Fr. Thadeus
Nguyen Van Ly
After a 10–year
prison term (1983-1992) for unfounded charges of reactionary activities, Fr.
Nguyen Van Ly was still targeted with strict surveillance, first at Nguyet Bieu
Parish, and then at the distant An Truyen Parish of the archdiocese of Hue.
Mgsr. Nguyen Son Lam, the Secretary-general of the Vietnam Episcopal
Conference, exptressed caution about the matter. He stressed, hoeweer, that the
responsibility rests with the individual priest who undertakes all by himself
the struggle for religious freedom when referring to the current situation of
Fr. Nguyen Van Ly on the occasion of the visit tour of the Vatican delegation
to Vietnam on June 11, 2001. This matter might be treated by the Episcopal
Conference, and the treatment would remain conditional on the Archbishop Nguyen
Nhu The’s decision. (EDA 323)
At Nguyet Bieu
Parish
An devout priest
to his faith and determined fighter for rights, Fr.Nguyen Van continued himself
to his self-professed commitments right after his release from prison. He
became an idol for the movement for rights that was on the rise. His devotion
and determination cost him tight police watch, being viewed as “a dangerous
element to the regime.” In 1995 and the years that followed, floods ravaged the
Mekong delta and many regions in the countries.
Aids missions to flood victims by religious dignitaries and groups met
with repression from the authorities. Fr. Nguyen Van Ly engaged in these efforts,
and voiced protest and promoted the creation of an interfaith committee for
religious freedom, regrouping the representatives of three main religions: the
Unified Buddhidt Church, Hoa Hao Buddhism, and Catholicism. This committee had
at its head the Venerable Thich Thien Hanh for president, the venerable Le
quang Lem, vice-president, and the Reverend Nguyen Van Ly himself, the
secretary.
Fr. Nguyen Van Ly became then the thorn in the side
of the local administration. Authorities sought to pressure the Catholic Church
to exile him from Hue. Fr. Nguyen Van Ly was appointed with reluctance pastor
at Nguyet Bieu Parish, a congregation of 56 Catholic households whose members were largely poor and mostly illiterate. Under
such conditions, the dissident priest could hardly “cause trouble.” At Nguyet
Bieu, regardless of difficulties, the pastor still keenly devoted himself to his
commitments, to attend to the parishioners’ spiritual, social, and educational life,
encouraging them to practice religious virtues and better their lives socially
and educationally. They became much more aware of their needs for educational betterment
and rights. The youth was particularly
interested in the practical use of the computer and were trained in the computer technology with his money aid and under his direction. The priest’s benevolence was greatly
appreciated. The villagers of Nguye Bieu
and those in the areas neaby, Catholics and non-Catholics, saw in him a true
moral and spiritual leader.
Fr. Nguyen
Van Ly became well-known nation- and world-wide and received warm support, both
amiable and financial, particularly from the Vietnamese abroad. He fast became
an opponent to the regime, nevertheless. Police tightened control on him. His movement
within Nguyen Bieu was attended with
police escort. In the afternoon of
January 11, Fr. Nguyen Van Ly was
summoned to the seat of the communal People’s council for an interrogation. The
priest refused to comply with the arbitrary summon without clarification. The
police then made it clear that, because the priest refused to comply with the
law, he was restricted to his residence and was not permitted not go outside
the perimeter of his parish. On February 7, 2000, two young men who accompanied him on the way
back to the parish were arrested, and the hard disk with registers for religious
services and several other disks were confiscated. Supposedly, the hard disk
was also registered a text of communication that might have been read on
February 13 before the U.S. Congress Committee for Human Rights.
Under restrict surveillance Fr. Nguyen Van Ly still performed
with success his daily pastoral and secular duties, to live and help people
live the Catholic faith and serve the people. He made plans for cultural activities for the parish and alliance
of all religious faiths to struggle for religious freedom. He drew up minutes
with records of instances of acts harassment against religious worship and
activities of the parish and send them to the cenral admiistration denouncing
these violations on basic human rights. The authorities replied with
retaliation.The official press launched a propaganda campaign against him. On
Monday, March 26, the journals of the police and the People’s Army attacked him
most fiercely. The military daily Quan
Doi Nhan Dan, alluding to the
attitude of certain leaders of the Communist Party, proliferated that the
leadership showed much indulgence to the priest and raised the questioni “Why
haven’t we taken measures rapidly to compel Nguyen Van
Ly to end his religious propaganda?” The
journal went on ascertaining
that the restriction taken against him on February 27 was only
ineffective, that is, the penalty with two years of surveillance in residence,
had not take muc effect on the interested, because the priest “continues to indulge himself desperately in
his activities of sabotage, provoking
and defying the regime.” The
arcticle put into question, for the first time publicly, the attitude of the
Church’s superiors and pointed out that the priest’s clerical functions might
always not be suspended. Certain observers
anticipated that his arrest was certain, and the punishment would be more severe. The sign of hesitation on the part of the
Communist Party was evident. The administration was truly embarrassed by the situation created by the campaign for religious freedom led by the
Reverend Nguyen Van Ly and his reports diffused on the website operated by the Vietnamese
diaspora.
Conflict between the local authority and the parish
became tense when the land claim by the local congretgation emerged, requesting
the authorities to return land of the parish it had arbitrarily dispossessed.
Fr. Nguyen Van Ly expressed warm compassion for the parishioners’ demand and was
held responsible for the incident. He was immediately isolated from the world.
His computer was made paralyzed, and his communication to the world was dead. Tensions
rose in December 2000 when the compassionate pastor supported a demonstration
of thousands of villagers from Nguyet Bieu and the adjacent areas against the
authorities’ land confiscation and a total ban on flying banners demanding
religious freedom.
