp Tuy Hoa.

Reports by International Humanitarian Organizations

The Puebla Institute in 1991 compiled a list of persecuted Catholics comprising Sister Tran Thi Nhi, arrested with two Catholic priests in October 1987; Father Nguyen Van De, arrested at My Tho in October 1987; Sister Nguyen Thi Ni, arrested with Father Nguyen Van De (above) in October 1987; Rev. Dinh Viet Hieu (Thuc) Member of the Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on June 20, 1987; Rev. John B. Pham Ngoc Lien (Tri), Member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on May 21, 1987; Brother Nguyen Van Thin (Quan), arrested on May 21, 1987; Brother Paul Nguyen Chau Dat, Member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on May 20, 1987; Brother Mai Dac Chuong, Member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested on May 20, 1987; Brother Pius Vu Thanh Dat (Hai), Member of the Congregation of the Maria Co-Redemptrix, arrested with Father Tran Dinh Thu on May 15, 1987; Brother Bernard Nguyen Thien Phung (Huan), Member of the Congregation of the Maria Co-Redemptrix, arrested on May 15, 1987; Father Dominic Ngo Quang Tuyen, arrested in October 1982; Father Joseph Nguyen Cong Doan, arrested in December 1980; and Father Tran Huu Thanh, arrested on February 15, 1976;

The report submitted by Mr. Abdelfattah, Special Rapporteur, in accordance with the Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1993/25, noted other cases of arrests and detention involving the Catholic clergy and believers during that time as follows:

"Tran Ba Loc has been detained in reeducation at Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa since 1975, reportedly without having been formally tried or convicted. It is believed that he has served as a military chaplain in the South Vietnamese army. Nguyen Khac Nghieu was arrested in 1975 and is reportedly detained at the 80A, TD63/TP reeducation camp at Nhu Xuan, Thanh Hoa Province. He is believed not to have been formally tried or convicted. (Thadeus) Nguyen Van Ly, aged 45, is the former priest of the Doc So parish, near Hue. He is said to have been arrested in 1983 and tried at the Hue People's Court, on charges of "opposing the Revolution and attempting to destroy the people's unity." He was reportedly sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and currently detained at the Three Stars prison in Ha Nam Ninh Province. Nguyen Khac Chinh, a 69-year-old lawyer, belonged to a group of Catholic intellectuals in South Vietnam. He was reportedly arrested on December 27, 1975 and has remained imprisoned in Trai Cai Tao Xuan Phuoc, Khu E, Doi 17, in Phu Khanh Province. He is believed to have never been formally tried or convicted. Brother Nguyen Cong Doan, a Jesuit, arrested in December 1980 with nine other Jesuit priests, when the authorities closed down the Dac Lo Jesuit centre. He was sentenced on June 29-30, 1983 to 12 years' imprisonment and was reportedly held in camp Z30A, at Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province, before probably being released in January 1990. He is allegedly not permitted to celebrate mass. Brother Dominique Ngo Quang Tuyen, arrested in October 1982 and sentenced in June 1986 to two sentences of a combined total of 25 years, later commuted to 18 years. He is reportedly held in Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. Sister Tran Thi Tri, arrested with two Catholic priests (date unknown) and sentenced in 1987 to five years' imprisonment.

The following Roman Catholic priests and followers reportedly to have been imprisoned: Pham Ngoc Chi (Hiep), Paul Phan Chau Dat, Luke Vo Son Ha, Boniface Hong Thien Gian (Thinh), Mark Tran Khac Kinh, John B Pham Ngoc Lien (Tri), John E Mai Huu Nghi, Bernard Nguyen Thien Phung, Michael Nguyen Minh Quan, Quoc (Ban), Hilary Do Tri Tam (Thuyen), Thadeus Dinh Tri Thuc (Hieu), Stephen Chan Tin, Dominic Tran Dinh Thu, John Doan Phu Xuan, Pius Vu Thanh Hai (Dat), Nguyen Ngoc Lan (former priest). Brother Nguyen Van De and Sister Nguyen Thi Nhi were reportedly arrested in October 1987 at My Tho, Tien Giang Province, and tried in August 1990 together with nine other Catholic leaders and charged with spreading propaganda aimed at falsely portraying Vietnam's religious policy. They were reportedly sentenced to between 2 and 10 years in prison. Brother Tran Van Hien, a member of the Congregation of Mother Coredemptrix, arrested in October 1992 in Bien Hoa and held there since then without having been charged. Ngo Van An , a signatory of the open letter of August 15, 1989, Ngo Van An demanded the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to manifest more independence vis-a-vis the State to clarify the role of the Committee of Union of Patriotic Catholics. Ngo Van An was subject to interrogation by the police in December 1990. He was arrested on February 25, 1991. He was sentenced without trial to three years of in a hard labor and reeducation camp, and detained at Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon."

