The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

 

Overview

Under the new political regime, except for Catholicism, all religions legally recognized by the Republic of South Vietnam were outlawed. As a consequence, the legitimate Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam faced with severe disintegration then dissolution following the creation of the State-affiliated Buddhist Church in 1981. The clergy of the Church have ever since resisted persecution of the Vietnamese Communist Party and administration. Until 2014, after 39 years of struggle for survival, the Church still have braved hostilities --harassment, violence, isolation, arrest, imprisonment, and administrative surveillance-- to preserve its legitimacy. The Church’s leadership, Shanga, and faithful have ever persisted to preach the Buddhist faith, religious freedom, and national cause.

The Persecution

The Struggle for Religious Freedom

Beginning in August 1975, the Vietnamese Communist Party had forced by all means to incorporate all Buddhist denominations in a single organization to operate and serve it under the Party-affiliated Committee of Liaison of Patriotic Buddhists' patronage. The Communists nevertheless met with strong opposition, notably, from the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. To count it out, the Party and its administration dissolved the conflict with resort to violence, dismantling the Church’s infrastructure a the base and eradicating the Church’s leadership at the highest level of its supra-structure. During the campaign of "dislodging the bourgeoisie" after the takeover of Saigon, the Communist administration appropriated outright all physical properties of the Church, including the Buddhist Van Hanh University and hundreds of institutions at all levels, and secondary and primary schools of the Bo De cultural and educational systems throughout the country. It absolved all Institutes for Studies of Buddhism and forced student priests and nuns to return to their families.

The Church’s supra-structure crumbled. The clergy at all levels of hierarchy throughout the country were targeted with harassment, repression, or elimination. Right from the first months following the takeover of Saigon, the local authorities used the stratagem to "use your own stick to beat you"-- to use the monks of the Church to eliminate its own clergy. At the Holy Site An Quang Pagoda, the Committee for Liaison of Patriotic Buddhists led by Monk Minh Nguyet applied harsh pressure on the monks and nuns in residence to renounce adherence to the legitimate Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, forcing them to integrate themselves in this State Committee. The scheme came to no success, however. The authorities’ vile acts were unveiled. Monks and nuns alike protested against and refused to cooperate with the committee. The Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Secretary of the Institute for the Propagation of Buddhist Faith, reacted with resilience.

In a sent to the then Vietnamese Communist Party's Secretary General Do Muoi, the Venerble Thich Quang Do denounced the evil intention of the Ho Chi Minh City authorities. To prove the legitimacy of the Unified Buddhist Church, the dignitary specified among other arguments that "if there are Patriotic Buddhists, there are naturally non-patriotic Buddhists or 'reactionary Buddhists'-- as one should interpret it according to the Communist's ideological rhetoric. In this case, the it is without doubt a reference to the reactionary Buddhists --the members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. It is then, according to the laws of class struggle, the Party’s patriotic Buddhists’ had to fight to exterminate the 'reactionary Buddhists’."

The protest came to no result. Repression persisted. At each pagoda, only a monk or a guardian was allowed to stay. Young monks had to do the military service or return home for socialist production.

The Vietnamese Communist Party and State never hesitated to execute harsh measures to put the Church under the control of its administration. To resist the regime’s oppression, the Church’s leadership, Sangha, and faithful chose to face misfortunes. The struggle for existence is enduring, nevertheless. To root up the Church from the Vietnamese soil, the administration have relentlessly executed the strictest oppressive and repressive measures against it. To protect their faith and perpetuate its presence, the Church’s priests and followers have never hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the protection of their faith." (Thuy Giao and Ngoc Phuong, 1995: 10)

Self-sacrifice for Religious Faith

In November 1975, not long after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, twelve Buddhist dignitaries and believers immolated themselves by fire at Duoc Su Pagoda in Can Tho. The incident was the first series of protest against the Communist regime’s policy of religious intolerance in the South. The local authorities had prohibited the pagoda's superior monk to fly the banner of Buddhism, to hold sessions of retreat, and to allow to receive the Buddhist members in the community to come to pay respect to Buddha.

The incident was first disclosed in December 1976 in a report to the central office of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in Saigon. The Institute for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith, in the name of the Church, sent a letter of protest to the central administration requesting it to investigate the case. Mai Chi Tho [whose real name is Phan Dinh Dong], the then-Director of Saigon Security Police Department, came to An Quang Pagoda to consult with the Church’s leadership about the incident and promised to send his agents to Can Tho to investigate. As always, the investigation came to no conclusion.

The report by Huynh Chau So of the central administration, in contrast, gave all its counter arguments against the Buddhist dignitaries’ statements concerning the incident at Duoc Su Zen Pagoda, saying that Monk Hue Hien, the priest in residence at the pagoda "had worked as an informer for the American C. I. A. and the puppet government. After the liberation of the South, fearful of being punished by the Revolution, he killed himself and at the same time forced 11 people to kill themselves. Hue Hien and the accomplices had been fully supplied with food by the Americans and the puppet government. Now, having no other sources of supply to subsist, they had to kill themselves collectively. Hue Hien and the accomplices had committed licentious acts with those nuns who killed themselves together with him. Hue Hien was fearful that his acts would be revealed, he thus had to kill himself and burned the Thanh Minh Thien Vien."

The report by Huynh Chau So was contradictory and contrary to facts. The reality is, in his letter on November 2, 1975 before his self-immolation, the Venerable Hue Hien had informed the Sangha and Buddhist faithful of the reasons for his self-sacrifice. Among other things, he had made an oath "to protect the tenets of Buddhism and the Just Laws of Buddha and the dignity and virtues of a devoted Buddhist priest. He earnestly called on the provisional revolutionary government of South Vietnam and the National Front for Liberation of South Vietnam to genuinely respect the right to religious freedom of the people."

The State’s acts of overt oppression against Buddhism intensified, regardless of rising discontent among Buddhist congregations. Since April 30, 1975, the Institute for the Propagation for the Buddhist Faith had sent 62 letters of protest against the arrests of Buddhist priests and laymen and acts and words of blasphemy of the cadres and incidents of destruction of Buddha's idols and articles of worship. No direct explication was given from the authorities The report on the Thanh Minh Thien Vien incident by the State cadre Chau Quoc Tuan was the only information provided. The Communist Party and its administration showed indifference to the entreaties of the Buddhist clergy, thus raising deep dissent among the Buddhist Shanga and faithful. On the morning of January 22, 1977, 300 Buddhist delegates from the provinces in South Vietnam assembled at An Quang Pagoda in Saigon, regardless of threat and signs of repression from the city authorities.

On March 17, 1977, the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang sent a letter to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong. While presenting the case with evidences. The dignitary attested fact that he Communist authorities had committed acts of repression against Buddhism. He cited instances of violence such cases of destruction and confiscation of Buddhist facilities, disaffection of pagodas and statues, arrests of priests, and the dissolution of Buddhist organizations. The dignitary also requested the State to authorize the Church to perform all forms of religious practices and activities. To profess the Church’s will of resistance, 3,000 monks and Buddhists marched and chanted slogans through the streets of Saigon. The security police were ordered to disband the demonstration.

As the conflict between Communist China and Communist Vietnam became increasingly tense, the Vietnamese Communist administration, in face of the opposition of the Unified Buddhist Church, made a step backwards. To diverted public opinion from the administration unwilling concession, the propaganda machinery distorted the situation, divulging false news and putting blame on the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church, and accusing the demonstrators of conspiring with the American imperialists and the Beijing hegemony to create social disturbance and destroy the State's religious policy. Using this distortion as a pretext, on April 6, 1977, the police blocked all entrances the streets surrounding the An Quang Pagoda, They broke into the worship place and arrested without charge the monks in residence. Among the arrested were four high-ranking dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Venerable Thich Thuyen An, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, and the Venerable Thich Thien Minh. They were all imprisoned without a trial.On December 8, 1978, under the pressure of international human rights foundations and agencies, the imprisoned Buddhist leaders were brought to stand trial before a court of justice. The Venerable Thich Quang Do was acquitted. The other dignitaries were sentenced to 2-7 years in prison.

On June 9, 1977, the Venerable Thich Man Giac, the Vice-chancellor of Van Hanh University, denounced, in his Appeal for the Defense of Human Rights the systematic destruction of the Unified Buddhist Church organizations and its institutions of the political regime. He accused the Communist administration of its audacious violations of religious freedom, unlawfully confiscated the Church’s thousands of schools, clinics, and orphanages. It destroyed statues of Buddha. It executed with strict measures to close Van Hanh University, the School for Social Services, and the Church's Publishing House. In addition to the destruction of the Church’s physical infrastructure, the Vietnamese Communist Party and State decidedly dismantled the Church’s religious supra-structure, creating the State-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam to operate as a unique Buddhist organization in its place.

The Communist Party and its administration practically laid heavy hands on the Vietnam Unified Church of Vietnam. Hostilities towards Buddhist monks of the Unified Buddhist Church were evident. The Venerable Thich Khong Tanh (Phan Tan Dat) of Lien Tri Pagoda, Thu Duc District, Saigon. was targeted with suspicion due to his support for the Church’s religious cause. On August 20, 1977, he went on a hunger strike to protest against the arrest of the Buddhist clergy at An Quang Pagoda on Su Van Hanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City. In October 1977, he was arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned. He had never received a trial. It was not until 1987 that he was released from prison.

Later, to eradicate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the central administration executed a minute plan to dismantle the Church.’ s highest body of leadership and its base organization in Saigon. On February 12, 1980, Radio Hanoi announced the creation of a national Buddhist Committee. This organ, according to the source, was destined to unify various sects of Buddhism in the country. The committee would operate under the sponsorship of the State. This State-affiliated religious organ was later re-entitled as the Committee for the Unification of Buddhist Organizations. Several dignitaries of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were invited to join it. During the process, the Venerable Thich Tri Thu of Hue was appointed the president of the committee and the Venerable Thich Minh Chau, the former Chancellor of Van Hanh University, the secretary. The Venerable Thich The Long, the Venerable Thich Minh Nguyet, the Venerable Thich Tri Tinh, and the Venerable Thich Mat Hien were nominated the Vice-presidents. The Venerable Thich Don Hau and the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan (of North Vietnam) were nominated the advisors.

