Having failed to create a self-directed Vietnamese Catholic Church of
the Chinese type in March 1979, the Communist administration sought to repress the
Church by violence. On the one hand, it
intimidated the clergy and confiscate the Church’s facilities. However, facing flexible but resolute defense of the Church,
it had to manipulate the Communist-created
Union of Catholics to replace the Union of Catholic Patriots, exerting pressure
on the Church. On the other hand, it
used diverse measures, both political and administrative, to maneuver tricks
against the Church. To defend its legitimacy as a religious institution, on April 4, 1990 , the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam published a
letter of recommendation requesting the Communist administration to create
favorable conditions for religious activities, to respect the rights to
religious worship, to allow the Church to reopen seminaries, and attend to the service of the poor. The
requests cane to no response.
The
Role of the Committee of Union of Catholics
The Committee of Union of Catholics, an organization
operating in the orbit of the Party-satellite
Fatherland Front, actually played the role of a watchdog of the Party
and State to control the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam
at all levels of the Church’s hierarchy. It was even vested with authority to
designate members to work beside the clergy the local parishes. This
organization, like its predecessor, was the successor to the Committee for
Solidarity of Patriotic Catholics. Since the term “patriotic” sounds “too
Communist.” it is then stripped off. Structurally, It operated under the direction of the
“Gang of Four,” (Huynh Cong) Minh, (Truong Ba) Can, (Phan Khac)Tu, (Vuong Dinh)
Bich. People do not know, however, how close they were to the Party’s leadership,
but had great influence on State-affiliated work teams at the parishes. Oftentimes,
they tended to exert their influence on local priests and prestigious members
in the hierarchy of the Church. Nevertheless, their pressure fluctuated with
various circumstances. For instance, during the years of 1985-1986, the Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien of Hue
Diocese, Central Vietnam, was constantly harassed by the local civil
authorities. He was finally arrested, interrogated, and detained for 120 days
at the Binh-Tri-Thien police headquarters. Released, he was immediately placed
under house arrest. The Reverend Tran Van Quy of the Hue diocese was
coincidentally arrested and interrogated about the archbishop’s activities from
1980 to 1986. A delegate from the Committee of Union of Catholics in Saigon
came to Hue with an intent to complicate
the matter. Nevertheless, the Most Reverend Nguyen Kim Dien categorically ruled out every artful argument
of the delegate in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. Facing
complexities of the situation, the work of the Committee was, however highly
appreciated by the Party and State. At the close of the assembly of the
Episcopal Conference that took place in Hanoi from October 6-11,1997, the chief
of the State Office of Religious Affairs Le Quang Vinh, on his own initiatives,
spoke highly of the merits of the Committee and evaluated the role it played
alongside the bishops and the contributions that this organ had paid to the
Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam.
The Bishops, on their part, pointed out that, in the context of the politics of “doi moi”
(renovation), it was suitable to let the laity only to participate in the operation of this political organization
and take charge of responsibilities as the representatives of the laity in it.
Traditionally, they added, in diverse branches, the responsibilities in the
direction of the Church's religious activities resided with personalities with
merits. They evidently had acquired
merits or possessed honorific titles. Moreover, responsibilities should be
given to specialized people. A priest must serve first his pastoral duties.
Resentment against the presence of priests in the
Committee of Union of Catholics wais strong. This organization, in the eyes of
the Catholic laity, was a political watchdog of the Communist Party. The
Episcopal Conference reaffirmed the
statement by the late Archbishop of Saigon Diocese Nguyen Van Bin when he had
delegated the general vicar of Saigon Cathedral Huynh Cong Minh to the meeting
with the Committee of Union of Catholics on November 11, 1993 with this
message: “Nowadays, the situation has changed. Our country has engaged in the
process of complete renovation. The economic, social, and political situation
is on the path of normalization. That is why the archbishop desires that the
activities of the Committee of Union of Catholics should also be normalized. Our
laity brothers must assume their role. The priest should come back to his duty,
that is, he should be accorded the credentials to perform his ministry
services, which responsibilities lay people cannot assume.”