The Roman Catholic Church

 

Immediately after the Geneva Agreement (July 20, 1954), ten of twelve Vietnamese bishops, seven hundred priests, and more than six hundred thousand Catholic followers including many of those parishioners who were discouraged by the Viet Minh’ s land reform programs left their home villages to go South. Large congregations of refugees settled in the surrounding areas around Saigon and in various western provinces These new settlers later appeared to be one of the most fervent anti-Communist factions in the South. The Communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975 and the "socialist transformation" that followed after that put the Roman Catholic Church in the South, and notably the Catholics refugees from the North, at risk. Religious activities were restricted, seminaries were closed, convents were occupied, and Catholic congregations were subject control. Many priests were imprisoned or sent to t reeducation.

To reconcile, the prelacy of Saigon Archdiocese reached an accommodation with the Communist regime by which it gave the State the veto power over its activities and assignments. The Archbishop of Saigon Nguyen Van Binh, a bovine and diplomatic figure, strove to avoid conflict with the new regime, made concessions, and modified the former Catholic prelacy hierarchy. The muffled religious activities of the Roman Catholics were quickly stabilized, and major religious services were held at the cathedrals. Religious persecution directed at the activities of "reactionary elements" continued, nevertheless. The authorities acted with merciless violence to isolate and neutralize opposition and, at the same time, to persuade the free-floating elements to join them in a party-controlled reconciliation movement.

The Measures

A Pilot Area

To promote "pacification," the new regime began with a new approach, to "kill the tiger right in its cave." The Catholic population in the years following the Vietnam War was estimated at 7 million (out of the 72 million population), 95% of whom were devout. The growth was remarkable. In 1954, there were only some 2 million indigenous Catholics and 800,000 Catholics refugees from North Vietnam. Catholic parishes founded by the refugees from the North thrived, mostly in the areas adjacent to Saigon. After the takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, the Communist rule, fearful of an anti-Communist uprising by such large hostile Catholic settlers in the surrounding areas of Saigon, resorted to cautious measures of security. The police department of Ho Chi Minh City, for instance, selected Thu Duc District as the pilot community to administer testing measures and monitor from the local Catholic communities there possible reactions to establish a religious policy to deal with the believers of all faiths, especially the Catholics. The district is an ideal testing area. It is noted with a large number of Catholic parishes where most parishioners were the refugees from the North in 1954 and were thus "a problem" to the regime. Therefore, the regime, for all intents and purposes, had to feel out and deter in time the germ for a possible popular uprising or opposition to the Communist State.

Confiscation of Properties

After the fall of Saigon, having put under control almost all Catholic dioceses in the South, the Communist administration began the process of appropriation of private properties, dispossessing the Church’s cultural, religious, humanitarian, and educational institutions, establishments, and facilities throughout the country and thus depriving of it all physical resources. Among the most productive cultural and educational institutions were the Graduate School of Political Sciences and Minh Duc Faculty of Medicine in Saigon, Da Lat University, the Holy See Grand Seminary, Da Lat Redemptorists Monastery, Nha Trang Redemptorist Monastery, all child day care centers, hospitals, orphanages, humanitarian establishments and facilities, and thousands of schools of the secondary, primary, and elementary levels. Worse still, for political purpose, the Communists called up the animosity that existed between the Catholics and non-Catholics, especially the Buddhists. By a similar approach they had applied in the old days after the August Uprisings in 1945, the Communists promoted furtive anti-Catholic campaigns. Along with other tricks, it published and circulated such works as "Tay Duong Bi Luc" (Secret Annals of Western Christianity), denigrating the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam and distorting historical truths with an aim to defame the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church, thus sowing division between Catholics and non-Catholics.