A Hidden Scheme

Repression intensified as the Communist leadership progressed towards establishing the State-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Church. In February 1981, the Paris-based Vietnamese Human Rights League and the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners in Vietnam provided a list of 77 priests and 36 monks imprisoned for unfounded reasons. At the same time, the Committee for the Union of Buddhist Organizations in Vietnam held its formal sessions in Hanoi. Quite surprisingly, the leaders of the Committee met with Hoang Quoc Viet, the president of the Fatherland Front, brought to the attention of this member of politburo the absence of the leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam all though the time the Committee was in session for the project for unification of all Buddhist Churches. The Committee protested against the State intervention in the Church’s internal affairs. Because of this intervention, the committee had met with strong opposition from the leadership of the newly-created Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Sessions of meeting between the members of the committee and the Front had proceeded without the participation of the members of the leadership of the Unified of Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

On September 9, 1981, when attempts were made to integrate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in the State-created Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church at An Quang Pagoda, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, the spokesman of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, out of prudence, categorically rejected the State-created Church’s initiatives to unify various Buddhist Churches under its direction because the latter Church’s initiatives were only the arbitrary pre-dispositions by the Communist administration.

Subsequent to the unbending will of the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, on October 11, 1981, the question of dissolution of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was raised again in a meeting at An Quang Pagoda. In a moment, while the meeting was in session, the police broke in and arrested the Venerable Thich Quang Do and a great number of dignitaries of the Church. who were in attendance at the meeting. Among those arrested were the Church’s highest dignitaries, the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the Venerable Thich Thong Buu, the Venerable Thich Thuyen An, and the Venerable Thich Thong Hue. The dignitaries were all detained thereafter. This measure was to prevent the dignitaries from expressing their disagreement and stop opposition from the leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

　

The Eradication of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church

Not long after that, the state-sponsored Congress for the Unification of Vietnamese Buddhism took place. In Hanoi, on November 4, 1981, 160 delegates representing 9 Buddhist organizations and denominations took part in it. The Buddhist Church of Vietnam was founded. Hanoi Radio announced that the role of the Church was defined as "... the only Buddhist Church of Vietnam" and "the only Buddhist organization representative of Vietnamese Buddhism in all its relations inside the country or overseas." The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was outlawed. On February 25, 1982, the two prominent dignitaries of the Church, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Secretary-general, and the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang-- the vice-president, were arrested. The security police broke into their pagodas and confiscated all the Church’s documents, letters, photographs, manuscripts, and the typed texts of religious matters.

To protest against the State’s violence inflicted on their spiritual leaders, on February 28, 1982, thousands of Buddhists assembled at An Quang Pagoda, the Holy Seat of the Unified Church of Vietnam and Thanh Minh Zen Monastery where the Venerable Thich Quang Do was in residence, to pray for the safety of the dignitaries. In the following days, representatives of the laity were convoked to the headquarters of the Fatherland Front. They were informed that the Venerable Thich Quang Do and the Venerable Thich Huyen Quang had requested to return to their native villages. Nevertheless, such an untrue motive could not blind public opinion. The fact is, in the Resolution No. 71 QD--UB, the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City, revealed that the two dignitaries were "a danger to the order and security in a region of great political, economic, and strategic importance."

On July 18, 1984, the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the new president of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, sent a letter to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. In it, the dignitary put into question many provisions of the decree that regulate religious activities. He underlined, in particular, the bias of the provisions defined by Article 1 of the decree according to which freedom of faith is guaranteed while, at the same time, it accumulates violations on the principle of religious freedom by dissolving the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The fact is equally evidenced by the creation of a State-sponsored Buddhist Church while at the same time imprisoning independent Buddhist monks and even forcing to abandon their priesthood, and renouncing their religious faith. He further stated that, by exercising its control of the State over the religions, the government "has exceeded its monopoly of power overly. It violates the independence of the Church. blatantly and unlawfully, applying arbitrarily Article 15 of Chapter II on it unlawfully and on false charge of "diffusion and possession of the cultural works whose contents oppose socialism."

The Most Venerable Huyen Quang also expressed deep concerns about other provisions of the law as they are vague and paradoxical. For instance, any religious practice or activity could be interpreted as an act of opposition. The clergy of the Unified Buddhist Church would certainly face serious difficulties as it always vows to preserve its legal status as an independent religion, to allow itself to possess the rights to religious education and the priesthood, a tradition that dates back thousands of years ago. These and other right were recognized by all royal dynasties and political regimes. The Communist regime could not in the name of anything whatsoever to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church, to meddle with the formation and ordination of monks. Likewise, the nomination of monks does not need the approval or refusal of the government authorities. The conduct of religious affairs, which is not in any way the interference of this worldly power; it does not in any way an office of the civil administration. The Most Venerable also pointed out the incoherence of the law reflected in the government conduct of affairs in Article 16 of Chapter II. In this provision, the government allows the religious organizations to contribute to humanitarian services, although it had confiscated all charitable establishments of all Churches in 1975 and 1976.

The Unified Buddhist Church was outlawed without a notice. The State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church had all favorable conditions to intensify its influence and control over the pagodas and temples throughout South Vietnam. It laid its siege at An Quang Pagoda and assumed the leadership, beginning on July 7, 1982. A week later, the Venerable Thich Don Hau, in the name of the Executive Council of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, wrote to the Venerable Thich Tri Thu, Advisor to the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Church, expressing his astonishment over the unjustified attack of the security police at An Quang Pagoda and the unspecified occupation of this main siege of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The question came to no answer.

During its second annual congress held in Ho Chi Minh City, January 23-24, 1983, the Vietnam Buddhist Church announced in a notice that the clergy of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam had already been supplanted in 20 cities and provinces in Vietnam. In a detailed report on the progress accomplished by the Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Tong Ho Cam, a cadre-member in the Central Committee of Religious Affairs of the Church, presented, among other things, the changes that had taken place in the pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City since the creation of the Vietnam Buddhist Church: "The offices of this committee have been established and have operated in conformity with the directives of the Vietnam Buddhist Church. They have become an integrated part of the organization of the masses under the direction enlightened by the Party and the determination of the representatives nominated by the Buddhist organizations of the city."

Tong Ho Cam particularly mentioned that the establishment of a mausoleum at Quang Huong Gia Lam Pagoda was a remarkable achievement of the State-created Vietnam Buddhist Church. To many participants in attendance at the congress, the statement nevertheless impressed nobody. It only unveiled an untrue verity. The Buddhist laity knew very well that the mausoleum was built in memory of and dedicated to the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, who unfortunately suffered a doubtful death after an interrogation by the security police.

Arrests and Trials

Fervent lay Buddhists were equally targeted with repression. They were arrested, tried, and sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Recognized among the laity were:

1. Vo Dang Phuong, arrested in April 30, 1975 and sentenced to 10 years in prison; 2. Le Cam Son, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 3. Nguyen Van Sinh, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 4. Pham Ba Duc, arrested in 1976 and sentenced to 17 years in prison; 5. Hoang Quoc Viet, arrested in 1976, sentenced to 20 years in prison, and detained in Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 6. Thai Phi Kich, arrested on May 9, 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 7. Tran Du, arrested on December 24, 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 8. Nguyen Van Nho, arrested in 1977, and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 9. Ho Duy Loc, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 10. Tran Huu Ngan, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 11. Nguyen Van Doan, arrested in 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 12. Le Van Nho, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 13. Nguyen Van Minh, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 14. Le Quy Hoa, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 15. Tran Quang Kim, arrested on January 27, 1977 and sentenced to 20 in prison; 16. Do Ngoc Chuan, arrested on January 27, 1977, sentenced to life imprisonment, and detained at Camp Z30D, Ham Tan; 17. Nguyen Thanh, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 18. Huynh Huu, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 19. Huynh Van Tam, arrested in 1978 and and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 20. Le Quang Quang, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 21. Nguyen Trung Cu, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 22. Vo Hoa, arrested in 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 23. Tran Van Anh, arrested on February 3, 1978 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 24. Chau Van Toi, arrested on February 3, 1878 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 25. Ngo Van Liem, arrested on February 3, 1978 and sentenced to 18 years in prison; 26. Nguyen Huu Nghia, arrested on Mat 31, 1978, and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 27. Tran Thien Can, arrested on July 27, 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 28. Tran Dinh Mau, arrested on July 27, 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 29. Nguyen Van Tai, arrested in 1979 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 30. Le Van Chuong, arrested in 1979 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 31. Trinh Thanh Son, arrested on February 12, 1979 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 32. Chu Van Tan, arrested in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 33. Tran Nam Phuong, arrested in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 34. Pham Van Loi, arrested on July 16, 1980 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 35. Bui Thanh Liem, arrested on September 14, 1980 and sentenced to 17 years in prison; 36. Le Van Son, arrested on April 27, 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 37. Y Phin Nier, arrested on August 1, 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 38. Ho Ngoc An, arrested on December 11, 1981 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 39. Nguyen Long, arrested in 1962 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 40. Ngo Van So, arrested on February 5, 1982 and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 41 Pham Hong Nhat, arrested on March 15, 1982 and sentenced to 16 years in prison; 42. Nguyen Van Huy, arrested on December 23, 1983 and sentenced to 20 years in prison; 43. Nguyen Thi Nghia, arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tue Sy and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu on April 2, 1984 on charge of carrying out activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government, tried in September 1988, sentenced to 7 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 44. Le Van Be (Hoang), arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 45. Do Bach Tho, arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment; 46. Nguyen Van De, arrested on September 15, 1986 and sentenced to life imprisonment; and 47. Nguyen Van Minh, tried on charge of playing a role in the Hue incidents, sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Recognized among the members of the clergy arrested and sentenced to prison terms were:

1. The Venerable Thich Thien Minh (Huynh Van Ba), sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 2. The Venerable Thich Tam Can (Nguyen Huu Tin), sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province; 3. The Venerable Thich Tri Giac, sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 4. The Venerable Thich Minh Su, sentenced to 20 years in prison and detained at Camp Z30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province; 5. The Venerable Thich Thien Tan (Thai Thanh Hung) superior monk at Thuyen Ton Temple, Hue, arrested in August 1978 on charge of political participation in rebellious activities, sentenced to life imprisonment, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; and 6. The Venerable Thich Quang Do (Dang Phuc Tue); being a leader of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, was first arrested on April 6, 1977 in a police raid at the An Quang Pagoda in Saigon. He was detained without trial for a year and a half. In December 1978, he was brought to stand trial on charge of counter-propaganda and exploitation of religion to undermine security and order but was acquitted. In February 1982 he was re-arrested for protesting against the political regime’ s suppression against Buddhism. He was exiled to Vu Thu Village, Thai Binh Province.

