In February 1953, the Viet Minh government launched
operations for Land Rent Reduction, paving the way for the Land Reform.
Landowners were questioned whether or not they had evaded taxes or had not paid
them duly.
Article 4 of Chapter II of the Decree 197/Sl,
promulgated on December 19, 1953 stipulates that “only superfluous cultivated
land, castle, and farm implement were confiscated. Nevertheless, landowners and
their families were thrown out of their houses. Communal houses, temples and
pagodas were turned into granaries, hangars, or classrooms. Priests and
dignitaries were executed. Catholic priests and Buddhist monks were classified
into the category of reactionaries. The Buddhist MonK Thich Tue Chieu in Thanh
Hoa Province was given the death sentence for tax evasion. The Catholic priest
Mai Ba Nhac was sentenced to 15 years for the same charge. In Hung Hoa Diocese,
Fr. Thero Nay and Fr. Phero Thuyet were brought to stand trials and Fr. Ngo was
imprisoned, also for evading taxes.
The government had to postpone operations of land
reform until after the Communist troops took over Haiphong from which people
could escape to the South. On July 22, 1954, prior to the withdrawal of the
French Expeditionary Corps from North Vietnam and the termination of evacuation
of the refugees to the South, Ho Chi Minh called on the Vietnamese of all
societal layers to cooperate with him to serve the Fatherland. On the Christmas
Eve of the same year, in his message to the Catholics, he promised to guarantee
religious freedom. On September 20, 1954, the government declared that “All
religious institutions, churches, temples, pagodas, and so on of a religious
character belonging to any religious denomination, shall be respected by the
people. No one shall cause any damage to them.”
On July 4, 1955 the Workers’ Party of Vietnam
declared in the official press that while it “entertains confidence in the scientific
accuracy of Marxism-Leninism, but it also admits that such belief must be
self-imposed and freely accepted and cannot be forced upon anyone.” On June 14,
1955, before operations for land reform resumed, the Ho Chi Minh government
promulgated a decree on the protection of freedom of conscience and worship.
Article I of the decree states that “the government shall guarantee the freedom
of conscience and freedom of worship of the people. Nobody is allowed to
infringe on these freedoms. Every Vietnamese citizen shall have the right to
practice a religion or not to practice any.” Article 10 of the decree states
that “in the process of land reform, a part of the land property owned by
religious groups which was requisitioned by the Government earlier with or
without reparations or distribution to peasants, shall be left to the church,
pagoda, or sanctum concerned with a large enough area to ensure the performance
of worship and to provide for living conditions of priests and religious
dignitaries in order for them to carry out their religious activities.” Article
13 of the decree states: “The authorities shall not interfere in the domestic
affairs of the various religions.” Article 15 of the decree states: “Freedom of
conscience and freedom of worship are the rights of the people. The authorities
of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam always respect these rights.”
The
promise of the Patty and the stipulations of the laws are mere rhetoric. Religious
intolerance is essentially not born from conflict between the communists and
the Churches. It derives from the principles of materialist dialectic, of the
dictatorship of the proletariat, and of class and class struggle. Religion is
the opium of the people. Extermination of this scourge necessarily goes hand in
hand with other forms labor exploitation and social injustice, and thus
obstructing achievements of the revolution on the path to socialism. From this
cause of necessity, the communists never hesitate to bring down religion at any
time and in any place. In Vietnam, under communism, religious persecution is
ever lasting and excruciating. It becomes increasingly merciless after the
partition of the country following the Geneva Agreements in July 1954.
Dictatorship of the proletariat prevailed, and the communist State monopolizes
power, giving itself the authority over the existence of religion, which is a
vital and spiral component of society but which is not considered a moral
person and a legal entity.
As a matter of fact, no sooner had the law taken
effect than religious repression began. Fierce operations of land reform
ravaged the provinces in the Red River delta. Genii and saints were ridiculed,
and priests and dignitaries were executed. Cadres in the Bui Chu Diocese
carried out strict measures not only to wipe out landlords but also to extenuate
those whom they considered enemies of the regime. Among them were intellectuals
of the old regime, the clergy of all faiths, specifically Catholic priests and
followers. These “reactionaries” were brought to stand trials before the
People’s Court charted by the cadres. The victims were persecuted on the spot.