The State Strategy to De-structure the Church's Clerical Hierarchy

Immediately after the fall of Saigon, the Communist military administration sought to shake off the leadership of the Church from religious and spiritual authority, putting into effect restrict measures and execute malicious tricks to isolate the Roman Catholic Church from the free world and separate its leadership from the laity. To eliminate the Church’s supreme leadership in Saigon, they used the tactic "to boomerang a dose of your own medicine" to count it out The newly-created Committee of Patriotic Catholics led by the State-affiliated Catholic priest Huynh Cong Minh, who freshly returned to the country from France, staged a demonstration demanding the expulsion from Vietnam the Vatican Apostolic Delegate and his secretary, Msgr. Tran Ngoc Thu. The pressure created with great effect favorable conditions for the Communist administration to put the prelacy of the Saigon archdiocese under the control of the State. The name of the archdiocese itself had to be changed into a new one: the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City. The new administration even negated the Vatican’s ecclesiastic authority by disaffirming the title of Vice-archbishop of Msgr. Nguyen Van Thuan and disapproving of his functions as the second highest prelate in the Saigon archdiocese, which decision the Holy See had officially confirmed.

The Communists went so far in their efforts to uproot the Roman Catholic Church from the Vietnam soil. The Party Central Committee for Religions had its Committees of Patriotic Catholics devised a scheme to eradicate the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam by creating a self-directed Vietnamese Catholic Church, which in the long run would gradually distance itself from the Vatican as was the case of the independent Roman Catholic Church in Communist China. In 1979, the representatives chosen from the parishes and the ecclesiastic Orders in various cities and provinces throughout the South were summoned to attend a two-day conference in Saigon to vote on the creation of a novel Church. The scheme nevertheless failed to take shape. The representatives in the said conference unanimously declared that they had no authority whatsoever to vote on the issue.

Having failed to actuate the scheme to de-structure the Church's hierarchical supra-structure, the Communist rule turned to other tactics to dismantle the Church: to strike it at the head. It isolated the prelacy from the faithful. It placed under house arrest the Archbishop of Hue, the Vice-archbishop of Saigon, and the Bishop of Da Nang. Prominent priests and laymen were targeted with harassment. Many were charged with ungrounded political subversion activities and arrested. Exerting undue pressure on them, the Communist Party used the Union of Catholics as a shield to suppress the Church’s activities politically. In this way, the Central Party Committee for Religions was particularly vested with full authority to make decisions on assemblies for religious activities and exercise control over the Catholic parishes personnel as well.

Almost all clergy and the laity in the parishes throughout the country remained loyal to the Church’s, regardless State oppression. Many openly opposed to the Communist authorities’ abuse of power. In 1980, to remedy the situation, the Communist rule had Unified Conference of Bishops of Vietnam established with the aid of the "patriotic" bishops to persuade "recalcitrant" elements of the Catholic community to cooperate with the regime. Three years later, in November 1983, the State-affiliated Committee for Solidarity of Patriotic Catholics was created "to unite all Catholics and channel their energy into the building of socialism." This committee, the successor to the Liaison Committee of Patriotic and Peace-Loving Catholics, was formed in the hope that it would moderate the Church’s activities and deter the faithful from actuating opposition to the State. In March 1985, the Religious Affairs Committee was created to coordinate and supervise religious organizations. The regime’s increasing involvement in Church’s internal affairs produced new strains in its relations with the Vatican (Cima, 1989: 125-126)."

The Persecution

The Communist regime, in fact, had a negative attitude towards the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam whose prestige makes it an outstanding social institution to the service of humanity, and thus a viable competitor to the Communist authorities. Right after the takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, Hanoi showed its style of authority to inconvenience the Church. It challenged the Vatican mandate, disallowing the Holy See the ecclesiastical authority to appoint the Vietnamese Catholic Church’s new dignitaries in replacement of those who had passed away. It vacated the Vatican’s nomination of a new dignitary to the vacant apostolic position at the Hanoi Archdiocese assumed by the late Cardinal Trinh Van Can. It discharged Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan from the prelacy of Saigon Archdiocese, disallowing him to perform his religious functions. Novices and candidates to the priesthood were subject to investigation on unfounded charges. Only those who had no relations with the officials and officers of the old Republic of Vietnam and members of political parties in the South before 1975 could be accepted as the candidates.