The Gia Lam Incident

The repression became increasingly tense as the regime decided to proceed with harsh measures to outlaw the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and instituted a State-sponsored Buddhist Church in its place Troubles and incidents of repression marked the period of the mid- 1980’s. On March 22, 1984, the security police burst into Gia Lam Pagoda and Van Hanh University and arrested 12 Buddhists who were affiliated with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu. Among those arrested were the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, a scholar of high reputation and close associate of the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu; Nun Thich Nu Tri Hai, a translator of numerous books of philosophy and religion; the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, former professor at Van Hanh University; and the Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac, professor at the Higher School for Buddhism at Gia Lam Pagoda. On the same day, the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu was brought before the security police for interrogation. He was forced to sign a prepared confession attesting that he might have covered subversive activities by reactionary Buddhists. His refusal to admit such a false denunciation a victim of intimidation. He was brought back to his pagoda and was asked to reconsider himself. The doors of the pagoda were sealed for 10 days. On April 2, 1984, the police convoked him again to its office to confirm his confession. At 8:00 p.m. on the same day, the Most Venerable was brought back to his pagoda. He was unable to talk and his skin was pale. At 9:30 p.m., the dignitary expired his last breath.

The monks in residence at Gia Lam Pagoda were arrested on March 22, 1984 together with 19 Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers, known to have had connections to the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, the well-known Buddhist dignitary who died some days later in a suspicious manner. after an interrogation of the police. Lay Buddhists and the monks associated with the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu were brought to stand trials. Tran Van Luong was given 20 years in prison. The monks were sentenced to 4-15 years in prison. The Venerable Thich Tue Sy, whose secular name is Pham Van Thuong and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, whose secular name is Le Manh That, were arrested on April 2, 1984, along with 10 other Buddhist monks in residence at Gia Lam and Van Hanh pagodas in Saigon in a police raid. The Venerable Tue Sy and the Venerable Tri Sieu were both given the death sentence. Their sentences were commuted later to to 20 years in prison by the Supreme Court in November 1988 due to pressure from international public opinion

The two dignitaries were charged with carrying out subversive activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government. They were detained four years without trial at Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon, They were brought to stand trial in September 1988 together with 20 other lay Buddhists and monks for having carried out crimes against national security In 1989, they were moved from a prison in Saigon to Reeducation Camp Z 30A, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. They were the transferred to Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province. The Venerable Tue Sy was later transferred to Ba Sao Camp in Nam Ha They were both released from the prison on September 1, 1988.

Two other prominent dignitaries, the Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac and the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan. were subject to arrest and imprisonment. The Venerable Thich Nguyen Giac was arrested along with the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu and eight other monks and nuns during March-April 1984. also on charge of carrying out subversive activities aiming at overthrowing the people’s government. He was incarcerated without trial until September 1988. He was then brought to stand trial, sentenced to 14 years in prison, and imprisoned in a reeducation camp at Xuan Phuoc, Phu Yen Province

On August 6, 1985, the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan, the secretary-general of the Executive Board of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City. The death of the Venerable Thich Tri Thu and the arrest of the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan raised deep discontent in the Buddhist faithful in the city and played a part in wakening the opposition of Buddhism against the Communist regime, and paradoxically creating favorable conditions for the authorities to execute their plan of disbanding the organization of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. Subsequent to these tragic incidents, in September 1988, several prominent figures of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam were brought to trial before the People's Supreme Court of Ho Chi Minh City. All were formally accused of crimes of participation in subversive resistance against the State.

At a time in recess, the Communist State apparently remounted persistent repression. The aim was to execute a much more secretive plan to outlaw all organizations instituted by the most loyal adherents to the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam who resolutely survived hardship and who adamantly refused to submit themselves to the state-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam. As a result, the Venerable Thich Thong Buu was arrested for ungrounded reasons (1986). He was one of the most resilient disciples of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc who, in 1963, volunteered to immolate himself by fire to protest against the Ngo Dinh Diem government's repressive measures against Buddhism. The Venerable Thich Thong Buu was then exiled to Dong Xuan in the province of Phu Khanh, Central Vietnam. He was accused of having incited "illegal religious assembly. "

Nguyen Quoc Pham, a politics instructor, reported in 1987 in a conference of dignitaries of the State-affiliated Buddhist Church of Vietnam that: "We [the Vietnamese Communist Party] have reformed and unified all Buddhist organizations throughout the whole country. Reactionary organizations such as the An Quang [Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam] Sect were dissolved. We have integrated Buddhism in the bosom of the nation and have oriented it towards the right religious road. At the time of the American-installed government, Buddhism was radically divided into separate sects. It disposed of hundreds of establishments for the formation of Buddhist priests, an Institute of Buddhism, and Van Hanh University. However, after the liberation, the Buddhists of the An Quang Sect planned to create an allied movement with reactionary forces projected for opposition to the Revolution."

THE BUDDHIST CHURCHES

 

Overview

 

Buddhism was the largest religion, and thus played an important role in the political life in the South. In 1963, various energetic fractions of the Buddhist Churches in Hue and Saigon launched a campaign of successive mass protests against the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. The first clash took place in Hue. The incident occurred as a result of a quarrel between the local administration and the organizer for the celebration of Buddha's birthday. The police had assumedly forbidden the Buddhists from flying the Buddhist banners, and an unprecedented mass protest broke out. Ten thousand laity Buddhists barged into the police headquarters, and violent clashes ensued. On June 11, 1963, in Saigon, the Venerable Thich Quang Duc immolated himself by fire as an act of protest. New incidents of immolation by fire followed. On August 20, 1963, the government violently repressed the movement. The "coup d'etat" on November 1, 1963 by the Revolutionary Council of the Army caused the death of the president, brought down the First Republic of Vietnam, and put an end to the crisis.

Following the political event, Buddhism, in a way, assumed a major political role. It is noted, however, that under the First Republic the vast majority of villagers in the South enjoyed peace and practiced with zeal their faith. People went to the pagoda on holidays during the Vietnam war although many believers were more likely to describe their religion as "ancestor worship" than Buddhism. Religious tolerance was keenly observed. The influence of Buddhism was central in both the Center and South Vietnam. The mass of faithful organizations increased rapidly during the first Republic of Vietnam regime and the early years of the Vietnam War. It even became a rallying point for assembly for political support for military administrations subsequent to the fall of the Ngo Dinh Diem government. Buddhist monks and fervent believers even hoped to see the body of tenets of Buddhism to be the State ideology of worship of the Vietnamese. In 1963, the Buddhist clergy were particularly influential in Hue and Da Nang where the "struggle against" the military leaders in power of the irritating Buddhist fractions became increasingly sour and bitter, and it only reduced after three years of crisis in 1966. By the end of the war, however, Buddhism had declined as a sociopolitical force because of political repression and internal divisions (Porter Gareth. Ibid. 1993: 38).

　

　

THE ELIMINATION OF BUDDHIST CHURCHES

IN THE SOUTH

　

Buddhism after the Fall of Saigon

In 1975, after the fall of Saigon, various sects of Buddhism, especially the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, faced vain attempts to compromise with the Communist regime. The adoration for materialism of Marxism and the compassion for spiritual values of Buddhism was in serious conflict. Although the Communist government promised to respect religious freedom, they quickly carried out a religious policy destined to destroy the infrastructure of all Buddhist sects, subjecting them to unconditional submission.

 

The Confiscation of Properties

 

To carry out ahead of time the "Revolution of the People’s Democracy," the Communist administration called for the transfer of ownership of properties of the bourgeoisie, landlords, and religions and transferred their legal ownership to the working class and peasantry. They closed down and confiscated all Buddhist Churches’ religious institutions, establishments, and facilities throughout the country. Among these physical constructions were the Buddhist Central Executive Center, the Institute for the Propagation for Buddhist Faith, Van Hanh University, the Institute for the Youth and Social Work, Hai Duc Institute for Higher of Studies of Buddhism, all institutes of Buddhist studies at the intermediary and elementary levels, Nguyen Thieu Monastery, Nguyen Hung Monastery, all high and elementary schools, orphanages, and child care centers. The Communist administration had its cadres vandalized the Buddhist shrines, such as the 9-meter statue of Kwan Yin in Phan Thiet Province. Of ten thousand (10,000) pagodas that symbolize the traditional historic, cultural, and religious values of Vietnam, only some two hundred stand. The Church still suffered colossal loses. Thousands of secondary and primary schools throughout the country were dispossessed or confiscated.

The Persecution

Elimination of the Buddhist Leadership

Throughout the period that followed the takeover of South Vietnam, the Communist administration eradicated the organizations at the base of the legitimate Buddhist Churches. Buddhist congregations and associations that had preponderantly developed under the Republic of Vietnam were all dissolved. To dismantle these grassroots organizations, they first eliminated the prestigious clergy from the Churches’ leadership. High dignitaries of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church were isolated or arrested. The Venerable Thich Tri Quang was isolated at An Quang Pagoda, Saigon. The Venerable Thich Thien Minh, Vice-president of the Central Executive Council, was arrested and jailed without a trial. The dignitary was tortured to death in prison in 1979.

Arrests of Dignitaries

Mass arrest of other high Buddhist dignitaries and monks began on April 4, 1977. Recognized among them were the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Vice-chairman of the Executive Council; the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Secretary-general of the Executive Council; the Most Venerable Thich Thuyen An, Head of the Department for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith; the Most Venerable Thich Thong Buu, Head of the Department for Laity Affairs; the Most Venerable Thich Thong Tue, Chief representative of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church in Go Vap District, Saigon; the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan, the Venerable Thich Tue Sy and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, re-known professors at Van Hanh University, and the Venerable Thich Thnh Doa of Phap Vuong Pagoda, Saigon.

Superior and guardian monks in the provinces were also the victims of this mass arrest. Among them were the Venerable Thich Buu Hue, Long Khanh Province; the Venerable Thich Thien Duc, Ba Xuyen Province; the Venerable Thich Duc Quang, Binh Duong Province; the Venerable Thich Chon Khong, and the Venerable Thich Thien Thong, An Giang Province; the Venerable Thich Nguyen Minh, Nghia Binh Province, the Venerable Thich Ke Hoi, Phu Yen Province; and the Venerable Thich Lieu Minh and the Venerable Thich Minh Tam, Thuan Hai Province; As a consequence of religious intolerance , the Most Venerable Thich Tam Hoan and the Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tri were forced to commit suicide in 1981 and 1984, respectively. The Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, Chairman of the Executive Council, Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, died mysteriously at the Vi Dan Hospital in Saigon, in 1984.