Pham Ngoc
Hai, a devout Catholic of Vuon Soai Parish, Saigon, recounted the
circumstances in which religious practices were
conducted in the Saigon archdiocese: "The Catholics are now free to
some extent to observe their religious
practices and activities. They are
allowed to perform religious practices and activities, but all these
performances are restricted to the
worship place. They are mainly Holy Masses. Bible studies for converts,
teenagers, and the youth. They are conducted within the church. only Al
celebrations for the All Saints' Day, Christmas Eve, or reception parties are
all under the writ of authorization. Outdoors activities and services of the
“Legio,” the Catholic Youth Association and the Sacred Heart of the Holy Mother
are strictly prohibited to operate. Even the practice of charity is forbidden. While
the 1984 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam recognizes the right
to freedom of religion, the State places the Church under its control with all
forms of regulations, restrictions, and authorization. Worse still, pious
Catholics are publicly derided. Bishop Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh Diocese
(North Vietnam) reported at the International Caritas Conference in Rome, May
29, 1991: "Anyone who practices charity and performs religious creeds is
criticized as being backward and benighted." (Trung Tan, VHRW 3 (November
2001)
Prior to “renovation” when the religious policy for
the South had not come into force, the authorities’ measures of control varied
from one region to another. In some parishes such as the Vuon Soai Parish in
Saigon where the State priest Phan Khac Tu was in charge of the ministry, those
priests returning from reeducation camps were allowed to celebrate Sunday Masses
because of lack of priests. Seminaries were closed. Seminarians had to return
home. Pious youths were barred from entering the priesthood, Dignitaries in
certain dioceses sought to fill the gap by forming priests in hiding. Upon
completion of this type of religious education,
if they were lucky, they had to perform their sacerdotal duties
secretly. They were subject to self-isolation as police raids were continually
performed against them (Trung Tan, VHRW 3 (November 1991).
Demands for
Religious Freedom
During October
12-19, 1992, twenty-six bishops representing twenty-one dioceses
attended the Fifth Congress of Catholic Bishops held in Hanoi. Again, they
issued a letter of opinions demanding the Communist Party to lift the
restrictions on religious activities, to terminate prohibition against Catholic
converts to serve their faith, to restore the Church’s right to religious
propagation, and to return to it the right to property ownership. Also, in the
motion to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on October 26, 1992, the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam demanded
the rights to freedom of religious activities of the Catholics in various
dioceses. As regards the legitimacy of the Church, the Episcopal Conference
stressed that "being the superior organ that is responsible for the
Catholic communities inside the country, the Conference needs to have proper
conditions and adequate means to render its services corresponding to its role
as the representatives of the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. Therefore, "the Church has the right to free
assembly, to assemble wherever it is deemed necessary and convenient. The Catholic Bishops equally have the
right to free movement to perform their sacerdotal duties in their
dioceses. The restrictions on the formation of priests have
to be lifted. Of most importance, the
State is requested to return to Church the cathedrals, monasteries,
seminaries, abbeys and real estates properties that are managed and occupied or
unsuitably used by the State."
The
Persecution
Arrests and Imprisonment
For nearly two decades after the reunification of
the country, the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam still suffered tragic
persecution due to profession of faith of
the clergy and faithful. The
Communist rule continued to ruthlessly persecute numerous Catholic dignitaries,
priests, and believers. The history of Vietnam under “renovation” recorded such cases of religious persecution as
follows:
In the North,
the Catholic community of the ethnic
minority H’mong was targeted with persecution. Recognized among the preachers
who were arrested and detained were: 1.
Sung Khai Pha in Ha Giang Province was repeatedly arrested in 1992, “for
spreading illegal religious propaganda,” 2. Vang Seo Sang in Ha Giang Province
was repeatedly arrested in 1992, “for illegal religious propaganda” and 3. Ly Van Dinh was repeatedly arrested in
1992, for” spreading illegal religious propaganda.”
In the South,
fervent and prestigious personalities and
priests were the victims of persecution. Recognized among them were Ngo
Van An, Doan Thanh Liem, the journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan, and the Reverend Chan
Tin.