Hanoi continued to tighten control on the Church’s clergy at all levels, placing them under State direction. The Committee of Union of Catholics, a satellite organ of the Fatherland Front, was vested with the veto authority, issued recommendations on all religious matters. It played a role in making decisions on the appointment and transfer of priests, publication of religious literature, construction and reconstruction of important religious facilities. Under a series of new laws, rules, and regulations, this Committee instituted religious committees working beside the people’s councils in the cities and provinces and "work teams" operating beside the clergy at the local parishes. This organ also played a role in regulating the Catholic faithful’ s religious life. The successor to the Committee for Union of Patriotic Catholics (since the term "patriotic" sounds too Communist, it is stripped off), this organ served as an executive agency to help the Fatherland Front to carry out the Party’s religious policy. The responsible in this organ, commonly known as the "Gang of Four," consisting of the State-affiliated priests (Huynh Cong) Minh, (Truong Ba) Can, (Phan Khac) Tu, and (Vuong Dinh) Bich. The faithful certainly do not know how close to the State they were and how intimate with the local authorities the "work teams" at the parishes were. Oftentimes, members of this union tended to apply pressure on the local priests, but their intentions fluctuated with various circumstances. noticeably during the years of 1985-1986 when failures in the economy were about to happen and popular opposition to the State began to take shape.

Detention and Arrests

Parallel to the anti-Catholic campaigns of animosity, the Communist administration launched successive propaganda operations to dismantle all organizations of what they called the "remnants of capitalism and imperialism." Local cadres executed plans of arrests of high dignitaries and prominent priests and church leaders and laymen. The Church prelacy was equally targeted with strict control and repression.

The Most Reverend Nguyen Van Thuan

The Vice-archbishop of Saigon prelacy Nguyen Van Thuan was brought to Nha Trang and placed under house arrest for unspecified reason. In 1984, he was taken into custody on charge of opposing the Committee of Patriotic Catholics. The reason is simple. This State-affiliated organ showed all its audacity over the prelate while, in reality, it was only a political instrument in the hands of the new regime. As such, it hardly challenged the Church to a game of legitimacy. The dignitary believed that, in Vietnam "there will never be a "patriotic" Church similar to the one in China, which renounces loyalty to the Vatican." Nevertheless, he was only released from the reeducation camp in late 1987 and was apparently placed under house arrest thereafter. His name was at last removed from the list of bishops whose titles were apparently defined as "officially recognized" by the State-created Committee of Patriotic Catholics. He was "no longer authorized to conduct religious services, but was able to officiate in private." (Asia Focus, 1987)

The Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan, who later lived in exile in Rome, disclosed that he had been imprisoned by Hanoi. Even though imprisoned, he had been successful in performing Masses in secret. The vice-archbishop was expelled from Vietnam after having been detained in the prison and reeducation camp and placed under house arrest for 13 years. He had not been allowed to leave Hanoi until 1990. He was authorized to leave Vietnam in August 1991 to visit his parents who then resided in Australia, but was not allowed to return. "Perestroika" had not reached Vietnam. He ascertained that "when Freedom comes back; it is always from Great Favor (Gianni Valette, Thirty Days, Rome, January 1992).

The Most Reverend Nguyen Kim Dien

To deter the Catholic faithful from engaging in direct opposition to the State, the Communist administration laid heavy hands on the Church’s leadership, striking it at the head. Subsequent to the elimination of the Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan from the Saigon prelacy, the local authorities placed under custody without a charge the Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien of Hue Archdiocese. In Da Nang, Bishop Pham Ngoc Chi was isolated from the laity. The local administration kept up tight control on the prelacy in all dioceses all through South Vietnam. The Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien tried in vain to maintain agreeable relationship with the new regime. He was targeted with enmity because of his frank remarks on the State's religious persecution, especially against Buddhism.