The list of crimes is far from complete due to poor access to the sources. The documents provided by the Most Venerable Thich Thien Minh prior to his arrest in 1997, however, shows that more than a hundred monks had been arrested and ten of thousands of young monks had been forced to return home.

The Reform

To replace the leadership of all Buddhist Churches, the Communist regime set up an organ called the Patriotic Buddhist Liaison Committee. Its purpose was to promote the idea that all patriotic Buddhists had a duty to participate in building a new society and achieve the liberation of man from the shackles of feudalism and neocolonialist influences. This committee had their tasks to rally Buddhist leaders and followers behind the new regime. A satellite organ operating within the orbit of the Fatherland Front, it could never blind public opinion for its nominal function. It was only instrumental in serving the Communist Party’s immediate purpose, drumming up political propaganda for it. The State-affiliated monks’ primary task in the committee was to carry out the Party’s religious policy, consolidate the Party’s organization at the base, and help dismantle the organization of the non-sanctioned Buddhist Churches. They sought to encourage, pressure, and force, if necessary, monks and nuns to return home to lead a secular life. In April 1980, the government formed a national committee of Buddhist groups throughout the country. To obliterate the legitimate Buddhist organizations of Vietnam before 1975, they outlawed the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and other Buddhist Churches and their affiliations. The government-controlled Vietnam Buddhist Church was established in November 1981, and it emerged as the only officially sanctioned organization authorized to represent all Buddhist groups both at home and abroad." (Cima, Ibid. 1989: 122).

State-affiliated monks enjoyed favors from the authorities in recompense for their services. However, favoritism did not last long. By the time the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ended military exemptions for Buddhist monks from the war in Kampuchea, the number of monks decreased by as many as two-thirds --up to ten thousand. To maintain State support, the administration accredited newly-sanctioned Buddhist organizations, and had them established a university-level institution for Buddhist Studies in Hanoi and four high schools of Buddhist Studies in Hue Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi in 1986. Beginning in 1988, some land was returned to the Buddhist monasteries to support those monks begging for food from door to door. In general, the common Buddhist faithful practice their faith and celebrate their own religious festivals in pagodas run by State-affiliated monks and organizations. Fervent Buddhists affiliated with the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam attach themselves to their old Church, regardless of harassment and repression.

THE HOA HAO BUDDHIST CHURCH

 

　

As soon as the "liberators" from the North invaded Long Xuyen and Chau Doc in May 1975, the Phu An Holy Site was plagued with hatred and enmity. Revenge raged throughout the region. Violence with assaults against fervent Hoa Hao was executed indiscriminately, regardless of whether they were young or old and no matter what they were --civilians, public servants, or the personnel of the military of the old Republic of Vietnam. In July 1975, the Communist authorities, under the pretext that they had found caches of arms and ammunition in the Hoa Hao community in An Giang Province, closed down two of the Hoa Hao Church's temples in the area. By Fall 1976, they confiscated all the Church's properties and facilities, annihilated the Church’s leadership, and dissolved all religious, social, educational, and cultural institutions and organizations. All forms of worship at the Holy See were restricted, and all religious services at the village preaching halls were forbidden. Religious practices at the Holy Site, convention centers, and temples were banned. The Church s faithful were not allowed to congregate at the Church’s establishments and facilities. Failures to comply with the interdictions were subject to detention. All religious services and practices were to be performed in private and at home. The adepts who ventured to pay visit to the Holy Site were subject to interrogation. Books of Scriptures by His Holiness Huynh Phu So were prohibited from circulation. The Communist administration executed strict measures to force the Hoa Hao Buddhists to abandon their Church.

The Office of Hoa Hoa Buddhism Overseas, on March 13, 1981, reported on the religious practices and activities at the Holy Site after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, in its bulletin news Duoc Tu Bi (The Torch of Buddhism) as follows

"The Holy Site is the place where His Holiness Huynh was born. The authorities forbid any form of veneration even if a Hoa Hao Buddhist wishes to prostrate` himself or herself before Buddha at the Holy Temple. After the Master and the Lady Huynh --His Holiness Huynh's parents-- had passed away, their daughter Huynh Thi Kim Bien was in charge of the management at the Holy Temple and attended to the worship. After the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, the Holy Site and Holy Temple became desolated gloomy places. The Communists prohibited all assemblies and celebrations at the Holy Temple, including the religious celebration on the anniversary of the foundation of Hoa Hao Buddhism of May 18. Before 1975, every year, on this day, as many as 500,000 Hoa Hao Buddhists in crowds came to visit the Holy Site to attend the celebration. Nowadays, such spectacles no longer exist. In the old days, on this day, the roads from Long Xuyen and elsewhere to the Holy Site were crowded with assemblies of Hoa Hao followers, and boats with flowers and lamps streamed down the rivers to Long Xuyen. The Communist authorities also close down all preaching halls; prayers through the loudspeakers were no longer heard."

On June 19, 1975, the authorities, in a public announcement, ordered the dignitaries who were in charge at the Holy Temple to dissolve all executive boards of Hoa Hao Buddhism, all the executive boards of the Vietnam Social Democratic Party, the Office for the Propagation of Hoa Hao Religious Faith, and all institutions, organizations and associations, such as the Bao An (Security Guards), Tu Thien (Charitable Establishment), Cuu Chien Si (Veteran Soldiers), and Thanh Nien Hoa Hao (Hoa Hao Youth). Miss. Huynh Thi Kim Bien passed away due to illness on October 23 in the year Mau Ngo (1978). Mr. Lam Thanh Quang, the successor and guardian at the Holy Temple was arrested and imprisoned. The Holy Temple was under the authorities’ management.

The Holy Site and the Holy Temple, the Church symbols of Faith and Benevolence were no longer decent worship places. The Hoa Hao faithful still firmly believe that a beautiful day will come again. (Noi San Duoc Tu Bi, March 15, 1981)

The Measures

The authorities prohibited all forms of religious preaching at Phu An Holy Site and Hoa Hao Buddhist villages. The police kept strict control on the followers’ daily life. These common folks were followed wherever they came and went. They were threatened for unspecified reasons. They were arrested for any sign of protest. Repression persisted as time went by.

Hong Van Hoanh , a close disciple of the Prophet Huynh Phu So, noted that repression against the legitimate Hoa Hao ever increased. In August 1971, Tran Van Tu, a resident of Can Tho Province, who had spent ten years in prison for being a Hoa Hao Buddhist dignitary, and his friend, Hong Chen visited and paid service to Supreme Buddha at the Holy Site. On the way home, they were arrested and interrogated at Long Xuyen police headquarters on charges of political activities that they did not know.

"Nowadays, anyone who is seen with a Sam Giang (Book of Sacred Teachings) written by His Holiness Huynh is subject to interrogation and arrest. On the anniversary of May 18, the day commemorating the foundation of the Church when His Holiness Huynh professed the Enlightened Way of Hoa Hao Buddhism, the police tighten their control on almost every daily activities. They posit checkpoints at all bus stations and ferry landings and reinforce patrol operations on the roads and over the rivers to the Holy Site. Anyone with a ‘da’ tunic --a monk's robe-- or traditional ceremonial clothing is unquestionably arrested and interrogated." (Van Chuong, VHRW, 2 (October 1991)

 

　

The Persecution

　

Hoa Hao Buddhism has suffered tragic losses since 1975. The Hanoi administration imprisoned thousands of the Church’s prominent dignitaries and believers. Many were killed in secret. Others died in the prison and reeducation camps. Among them were the Chairman of the International Federation for Human and Civil Rights, Vietnam Chapter, Phan Ba Cam, General Lam Thanh Nguyen known as Ong Hai Ngoan, the Hoa Hao high dignitary Trinh Quoc Khanh known as Mr. Chin Le. A number of prestigious notables and members of the Church received the death sentence. Among them were Nguyen Van Lau, Nguyen Van Phung, Nguyen Van De known as Co De. Still, fervent Hoa Hao Buddhists were arrested on ungrounded charges. Among them were Nguyen Van Quan, Nguyen Van Nuong, Nguyen Van Bao, Nguyen Van Khiet, Nguyen van Thum, Nguyen Van Coi, Nguyen Van Ba, Nguyen Van Ut, To Ba Hao, and Nguyen Long Thanh Nam.

A large number of Hoa Hao Buddhists living in distant villages were abducted to unknown whereabouts. Among them were the members of the Executive Boards of Hoa Hao Buddhist Church in Long Xuyen Province. They were Nguyen Van Dau, Nguyen Van Hung known as Nhi, Le Van Dung, and Nguyen Van Chen. No one knows if they are alive or secretly executed.

The report on the situation of Hoa Hao Buddism inside Vietnam by the Office of Hoa Hao Buddhism Overseas published in the news bulletin Duoc Tu Bi in 1981 noted that "after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam all Hoa Hao religious officials were subject to "reeducation." They were all the members of the Church’s executive boards. Officials in the central boards were placed under resilience surveillance. Unyielding board members were executed. Nguyen Thanh Long, the Chairman of the Cai Rang District Executive Board, for instance, was executed, with his neck wrought. Not long before that, Huynh Van Lau had been executed in Chau Doc (1975)."

 

　

Confiscation of the Church's Properties

The authorities confiscated all properties of Hoa Hao Buddhism throughout the country, including preaching halls, offices, and religious, social, and cultural establishments. According to the Committee for the Struggle for Religious Freedom in Vietnam, immediately after April 30, 1975, "the Communist administration carried out a large-scale operation aiming to eradicate all the structures and organizations of the Church at all levels. They dissolved the Central Executive Committee, 28 Provincial Executive Committees, 82 District Executive Committees, 476 Village Executive Committees, and 3,100 Hamlet Executive Committees. They confiscated all the Church's facilities. These facilities included the Central Office at the Holy Site in Hoa Hao Village (Tan Chau District, Chau Doc Province), the Monastery, the Buddhist Temple, the Center for the Propagation of Hoa Hao Buddhist Faith, 4,168 lecture halls, 452 religious activities centers, and 2,876 offices. These occupied facilities were turned into government offices. None of them has been returned to the Church. Thirty-six thousand five hundred (36,500) executive members, two thousand seven hundred (2,700) faith promoters, and six thousand (6,000) instructors of religion were dismissed from religious positions and put under surveillance after serving their time in reeducation camps." (The Committee for the Struggle for Hunan Rights, 1993: 18).

