A Hidden Scheme
Fr. Nguyen
Van Ly knew quite well the intention of the civil power, especially after the official
visit to An Truyen of the general vicar of the archdiocese of Hue, the Reverend
Nguyen Duc Ve, on April 17, 2001. He received a gift from the archbishop and he
was told that the authorities made efforts in vain to put pressure on the archbishop to discharge him
from religious services at An Truyen. Fr .Nguyen Van Ly ever serves dutifully
his functions as priest and is never in
infraction with the laws of the Church. A fighter for faith and rights, Fr.
Nguyen Van Ly, again, sent to the U.S. Congress Internationsl Commssion of
Human Rights a letter denouncing the civil authorities as a result of its interference
in the internal affairs of the Church. New
repressive measures were taken against the priest. This intention of the civil
power as regards Fr. Nguyen Van Ly was self-evident. In the minutes No. 18, the
priest, specifically recalled the answer from the archbishop, saying: “The
canon-law and the law is the law! If you
find that Fr. Nguyen Van Ly is in infraction with the law, judge him!
For my part, I cannot interdict Fr. Nguyen Van Ly from accomplishing his
pastoral ministry, save in the case, in his predication, whether or not he
would oppose the doctrine of the (Catholic) faith or morals.”
The resolution of the archbishop might have deeply
irritated the officials of the security police who came to see him as regrds
this matter. This interdiction was probably linked to latest developments of the
campaign for religious freedom led by the priest. The first report sent to US
Congress Committee of Human Rights in February 2001 had already unleashed the
feverish anger of the regime which, after having condemned the priest to
surveillance in residence., had poured out on him calumnies and charges by the
intermediary of the official press. Also, new report entitled “Testimony No.2
of a Prisoner of Conscience, the Catholic Priest Nguyen Van Ly” was sent to
of U.S. Congress Committee of Human Rights at the request of its
president Zoe Lofgren.That report must necessarily be publicly read on May 16.
In this text of five pages, the pastor of An Truyen conducts an inquiry into a
recapitulation of the control and oppression by the local power in diverse instances
of the Catholic Church. He evoked an episcopal conference being watched over in
each activity, a Church under control by the regime, from the formation of
priests to the nomination of individual priest in a parish, various convents being
unable to recruit members, Christians being considered as of second zone,
parishes being bullied in their will to restore their churches, a Church being
stripped off its religious, social, educational, charitable, sanitary
establishments that have been confiscated for 25 years and have never been
returned, and the people being deprived off all means of expression. In
addition, the priest accuses the civil power of having introduced hypocrisy in
all domains of the public life where from now on no one could express himself
honestly.
In the afternoon of May 10, 2001, a group of 10
cadres headed by the president of the People's Council of the commune of Phu An
penetrated the parish of An Truyen. The group handed to the priest a copy of the
decicion No. 196, signed by the provincial People's Council, interdicting the
priest to perform religious functions in An Truyen and the territory of the
province Thua Thien-Hue during the
whole period he was under residence surveillance. Fr. Nguyen Van Ly refused to
comply with the order. He considered this an act of abuse of power. Furthermore
the reading of the decision was indistinct. About 200 parishioners, who
hastened up around their pastor after the penetration of the cadres into the
parish, protested with chants of canticles. Later, at the hour of daily Mass, police tried to hinder Fr. Nguyen Van Ly from
coming to the church. The priest, accompanied by the parishioners, reached the worship
place easily. Prior to the celebration, in the presence of many policemen who
sat at the end of the church, he read a report on the event and denounced the authorities’
abuse of power.
He continued to
perform religious services regardless of
the intervention of the police authorities which, on May 15, had come to
read the minutes of the local authorities, accusing the pastor of An Truyen of
not obeying their order. After the Mass, in the presence of many policemen
sitting in front of the church, he read the minutes on the authorities’ instances
of intimidation prepared by himself. He denounced the violation of religious freedom by the civil authorities.
The Arrest
Sources said that the arrest of Fr. Nguyen Van Ly
took place in the parish of An Truyn in the morning of May 17 amid a police
raid. A police force of 600 agents penetrated the parish when Fr. Nguyen Van Ly
was coming to the first floor of the parish office. The police rushed in the
parish, neutralized the group of young men who mounted the guard and
handcuffed Fr. Nguyen Van Ly, having tried in van to force him to sign their order. They dispersed the group that resisted
with eletric rods. They shoved the
pastor of An Truyen into one of their trucks and operated a search-though in
and around the church. They confiscated a number of portable telephones,
numerous documents, and a cosiderable sum of money
The account
of facts was revealed the same day thanks to an interview by telephone accorded
by Fr. Phan Van Loi, a priest who serves in the same archdiocese and a close
friend of Fr. Nguyen Van Ly. The news was aired on the channel of radio, The Voice of my Country.
After 4 and a half hours of operation in the morning, a police force of
600 agents successfully inverted the parish.
Contrary to a first version of the incident transmitted by telephone in
the Occident, the arrest took place in the presbytery, and not at the church
where the parishioners recited the morning prayers before the Masses. At 5
o’clock, when Fr. Nguyen Van Ly came down from the second floor the police
penetrated the church and neutralized a group of young men who tried to
raise a line of guard against it and handcuffed
Fr. Nguyen Van Ly, having tried in vain to force him to sign the minutes wth citation
of unfounded charges against him. Knowing that they arrested their pastor, the parishioners who were
praying in the church tried to come to help. Nevertheless, the police
forces easily dispersed them, beating them with electric rods, even though they
were only old men and children. After having shoved the pastor of An Truyen
into one of the buses that had transported the policemen to the parish. A group
of policem then came in and operated a search-through and confiscated four
portable telephones, numerous documents, and a considerable amount of money.
The following day, May 18, the United States Embassy
in Vietnam officially intervened beside the Hanoi administration. The U.S.
Ambassador to Vietnam and other personalities expressed deep concerns over the arrest of the pastor
of An Truyen and demanded the release of the priest. The clergy in Hue
published a declaration to express unity and support for the pastor and
requested the civil administration to act properly in accordance with justice
and the law, to render the land and properties of the Archdiocese of Hue. The declarations, as
usual, came to no answer.
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