On April 15, 1977, the prelate of Hue Diocese gave voice to the religious situation in the country at a meeting of the Fatherland Front of Binh Tri Thien Province. He particularly stressed the importance of the rights to freedom of religion and equality of civil rights in Vietnam:

"1. On Religious Freedom: After the day of Liberation, when I heard the government proclaim the policy of religious freedom, I was very happy and encouraged. This was reflected in my remarks made at that time. But two years have elapsed since then I no longer feel happy, because freedom of religion has not really existed. Worship services are restricted and Catholic priests are prevented from movement to serve the Catholic population, such as the situation in the New Economic Zones, for example. Many cathedrals are seized. Others are prevented from holding worship services. I appreciate the wisdom of the government when it proclaims the policy of freedom of worship; this is stated clearly in the five decrees and communiqués on religion. But these are only the written proclamations. As far as the verbal orders are concerned, they often contradict the spirit of the published proclamations. May I ask the government: Should I obey the text or should I obey the verbal orders? I want to believe that the texts correctly reflect the government's policy, and not the verbal orders. Perhaps, I should not identify the government as the government agents who make mistakes while carrying out the policy of the government.

2) Equality in Civil Rights: Let me be honest. For the last two years, Catholic citizens have not felt all right. Wherever they go or whatever they do, they always have the feeling that they are suspected and oppressed. At school, the students have to listen to anti-Catholic teachings from teachers who try to smear Catholicism. Of course, there were errors at certain times in the history of Christianity, However Christianity has done so many good things for the past 2,000 years; nevertheless; they are not spoken of In comparison, the errors are only a few. Furthermore, each period has its own principles, and revise the standards of the olden times by using the criteria of our times is not a scientific approach.

As regards the Catholic workers, employees, teachers, and social workers, even if they are proven to be good workers, they cannot continue to work for their living safely, just because they are Catholic. If you are a Catholic, and you are afraid of being refused to a work, having difficulty while you work for your living and you want to know the reason, you will be told privately that if you abandon your faith or quit going to church, things will ease off for you.

During the Assembly of the Fatherland Front of Vietnam, recently held in Ho Chi Minh City, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front made remarks that Catholics are regarded only as second-class citizens.

The government contends that everybody is equal, that every ethnic group is equal. We are a people of fifty million. There are forty-five million Kinh [ethnic Vietnamese] and five to six million people of about 60 ethnic groups. There are at least three million Catholics, yet, in practice, they do not have the right to equality in civil rights (Quoted from Nguyen Van Canh, 1982: 175).

The prelate later faced constant harassment following "the Truong Thi Ly Incident." Mother Superior Truong Thi Ly of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Cross at Hue was arrested July 1985. She was charged with engaging in espionage. She had been found in possession of a letter of the Archbishop of Hue to the prelacy in Saigon. The archbishop of Hue was immediately placed under house surveillance. He was then arrested, interrogated, and detained for 120 days at the Binh Tri Thien Police Headquarters. Released, he was, again, placed under house arrest. Father Tran Van Quy, of the Hue Archdiocese, was also arrested and interrogated about the bishop's activities from 1980 to 1986. As soon as the Archbishop was released, he was placed under house arrest, and his religious services were strictly severed. A delegation of the Committee for Union of Catholics came to Hue to complicate the situation. The prelate categorically ruled out every argument of that delegation in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. The archbishop of Hue reportedly died after an unspecified illness. He died a doubtful death while on his sickbed at the Binh Dan Hospital, Saigon, on June 8, 1988.

Mass Arrests

Mass arrests of the Catholic clergy in the South continued subsequent to the detention of the Vice-archbishop of Saigon Nguyen Van Thuan. Among the arrested were the Catholic priests of high prestige such as the Reverend Hoang Quynfh of Binh An Parish, Saigon, and the Reverend Tran Huu Thanh of the Redemptorists Order on Ky Dong Street, Saigon. The Reverend Hoang Quynh was arrested right after the takeover of Saigon. Little is known about his fate except the fact that he reportedly died in Chi Hoa Prison, possibly in 1976. The Reverend Tran Huu Thanh was arrested on the evening of February 15, 1976 after his visit to a friend. He was taken to the police headquarters where he was cooped up in a dark, small cell. He was detained in such condition for two months. He was later moved to Chi Hoa prison in Saigon where he was detained for a year. He was later placed under house arrest somewhere in Hai Duong Province, North Vietnam thereafter.

Waves of arrests ensued. About 200 Catholic priests among whom were the military chaplains of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam. They were detained and subject to reeducation at various prisons and camps throughout the country.