The reports from witnesses noted that, "after the takeover of South Vietnam, the Communists executed harsh measures, applying strict control on it. The central institution center was occupied. All religious establishments, offices, libraries, schools, and facilities were transformed into police stations, military and administration headquarters, or store houses. Preaching halls were closed or transformed into the State hamlet offices or military posts. Graveyards were destroyed. The Binh Minh cemetery, for instance, was harrowed up and destroyed. The memorial tombs for the four Hoa Hao Buddhist Martyrs in Can Tho was enclosed with barbed wire fences, and any visit to the place was forbidden." (Nguyen Long Thanh Nam. Ibid; 635)

The report by the Office of Hoa Hao Buddhism Overseas (March 15, 1981) indicated that "... the Communists constrained with scrutiny on Hoa Hao Buddhist followers’ religious services. They destroy their prayer books and disembarrass their alters. They pressured them to renounce their faith or encouraged them to deny themselves loyalty to the Holy Master. However passive. The Communists the forbid them to circulate prayers books and religious materials of all kinds, thus alienating religious thinking from the mind. The reactions from the faithful proves to be the reverse. The demands for more prayer books have ever increased. People from every walk of life in Saigon have ever looked for the Sacred Book of Teachings by His Holiness Huynh for reading and contemplation. However, Hoa Hao Buddhists resist with resignation to this State control. "

　

A Hidden Scheme

 

　

The Communists target pure Hoa Hao Buddhists with violence. The Office of Hoa Hao Buddhism Overseas (March 15, 1981) attested that "... the Communists enticed repressive measures against the Church members of the older generation while forcing those of the younger ones to work for them. On the other hand, they infiltrated the organizations of the Church with their agents, maliciously dismantling the Church. This vile scheme has proven futile. Only a small fraction of people have cooperated with them. They are considered the betrayers to their faith. Their cooperation with the Communists have little impact on the Church’s two million loyal faithful.

The Communists have created a "legendary image" with which they thought could blind public opinion: "His Holy Master's Brother Muoi Tri." They played drums, praising with rhetoric this Binh Xuyen gangster as the best successor to the founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism. Muoi Tri was assigned by arrangement of the State cadres to the highest position in the State-created Hoa Hao Buddhist Church. This scheme failed to fool people. Every Hoa Hao Buddhist knows that Muoi Tri is never a Hoa Hao Buddhist. Every Hoa Hao adept knows very well that Muoi Tri is an old officer of the Binh Xuyen Paramilitary. He had served under His Holiness’s [Huynh Phu So] leadership in the Resistance War against the French. He was considered a 'brother' by His Holiness while they lived in a guerrilla base. Taking advantage of His Holiness’ kindness, Muoi Tri called himself "His Master's Brother." He even wore a "da" tunic. The Communists were intent on using Muoi Tri as an instrument with which they could control the Hoa Hao Buddhist faithful who nevertheless boycotted him.

Muoi Tri revealed himself a Communist agent at heart. The Communists organized for him numerous meetings in which Hoa Hao Buddhists were forced to participate. The faithful were coincidentally coerced into avowing their consent and support for "the revolutionary representative Muoi Tri." In the meetings that took place during July 29-30, 1975 held in Thot Not, An Giang Province, this Communists’ protégé was hailed as the new leader of Hoa Hao. Nevertheless, willing speech but unwilling heart, when coming home, the vast majority of participants unyieldingly kept up their faith, and vowed not to submit themselves to the Communists’ agent."

　

The Oppression

　

Oppressed, Hoa Hao Buddhists reacted. A string of protests took place in a show of indignation. France AFP office in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, February 16, 1992, reported an unusual event. It occurred in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, and made the city population well agog at it. A male Vietnamese, clad in a "da" tunic of Hoa Hao Buddhism, climbed atop an automobile stationing in front of the well-known Saigon floating hotel at Bach Dang Wharf. The man calmly spread a yellow and three red stripes flag of the old Republic of South Vietnam and waved it in silence. Much surprised at the sight, hundreds of Vietnamese gathered around the car. Attracted by such an unprecedented sight, foreign reporters and newsmen who had already been on the floating hotel waiting to report a marathon contest rushed to the place and filmed the incident. Alarmed, armed city police dashed in, confiscated the reporters' film, and disbanded the crowd. The man on the car was pushed into a truck. No one knew what would happen to him.

As resistance to State oppression increased, retaliation against it became much hasher. On March 9, 1993, the People's Council of Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, ordered the Hoa Hao Buddhist priest Le Minh Triet to destroy his house. The religious was accused of " having violated the State's residence status and committing unlawful religious activities." The police said that Le used his house as a pagoda, and, thus, he practiced religion illegally. On March 16, 1993, the district People's Council forced Le Minh Triet to read a confession of his "illegal" religious activities, which text had been prepared beforehand by the council, before the public. Le then had to escape from his home, leaving behind his old mother and a blind sister. Angered at the local authorities' unjust decision, more than 50 residents of Cho Moi signed in a petition to the central government asking it not to remove Le' s home. However, the petition was returned to the District People's Council, and the police threatened to arrest those who would not withdraw their names from the petition.

On June 16, 1993, a group of 30 armed policemen broke into Le's home and ordered the young men in the area to destroy it. Those who resisted the order had to pay a fine of 60,000 $VN "dong" and were taken to the District People's Council headquarters. Le' s mother and his blind sister were beaten for resisting the police's order. Witnesses said, by forcing the people in the area to destroy Le's home, "officers the law," intent on evil purpose, had already created "evidences" in their to report to their superior authorities. They attributed the crime to the people: It was the people themselves who destroyed the pagoda "that Le Minh Triet had built "illegally." The priest is a respectable dignitary of Hoa Hao Buddhism in Cho Moi District, An Giang Province.

 

　

The State Reform of Hoa Hao Buddhism

　

The authorities show "pursued its hostile policy against all religions, executing furtive tactics to exterminate them. They established state-affiliated religious organs to work in their place. Legitimate religions institutions were obliterated and new ones were created to serve the State’s purposes. As a result, most religions, especially Hoa Hao Buddhism, suffered acute repression, and the faithful had to practice their faith in silence. Harassment, and violence against the members of pure Hoa Hao Buddhism were the authorities’ common practices. Denigration with calumny of the Founder of the Church were other generally used tactics. In January 1995, the faithful of the Four Good Graces of Hoa Hao Buddhism , unable to sustain wrath and anger, voiced in a mass assembly their indignation over the State’s scheme to denigrate the Church. The result was the State destroyed the worship place of the Hoa Hao Four Good Graces Sect. (Vo Quoc Thanh, Thoi Lun. October 5, 1991)

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

The Cao Dai Church

 

The Cao Dai Church suffers tragic losses institutionally. During the years 1975-76, all its temples, houses of worship, and religious, social, and cultural establishments at the Tay Ninh Holy See were confiscated. The Church’s dignitaries and prominent personalities were arrested and executed. The victims of execution numbered about 4,000. Terrorism plagued Cao Dai communities, paralyzing the Church’s life. Witnesses reported that on the eve of the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, an unprecedented atmosphere of awe and apprehension pervaded all through the 19 Cao Dai communities around the Tay Ninh Holy See.

On April 24, 1975, when fierce fighting between the troopers from North Vietnam and the Armed Forces of the Republic still went on everywhere, thousands of Cao Dai followers crowded the Holy See to seek refuge and protection. The Holy See was their only asylum and last hope of escape from terror. On April 30, 1975, the whole Tay Ninh City was entirely exposed to total confusion. The Communist troops launched fierce attacks on the city. From early morning, they fired rockets into the Holy Site, and, at noon, they overwhelmed the township and marched into the Holy Site (Vo Ha Quyen. Ban An Viet Cong Ket Toi Giao Phai Cao Dai Tay Ninh. Mimeograph. Canada, 1985: 5-6).

The following days, local Communist cadres seized the administration and executed strict measures to force the dignitaries and key members of the Church to resign in submission. To eliminate outright the Church’s organization, they dissolved the supreme body of leadership of the Church. and instituted in their place the Communist agent Truong Ngoc Anh the Church’s leader, liquidated the Holy See administration, abrogated the Church ‘s constitutional laws, disqualified the Church’s highest dignitaries. banned religious practices and activities, and placed under house surveillance the Church’s highest dignitaries, among whom were His Protector of the Faith Ho Tan Khoa, His Excellency Ngoc Nhuong Thanh. His Excellency Tran Quang Vinh, the former Commander-in-chief of Cao Dai Militia, and the Honorable Thuong Nha Thanh, Brigadier General Nguyen Tan Manh. Other notables were arrested and banished to the reeducation camps. After six months, some of them were released due to old age or poor health. They were nevertheless forbidden to serve their faith. Many others put into prison.

On May 1, 1975, a band of undesirable students at the Cao Dai Institute for Faith denied their faith and left the Holy See. Some returned to their homes. Others went over to the Communists and pledged their allegiance to them. Order was restored, but anxiety and fear reigned inside and around the Holy See. Several days after that, Lam Ba Huu alias Hong Nham and a number of agents, who had covertly worked for the Communists at the Cao Dai Charity Establishment, made their appearance. They lent a hand to the Communist cadres to obliterate the Church’s leadership. His Eminency Conservator Ho Tan Khoa was removed from his position, being falsely accused of having had connections to Communist China and Japan. The dignitary was humiliated and dismissed from the Legislative Body of the Cao Dai Church. His Eminency Instructor Nguyen Van Hoi, His Eminency Instructor Nguyen Van Kiet, Bishop Nguyen Thanh Danh, and Priest Le Van Mang were summoned to the reeducation camp.

Terrorism took place. The prominent Cao Dai dignitaries Nguyen Van Manh, Nguyen Van Nho, and Phan Ba Hung were brought to stand trial before the People’s Court and sentenced to imprisonment terms for unfounded charges. Other prestigious Cao Dai believers such as Pham Ngoc Trang, Nguyen Thanh Liem, Huynh Thanh Khiet, Ho Huu Hia, and Le Tai Thuong were given the death penalty on false charges and persecuted. Elsewhere in the country, Cao Dai believers were arrested, and their whereabouts were unknown. Witnessing the tragedy that plagued the Holy Site and other communities, Archbishop Nguyen Van Hieu and other dignitaries were resigned to reconcile with the local Communist authorities. The Cao Dai Church was then administered by a body of dignitaries whose functions were only nominal (Van Chuong, VHRW 1 (September 1991).