Dinh Van Tac, a pious and virtuous Catholic of Quat Lam Parish, was one of the
first victims. Fr. Dinh Quang Hien of Phu Nhai Parish was charged with tax evasion.
Unable to produce evidence, the court flatly accused him of having evaded taxes
since the founding of the parish dating from 200 years before and sentenced him
to six years in prison. The Buddhist monk Thanh Quyet of Tra Lu Trung Pagoda,
Xuan Truong District, Nam Dinh Province, was classified in the category of the
infamous reactionaries to be brought to a people’s court on charge of having
used the opium of religion to lure people into sleep. Terrified, he hung
himself to be spared from the humiliation of a people’s trial.
Towards the end of the land reform, the Workers’
Party and administration step by step obliterated all religious organizations
and associations and replaced them with State-linked associations operating
within the orbit of the Party-affiliated Mat Tran Lien Viet (Viet United
Front). All religious, educational, and cultural physical establishments were
dispossessed, and all religious institutions were forced to close down.
Religious education, retreats and renewals were forbidden, and religious
services and activities were subject to control and ban. The General Association
of Buddhism was replaced by the State-created Unified Buddhism with the
Venerable Tri Do at the head. The Most Venerable To Lien, the leader of the
association, was expelled from Quan Su Pagoda after sessions of crimes relegation
against him. Young monks and nuns were to return home. Years passed by. Old monks
passed away. Most pagodas and temples were without guardians and were in ruins.
The leadership of congregations of Evangelical Christianity was dissolved. The administration in Hanoi neutralized all
forms of religious services and activities. Bible studies and parties for
prayers at chapels and houses were forbidden. Pastors and ministers were
subject to surveillance by local authorities. They played a nominal role as representatives
for their congregations. Pastor Bui Hoanh Thu, a protégé of the regime, was
nominated head of the Evangelical Church in Hanoi as a sign of favor.
The Roman Catholic Church suffered tragic losses, physically
and institutionally. All its properties including humanitarian establishments,
schools, hospitals, dispensaries, social shelters, and orphanages were either
dispossessed or confiscated. Fr. Luong Huy Han, the director of Little Seminary
at Trung Ninh, Bui Chu Province, was arrested and imprisoned. Foreign
missionaries, among whom were the Dominicans and the Jesuts from the Missions
Etrangeres de Paris, were expelled from the country. Fr. Dupont was killed at
Ke So, Ha Nam Province. Fr. Fournier was assassinated in Hanoi. Little and
grand seminaries in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Nam Dimh were closed down. Religious
services were allowed but performed under watch. Texts of preaching were
censured, and religious activities could only be performed on prior
authorization. Programs for religious education and cycles of formation and
ordination of priests were banned or interdicted.
High dignitaries and the clergy were targeted with
tight repression and persecution. Bishop Nguyen Nang Tinh faced treats in Bui
Chu. Bishop Pham Dinh Tung of Bac Ninh Diocese served faith in humiliation.
Bishop Le Duc Trong was separated from the faithful in Nam Dinh. Bishop Trinh
Van Can faced isolation in Hanoi. Fr. Nguyen Van Vinh, director of Little Seminary
in Hanoi, who served faith with resilient resistance, was imprisoned and died
of a doubtful death in 1960.
In September 1960 the Government of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam proclaimed its official policy to concretize a resolution
passed by the Third Party Congress of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party. According
to these rulings, Marxism-Leninism should be dominant in the moral life of the
country. It is the ideology of all the people. It is the basis on which the
people build a new morality. Traditional spiritual and cultural values and
institutions were in gradual decadence. Cathedrals, chapels, pagodas, and
temples were gloomy and desolate. Priests, monks, and the followers served
faith in silence.
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