In the open letter of August 15, 1989, Ngo Van An
demanded the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to manifest strong will of independence
from the State as regards the creation
of the Committee of Union of 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 forced labor and detained at Phan
Dang Luu Prison, Saigon.
The lawyer Doan Thanh Liem was arrested without
charge in 1990. The lawyer was a signatory to a letter of protest to the
Catholic Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh denouncing the artful scheme of the Communist-sponsored
Committee of Union of Religions and accusing the Vietnamese Communist
authorities in Hue of their violations of freedom of religion, and, specifically
for their detention of the Catholic Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan. On May
14, 1992, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City imposed on the lawyer a 12-year imprisonment. The official daily Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberated),
reported the Court's accusations against him such as maintaining relations with
U .S. high ranking officials as well as the old officials of the Republic of
Vietnam, printing and diffusing anti-socialist documents and calling for the
abolition of the monopoly of power of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the
dissolution of the Communist-created National Assembly, and the promotion of a
regime of political plurality. He was also
attributed to as a reactionary for drafting a project for a new constitution for Vietnam. In reality, the
lawyer had served as a legal counselor for Michael David Morrow.
Sources close to the lawyer said that Doan Thanh
Liem was a graduate from Georgetown University in Washington D. C. On May 14,
1992, the Ho Chi Minh City Court sentenced the lawyer to 12 years in prison.
His trial aroused deep concerns among celebrities and political circles in the
United States. A group of 125 politicians and celebrities signed a letter of
protest to Party Secretary-general Do Muoi requesting him to release the lawyer
forthwith and unconditionally. Recognized among those who signed the letter
were Senator Jesse Helms, Jane Fonda, David Dellinger, David Berrigan, and Tom
Hayden. Nevertheless, the protest came to no result.
On May 12, 1993, the Ho Chi Minh City police
released the Catholic priest Chan Tin and the journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan from arbitrary
detention. The Reverend Chan Tin, a Redemptorist, and Nguyen Ngoc Lan, a
Catholic intellectual, were always under police guard. They were the principal inspiring
authors of the open letter of August 15, 1989 in which they demanded the
Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to manifest more independence vis-à-vis the
State and to define the assumed role of the Committee of Union of Catholics.
The journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan, who had been under house surveillance, was charged
with secretly sending abroad a two-volume diary whose contents, according to
the Communist rule, denigrated the political regime. On May 16, 1990, the
police broke into and searched his home at Tan Phuoc but found no evidence. The journalist was
nevertheless placed under constant administrative detention at his home and was
prohibited to leave the quarters where he was living. He had to report himself to
the police headquarters every week. At every interrogation, during the time
under permanent detention he refused to
answer any questions and held firmly to hiss political standpoint.
Along with the articles severe criticisms on the
State's acts of religious repression and persecution, the Reverend Chan Tin
preached in a series of sermons during the Lenten in 1990, arousing the State’s
interference in the internal affairs of the Church, and thus committing
violations on religious freedom.
The priest, who had also been placed under administrative
detention., was charged with acts of subversion. against the regime. He was
arrested while he was residing at the Redemptorists Cathedral on Ky Dong
Street, Saigon. The Reverend Chan Tin was designated a new residence at a small
church in the district of Duyen Hai, 70 kilometers east of Saigon. Five days
later, he was prohibited from celebrating Masses and his preaching was terminated. On June 22,
1989, after an interrogation by the police, he was put under house arrest for
three days. The priest's movement was restricted within the village of Can
Thanh. He was prohibited from performing his priesthood. His citizenship was
withdrawn, and he had to report himself to the police every fifteen days. The
authorities also interdicted his relations with other fellow priests at the
Redemptorists Order on Ky Dong Street, Saigon. The police showed vigilant zeal
in the search for and confiscation of the priest’ s records of preaching. A
priest of a diocese in the Central Highlands who obtained one of these records
was arrested and sentenced without a trial to three years under administrative
detention. International organizations, such as the CIDSE was not allowed to go
to and visit the priest at the place of
detention.