Tragic incidents engulfed the Church into the darkness of oblivion. His Excellency Thuong Vinh Thanh Tran Quang Vinh, who was then 80 years-old, was arrested without a notice. He was taken away while he was in his sickbed. He was carried on bearers and shoved into a truck. No one ever knew where he was after that. According to his son, Tran Quang Canh, His Excellency Tran Quang Vinh was executed somewhere in Central Vietnam. His Excellency Thuong Nha Thanh Nguyen Van Nha was arrested on April 30, 1975. He was tortured and detained for 5 years in a reeducation camp. His Excellency Nguyen Tan Manh was arrested on April 30, 1975. The Dignitary was well-known for his devotion to the Church. He had sacrificed himself for religious services and consecrated himself to humanitarian aid. His Excellency Truong Luong Thien was arrested in 1975. He was tortured to death in Chi Hoa Prison, Saigon.

Twenty-five Cao Dai dignitaries were ordered to report and register with the local security police for reeducation. Among them were His Excellency Nguyen Van Hoi, His Excellency Nguyen Van Kiet, His Excellency Thuong Danh Thanh, the Reverend Le Ngoc Khai, the Reverend Thuong Mang Thanh, and the Reverend Ngoc Anh Thanh. To black out the Church's clergy, the Communist authorities dismissed from the Church’s positions the personalities of the Church who had served at the Holy See almost all their lives. The whole legitimate clergy of the Church was dismantled within a short time. The State-created Hoi Dong Chuong Quan came into force in replacement of the body of legitimate leadership.

Dispossession of the Church’s religious, charitable, educational, and cultural institutions, establishments, and facilities followed suit. They confiscated the Church's granary that could feed for a year a thousand followers who came to work free-wage at the Holy See. They burned down the Church's History Department. They destroyed all Church's files and documents. They reviewed and confiscated files and documents at the Secular Affairs Department in the Hiep Thien Dai (the Heavenly Union Palace). Under continual political pressure, His Eminency Conservator Truong Huu Duc, His Eminency Reformer Pham Tan Dai, His Eminency Cardinal Thuong Sang Thanh, and His Excellency General Inspector Dang Cong Khanh suffered humiliation and died one after another.

Having eliminated the Church’s prominent leaders and the religious personnel at the Holy Site, the Communist administration in Tay Ninh created the Hoi Dong Chuong Quan (Supreme Council of Administrators) and infiltrated with their men in the Church's other religious institutions and establishments to seize monopoly of authority. Upon completion, this Communist-installed organization was placed under the direction of the Tay Ninh Fatherland Front whose main seat was located at Long Hoa Stadium, Tay Ninh City. They established the so-called Holy Site Management Teams to administer the Church’s facilities All religious offices, cultural institutions and schools, and social establishments were placed under the management of the local administration. The Church's religious practices were equally subject to change.

Repression persisted. The administration tightened control on the Church's traditional religious life. All forms of repression were used to eradicate the Church’s leadership, regardless of the faithful’ s wrath and anger. To repress all acts of dissidence, Communist agents executed artful tricks, to smuggle arms and ammunitions into Cao Dai communities and planted them in caches near the Holy See they had prepared beforehand. Using them as the evidences, the Communists arrested the suspected dissidents. Prestigious members of the Church were eliminated on charges of subversive activities and brought to stand trial before the People's Court. Among the first Cao Dai who were subject to repression were Hien Trung, Nguyen Duy Minh, Nguyen Van Chiem, Trinh Quoc The, Nguyen Ngoc Huong (female), Engineer Hoa, Le Van An, Nguyen Chi Buu, Nguyen Van Hiep, and some other 50 Cao Dai.

During the second wave of repression, November 1976, the Communist authorities in Tay Ninh arrested the Cao Dai Pham Ngoc Trang and a number of other prominent Cao Dai. The dissidents were brought to stand trial in a People's Court in Tay Ninh Province during July 21-22, 1978. After 19 months in detention, they were convicted on ungrounded charges of waging subversive activities against the "Revolution’ without having the right to defend themselves. A number of other followers suffered the same fate. The following list recognizes their verdicts:

1. Pham Ngoc Trang was given the death penalty; 2. Nguyen Thanh Diem was given the death penalty; 3. Dang Ngoc Lien was given the the death penalty; 4. Nguyen Minh Quan was entenced to to the life imprisonment sentence; 5. Cao Truong Xuan was sentenced to the life imprisonment; 6. Ly Thanh Trong was sentenced to the life imprisonment sentence; 7. Chau Thi My Kim (female) was sentenced to the life imprisonment; 8. Tran Van Bao was sentenced to the 20- year imprisonment; 9. Le Ngoc Minh was sentenced to the 20-year imprisonment; 10. Phan Thanh Phuoc alias Rai was sentenced to the 20-year imprisonment; 11. Nguyen Van Dong was sentenced to the 20-year imprisonment; 12.Nguyen Van Doi was sentenced to the 18-year imprisonment; 13. Nguyen Thanh Minh was sentenced to the 15-year imprisonment; 14. Do Trung Truc was sentenced to the 15-year imprisonment; 15. Tran Van Phi was sentenced to the 15- year imprisonment; 16. Nguyen Tan Phung was sentenced to the 12- year imprisonment; 17. Phuong Van Duoc was sentenced to the 8-year imprisonment; 18. Ngo Van Trang was convicted to the 8 years in prison sentence; and 19. Ta Tai Khoan was sentenced to the 7-year imprisonment.

The trials were presided by Tran Trong Nghia. There were accusations, but the Court could not produce any evidences. There were no lawyers, and neither were there witnesses. The defendants defended themselves. The verdicts on Pham Ngoc Trang and the other victims served as the first step to systematically exterminate the Cao Dai Church’s clerical leadership and humiliate its fervent followers.

The repression on the Cao Dai continued. The focus was shifted to other prominent Cao Dai whom the Communist administration regarded the most dangerous elements to the regime. In a concerted effort, it sought first to exterminate the potential dissidents among the most fervent Cao Dai. Many of them were arrested on ungrounded charges and sent to the reeducation camps. On November 1, 1978, it convoked 31 prestigious personalities and believers of the Church for reeducation. They were to report themselves to the security police at Hoa Thanh District, Tay Ninh Province. Approximately 200 Cao Dai dignitaries and believers were also ordered to report themselves with the local authorities at Ben Keo Temple, Long Yen Hamlet. His Excellency Ngoc Sam Thanh was forced to sign a declaration pledging allegiance to the new political regime.

 

　

　

The "Verdict on Cao Dai Religion"

 

　

On September 20, 1978, the Fatherland Front in Tay Ninh issued an indictment accusing the leaders of the Cao Dai of such crimes as serving as the henchmen for imperialism and the old Republic of Vietnam in South Vietnam. For 50 years, it said, among other things, that "the clique that led the Cao Dai Tay Ninh took advantage of their adherents' blood and property for their purposes. They worked as lackeys for the imperialists in exchange for positions and selfish interests. Therefore, they firmly hold on to all positions in this religion. They had served as intelligence agents for the French and Japanese imperialists, and, particularly, the American imperialists and the reactionary political parties and the intelligence and police of the puppet government. These elements had sought to cough up the interests and positions in the Church to buy and lure the Church’s senior and junior officials into working as intelligence agents for them."

The Reverend Thuong Mang Thanh, in contrast, asserted that "... it’s quite contrary to the truth. The Communist Party itself is the culprit who, from the time of the August uprisings of 1945, have sought by all means to blot out the Church’s existence. Throughout the Vietnam War, in particular, it infiltrated with its agents into the Church, and at the beginning of the Communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, it promoted them to the highest ranks in the Cao Dai Church’s clerical hierarchy to achieve their political schemes.

I myself personally challenged those members of that committee of the Fatherland Front in a meeting. The committee itself had meticulously prepared the so-called "Verdict on Cao Dai." The text was read to several dignitaries and a group of Cao Dai believers in a meeting at Hanh Duong Conference Hall. Their aim was to dishonor our respected and beloved Cao Dai Founding Fathers, obliterate our religious faith, and seize hold of the Cao Dai Holy Site, the Holy Temple, and the Church’s properties.

... That I a vicious slander! The French colonialists arrested His Holiness Pham Cong Tac, a founder of the Cao Dai Church. The Pope had been accused of being an anti-French politician and of using the Cao Dai Church as a shield to usurp the French colonialists. He was given the life imprisonment sentence and exiled to Madagascar. He is without doubt a patriot, but, to Him, preaching Cao Dai Faith is his sole and ultimate goal."

We should remember that, after the coup d'etat on March 9, 1945, the Japanese authorities in Indochina decided to transfer power to Cao Dai political leaders. Committed to their religious creeds, they declined. His Excellency General Tran Quang Vinh, who was then one of the prominent political and military figures, explained to a group of Cao Dai youths in a meeting that their role as patriots had been played, that power should be handed to Emperor Bao Dai, that the Emperor would then choose the ablest politicians to govern the country, and that the people of Vietnam would decide the kind of political regime Vietnam should be. A Cao Dai believer should, first and foremost, perform his duties as a citizen and attend to his faith (Van Chuong, VHRW, 1 (September 1991)."

Concerning the Communist’s false accusations of the Cao Dai dignitaries, the Reverend Le Van Mang stressed:

"The arguments behind these false accusations were arbitrary. The Resistance Movement against the French Expeditionary Corps (1945) in the South was first led by spiritual and patriotic party leaders (September 1945) and not the Viet Minh. The Nationalists of the South had fought against the French invaders long before the Resistance War waged by the Viet Minh (December 1946) in the North. The Viet Minh' s political and military forces in the South at that time were virtually insignificant. The combined political and military forces under the command of the religious and patriotic leaders, by contrast, were imminently strong. There had already been three divisions of militiamen. Divisions I and II, mostly composed of the believers of Hoa Hao Buddhism and Caodaism, was under the joint command of the military leadership of Hoa Hao Buddhism and Cao Dai. Division III, consisting of compatriots from all social strata, was under the command of General Nguyen Hoa Hiep, a Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnam National Party) leader in the South. Apprehensive of the political and military forces that would abort their monopoly of power and that eventually annihilate them, the Viet Minh Headquarters in Hanoi sent Tran Van Giau, a politics commissioner, and Nguyen Binh, a military commissioner, to the South preached national union. At the Cao Dai Headquarters of Militiamen, Tran and Nguyen vowed to promote concord and solidarity. They were finally successful in convincing the Nationalist spiritual and political party leaders to dissolve their military forces and place them under the command of the Viet Minh. Militiamen were to go back to their provinces and join the Viet Minh resistance units in the local areas. Only two military detachments were retained.

General Tran Quang Vinh of Cao Dai resigned from his position. The command of the two military detachments was passed down to His Excellency Nguyen Van Chu. On his way back to the Holy Site, General Tran Quang Vinh was arrested at Cho Dem, Long An Province, on the order of Huynh Van Tien, the then-Director of Police in the South. The General was abducted to the Viet Minh Headquarters of the Resistance in Dong Thap and then to their guerrilla zone in Ca Mau where he was to be persecuted. By sheer luck, the general was saved there by Nguyen Van No, an old militiaman who had served the national cause under his command, and who was at that moment a lead-serviceman of the Viet Minh local resistance unit.

Other prominent spiritual and patriotic political party leaders, among them were His Holiness Huynh Phu So, the Founding Father of Hoa Hao Buddhism, and patriotic revolutionary leaders such as the Honorable Huynh Van Nga, the party leader of the Party for National Independence and His Excellency Nguyen Van Sam, the Viceroy in the South of the Imperial Court of Hue, were also abducted to unknown whereabouts by the Viet Minh cadres. They applied the same tricks as the French colonialists had to achieve their vile scheme. The Communists were the first to lay hands on the national leaders, exterminate spiritual leaders of the religions, and execute political leaders of national patriots (Van Chuong. VNHRW 1 (September, 1991)."

Persecution took place again and again. During December 8-9, 1979, the Ho Chi Minh People's Court brought to trial several dozens of prominent Cao Dai. These devout believers were charged with crimes of subversive activities. They ere given the death penalty or long-term imprisonment. The following list recognizes their names and sentences:

1. Nguyen Van Manh was given the death penalty on December 8,1979; 2. Le Van Nho was given the death penalty on December 8, 1979; 3. Pham Ba Hung was given the death sentence on December 8, 1979; 4. Tran Minh Quang was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 5. Dinh Tien Mau was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 6. Nguyen Thai Dung was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 7. Doan Van Bach was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 8. Nguyen Thanh Liem was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 9. Huynh Thanh Khiet was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 10. Ho Huu Hia was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 11. Le Tai Thuong was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 12. Nguyen Anh Dung alias Phan Dang Chuc was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979; 13. Truong Phuoc Duc was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979; 14. Nguyen Ngoc De was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979; and 15. Vo Van Thang was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979 and died in prison.

Altogether, the Tay Ninh authorities arrested as many as 1,291 Cao Dai, sent more than 1000 Cao Dai to the reeducation camps, and executed 39 Cao Dai, from 1975 to 1983. The Cao Dai Church was eliminated as an independent social political force (Porter Gareth, Ibid. 1993: 183).

The persecution ever persisted throughout the country. In a trial in Da Nang, Central Vietnam, the People's Court sentenced to death two senior members of the Cao Dai Boy Scouts Association, Tran Ngoc Thanh and Nguyen Van Bay, on false grounds of "subversive activities against the "Revolution." On August 1, 1985, Ho Thai Bach, the eldest son of His Eminency Ho Tan Khoa, was executed in Saigon on charges of waging a people's war against the Communist regime. Ho Thai Bach was a Cao Dai follower of virtue and prestige. He was the president of the Cao Dai Boy Scouts Association. Surely, his death had links with the local Communist authorities' false accusations against his father. In 1988, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court accused, on unfounded charges, Professor Nguyen Manh Bao of "subversive activities intending to overthrow the administration of the Revolution." He was given the death sentence. The penalty was later commuted to the life imprisonment. He was then reportedly imprisoned in a reeducation camp in Xuan Loc District, Long Khanh Province (Van Chuong. VHRW 1 (September, 1991).

THE PERSECUTION

 

　

　

Hardly had the first campaign to dislodge the comprador bourgeoisie from the economy ended, the persecution against religious dignitaries began. On November 11, 1975, only six months after the Communists took control of South Vietnam, the Venerable Thich Tue Hien and eleven monks and nuns of Duoc Su Pagoda in Can Tho Province immolated themselves by fire in protest of the government's repressive measures against their religious practices. The Catholic Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan of the Saigon prelacy was taken into custody. The Hoa Hao Buddhist dignitary Luong Trong Tuong and his wife were imprisoned. Fourteen Catholic priests and followers at the St. Vincent Cathedral on Tran Quoc Toan Street, Saigon, were arrested on charges of counterrevolutionary activities. The Reverend Nguyen Huu Nghi and two former officers of the Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Duc Hung and Nguyen Viet Hung, were given the death sentence without a trial. Sporadic search-and-destroy operations against religious "reactionary elements" were carried out throughout the country. The repression lasted until the Statr dispossession of the monastery and its dependent premises of the Order of Motherb Coredemptrix in Thu Duc in 1987.

Beginning in 1985, Hanoi entered the first phase of "advancing towards socialism" and "establishing the People’s democracy" in South Vietnam. It pushed forward the "policy of northernization" of the South, incorporating all the remaining industry and trade establishments of the private sectors into the State industry and trade unions, companies, and cooperatives. The legitimate Cao Dai Church, pure Hoa Hao Buddhism, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and the Churches of Evangelical Christianity were subject to dissolution, and the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam underwent revision. To implement this new State policy, the People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City put forth a comprehensive socialist transition of the South. Third Precinct, the city’s most populous most prosperous urban area, served as a pilot test. In the domain of religion, it selected the suburban Thu Duc district where grass roots Roman Catholic parishes, religious and educational establishments, and monasteries were located to serve this purpose. Similar plans were executed in other cities and the provinces throughout the South. Some 200 security specialists who had been trained in the "religions discipline" in Czechoslovakia were assigned to key positions to perform the task in various regions in the South. Their efforts particularly focused on neutralizing all religious organizations’ activities. Temples, pagodas, churches, houses of worship, abbeys, monasteries, and nunneries were all placed under inspection. Priests, monks, seminarians, student priests, and novices were advised to return home or to get married.

Religious oppression and repression became increasingly rude with the arrest of the Catholic priests and the confiscation of the abbey of the Order of Mother Coreedemptrix in Thu Duc in 1987. Other religions suffered persecution. The Cao Dai Church and Hoa Hao Buddhism, the two indigenous religions in the country, which posed serious political problems to the Communist regime, were also under constant threat. Instead of creating favorable conditions for reconciliation, the Communist State decided to denote their legal status, dismantle the leadership, dissolve the organizations, and stepped up repression against opposition and resistance. Devoid of conditions to exist, not only Caodaism and Hoa Hao Buddhism but also the legitimate the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam suffered a tragedy. They were no longer recognized the established social and cultural institutions, but became certain forms of association. They were stripped off their right to exist as religions. They could only operate under State supervision. As a consequence, the propagation of all faiths was limited to the worship place, disallowing the followers’ access to it and placing the clergy that served it under constant surveillance.

Hoa Hao Buddhism, notably, faced utmost difficulties. The Church’s central organization was entirely dismantled, from the national to provincial and local levels. All high dignitaries of the national Hoa Hao Managing Board were arrested. The venerable Luong Trong Tuong and other top Hoa Hao leaders were banished to the reeducation camp. Village Management Boards were allowed to remain in existence only after screening scrutiny for political backgrounds. Only pro-Communist elements, cadres, or agents could stay. Party officials in Dong Thap Province disclosed that the Vietnamese Communist Party had planted its agents within the Church’s organization and operated in hiding within the local Hoa Hao congregations for many years before the Communist takeover of South Vietnam.. Many of them had even assumed higher functions in the Church’s boards of administration before the fall of the Republic of South Vietnam.

To restructure the organization of the Church at the base, the local authorities dissolved the old Hoa Hao Executive Boards, dismissing their chiefs and board members from office as they were all considered the reactionaries --"the blood debtors to the People." They were brought before crime revelation rallies organized by the local officials. They were charged with crimes of treason. Many of them were abducted to unknown whereabouts; others were deported to the reeducation camps or prisons. The legitimate Hoa Hao Church was finally outlawed. Pure Hoa Hao Buddhists were disallowed to visit the To Dinh (Hoa Hao Ancestral Temple), other worship places, and preaching halls. The To Dinh was strictly limited to the State-affiliated members only. (Porter Gareth, 1993:183)

THE OPPRESSION

 

 

The elimination of the bourgeoisie after April 1975 brought with it the repression of religions. Being attributed to as hostile elements to the political regime, the Churches were targeted with suspicion and hatred. Religious practices were regarded superstitious. All religions that operated legally and that were nationally recognized by the former Republic of Vietnam were subject to revision. The clergy were placed under State surveillance. Charitable, educational, and cultural establishments were dispossessed. Many of them were brought down for unfounded reasons. Their legitimacy as Church of Cao Dai and Hoa Hao was subject to question. The capacity as clergy of religious faith of priests and monks was disregarded. Local authorities sent home nuns, novices, seminarians, and student priests for "socialist" production.

Approximately 600 military chaplains including Catholic priests, Buddhist monks, and pastors serving the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam were to report with the Military Councils and sent to reeducation. Others were abducted to unknown whereabouts. Still, others were arrested, tortured, and imprisoned on ungrounded charges of counterrevolutionary activities As a consequence of such a Maoist-style repression, all Churches suffered tragic losses. Their human resources wore out due to attrition, their material resources were doomed to exhaustion, and their very religious structures were dismantled. Worse still, their leaders at the highest level were decimated. The Churches faced utmost destruction as they entered a phase of resistance for survival.

 

　

Ideological Premises and the Practices

As soon as it took over the power, the new political regime found itself in face of a society that was abysmally dissimilar in every aspect from the one in the North. In the years that immediately followed 1975, theoreticians and historians of the Party and State, in the light of Maoism, devoted themselves to sophisticated studies of and inquiries into the social, economic, political, and cultural situations of the South. Their conclusions led to a systematic "socialist transformation" based on the examination, evaluation, and delineation of all forms of production of the economy and all social, political, cultural, and religious institutions of the South. Accordingly, the regime carried out the so-called the "Revolution of People’s Democracy," appropriating all the properties of the bourgeoisie, landlords, and religions and transferred their legal ownership to the working class of workers and peasants following the laws and rules of class struggle.

Again, Do Muoi was nominated the Chief of the Trade and Industry Reforms Bureau to execute the plans of "northernization" of the South. In a coordinated effort, this organ set up priorities, liquidating one by one the counter- revolutionary elements, the comprador bourgeoisie, and the religions which it considered the hostile elements to the regime. By means of this s nationalization of private resources, it gradually eradicated the supra- and infra- structure with all their deep-seated political, social, economic, cultural, and religious institutions and values. As in any activity in other sectors of the social life of society, the function of religion was to be redefined. To achieve this purpose, the Communist rule decreed a new law providing the rules and regulations to place the religions under State control.

     

　

The Resolution 297/CP on Religions

 

On November 11, 1977, the Communist rule promulgated Resolution 297/ C P, instituting rules and regulations required of the religions to fulfill their obligations to the State. The law opens with a preamble that chants religious freedom. Inversely, the provisions that follow it prohibit and restrict religious freedom. It specifies that any one who takes advantage of religion to violate the independence of the Fatherland, to counteract against the socialist system, to decimate the solidarity of the people, to obstruct the religious followers from fulfilling their obligation of citizen, and to resist carrying out the policy and the law of the State will be punished by the law. The corollary of this politically tainted resolution thus gives itself its legal validity.

The resolution also postulates such obligations as "priests of any religion have to mobilize the followers to carry out the State's policy. They are required to obtain permission from the authority prior to any religious performance." Section 2B of this law vests the administration with more judiciary authority, to appropriate and to administer the churches, pagodas, temples, and other religious facilities for the administration's purposes. In principle, this enforcement of the law is only applied to abandoned worship places, the worship places where there are no guardians or resident priests, and the worship places that the followers no longer frequent to pay respect to, Buddha, saints, and geniuses.

Furthermore, the authorities, in any case, have full authority as vested by the law to adjust the regulations, and if they wish, to enforce the law to close down any church, pagoda, orphanage, school, and other religious institutions for some presumable purposes After April 30, 1975, these regulations were applied to all religions throughout South Vietnam. In all, the resolution prohibits without distinction the performances of religious services and the practices of superstitions. This resolution can also be a measure with which the administration uses to suppress the practices of certain traditional popular worships performances by adepts of Taoism and sorcery practitioners. Almost all of these prohibitions are reprised in the Decree on Religions 89 HDBT of March 21, 1991 (Hoang Xuan Hao. Vi Pham Nhan Quyen. Manuscript, 1993: 21).

In 1985, facing the failures in the economy due to financial foreign aids cuts by Communist European countries, Hanoi looked to Western democracies for economic investments and aids. To woo world religious and political leaders, it loosened its grip on the Churches, allowing a few religious institutes and seminaries to reopen to admit students to the priesthood. On the other hand, it furtively tightened control on them lest they would demand for more freedom. Exercising its monopoly of power, Hanoi nominated Buddhist monks and Catholic priests from State-affiliated associations to higher ranks and placed them in key positions in the clerical hierarchy while eliminating from the hierarchy those priests and monks it thought to be dangerous to its power. To consolidate its power within the Roman Catholic ecclesiastic hierarchy in Saigon, for example, it nominated Huynh Cong Minh of the state-affiliated Association for Patriotic Catholics the director of Saigon Seminary. It dismissed, at the same time, the veteran professors at this institution and replaced them with the priests from this State-run association. In their scheme, the Communists expected these docile priests one day would become high dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. Although they dominated the Catholic Church with strict measures as such, the Communists still feared that the seminarians, including those who were trained in the Marxist-Leninist discipline, might not become the .adherents to communism since other factors might affect their thinking and ways of life. The religious faith and ideals, even if distorted in one way or another, would ever create a factor.

THE RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AFTER THE FALL OF SOUTH VIETNAM (1975-1986)

　

　

THE RELIGIOUS POLICY

Overview

　

All through the Vietnam War (1960-1975), the Communists manipulated the religion instrumentally in the war against the "My-Nguy" (Americans and their lackeys). Such organizations as the Cao Dai Tien Thien (Worship of Supreme Cao Dai), Hoi Hoa Hao Yeu Nuoc (Association of Patriotic Hoa Hao), Uy Ban Lien Lac Phat Giao Yeu Nuoc (Liaison Committees of Patriotic Buddhists), Uy Ban Lien Lac Nhung Nguoi Kinh Chua Yeu Nuoc (Liaison Committees of People who Adore God and Love the Country), and so on were created to serve this purpose. The Communist Party planted its members in these organizations to hold key positions. Religious nonparty members were used instrumentally to serve as clothes to attire the sympathy of the faithful of diverse religions and get support from them.

Upon seizing power in the South, to destroy the infrastructure of the old society, the Communist administration called for the appropriation of properties of the bourgeoisie, landlords, and religions which it considered the allies to feudalism and imperialism and then, transferred their legal ownership to the working class and peasantry. They called this process the "Revolution of the People's Democracy." All religions resisted with firm determination the arbitrary dispossession of properties of the Party and State yielded signs of impotence. The religions, on the other side, resolutely maintained independence from the State, resisting devious manipulation of its policy. They became the primary target of punishment of the regime. It executed even with violence harsh measure, prohibitions and restrictions against all religious practices and activities. It then conditioned them to submission under State control and dissolved several of them It carried out plans to eliminate the two legitimate Cao Dai Church and Hoa Hao Buddhist Church. During the period of 1954-1975, under the mask of liberation of South Vietnam, the Communists appealed to the people of the South for support. They believed that it was then an ill time to eliminate  these indigenous faiths. After the takeover of the administration of the South, they found no need for their support, they dissolved these two hostile Churches outright. Other Churches and religious organizations suffered division, disintegration, or gradual dissolution. Religious, social, educational, charitable, and cultural establishments of all Churches were dispossessed, religious orders and associations were outlawed, and religious and practices and activities were subject to restrictions and prohibitions.

The Measures

　

Tran Van Tri, the former secretary-general of the Vietnam Interfaith Council, presented from his experience how the Communist regime executed its hostile religious policy towards the Churches in the South following April 30, 1975:

"After the takeover of Saigon, the Communist administration executed strict discipline security measures to manage the religions in the newly- liberated South Vietnam. First, it organized indoctrination courses for the security police and cadres in the administration, preparing ground for the operations of dislodging reactionary elements. The General Directorate for Religions had full authority in the instruction and direction of the administration personnel for this purpose including the Saigon Directorate of Public Security, coded A16, and the province security directorates, coded Bureaus B16 or Sections 16.

To conclude his lecture on the political situation in the South, The Vice General-Director of A16, instructed his cadres and agents how to execute plans and stratagems. Repress any opposition from the Churches and be ready to destroy reactionary elements quickly and cleanly. "We punish them mercilessly at their very base and sent them to reeducation. Their political organizations are virtually disbanded in their entirety. Therefore, our crucial task in the days ahead is to concentrate our efforts on attacking the religions. They are the backbone on which reactionary elements --the supporters of the old regime --will lean to actuate opposition since they still have popular support, inside the country and abroad as well. The methods need to be persistent and systematic. They include such major measures as: 1. Close all abbeys, seminaries, and institutes for religions; 2. Nationalize all cultural, educational, social establishments, health centers, and, especially, the financial agencies belonging to all Churches; 3. Confiscate all printed materials of religious and cultural matters. Prohibit the printing of materials of religious matter and the propagation of religion and dissemination of materials of religious matter; 4. Control, with strict measures, all religious activities of the spiritual leaders, officials, and the masses at all levels; 5. Stop all religious activities, dissolve all religious associations and incorporate them into other popular Communist organizations; 6. Punish, without mercy, all reactionary elements who disguised themselves as priests whose intent is to subvert the Revolution (Vietnamese Communists); 7. Support all organizations operating within the religions whose activities are beneficial to the Revolution; and , 8. Develop internal conflicts within a religion and among the religions and manage them to destroy themselves."

Tran Quyet, the General Director of the A16, who later became the Vice-Minister of the Ministry for the Interior (1976), further explained the administration’s hidden scheme more explicitly. "Those directives are only guidelines as regards the policy of religions of our [Vietnamese Communists] Party. Our comrades must be aware of the fact that religions are like the opium that decoys and poisons the people. They are the enemies to the proletariat. We have to eradicate them with persistence, restricting their activities, stopping heir expansion, and immersing them into self-destruction according to the law of selection of socialism"

The cadres and security agents were instructed to execute plans and methods of application with such stratagems as:

I. Close down the abbeys, seminaries, and institutes of the religion. All members of the leadership of the religion will pass away, one after another, within 30 or 50 years or so. This situation will eventually lead to a shortage of priests, then a crisis of leadership, and eventually the extinction of the religion;

2. This measure is executed in accordance with the three following measures: a) All schools, hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages, printing houses, and business enterprise that lend support to the operation of the Churches are to be automatically confiscated. The axiom is: ‘Only the State is empowered with the rights to administer the religion’s institutions of education, health, social welfare, and financial establishments. The religions are all private organizations; therefore, they are not entitled to these rights.’ b) The second measure is to create pressure on the Churches. Since the State has not yet the current laws to confiscate religious establishments, pressure must be applied on the leaders of the Churches, coercing them to offer their properties to the State. The Institute for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith on Tran Quoc Toan Street in Tenth Precinct, in Saigon; the offices of the Lasalle Taberd Order; the St. Joseph Seminary; and the White House, which was not a school, for example, were to be offered to the State under pressure.; and. The third measure is to execute the laws of the jungle. The Communists secretly planted firearms in a cache inside a religious establishment and charged the religious leader in residence with crimes of subversion to the State confiscate it. The confiscation of the Roman Catholic Alfonso Institute of the Redemptorists Order is an example. They created a quarrel at the church, stirring disorder, and accusing the religious leader in residence of creating subversive activities to dispossess it. Those religious establishments of the Cao Dai Church in Tay Ninh Province and of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Temple in Chau Doc Province, and the properties of the Evangelical Church in Saigon were confiscated with similar vile tricks;

3. To dispossess all religious materials and literature. The Communists closed all Churches' libraries after they had appropriated all printed materials --newspapers and magazines, documents, and religious teaching materials. Small quantities of books, magazines, and documents that religious leaders had secured for personal use were also dispossessed. State-affiliated religious organizations later used them at wiil at their State-owned libraries. In this way, when the Church’s clergy wish to decry a certain State-affiliated religious organization, they will no longer have access to necessary documents with which they reverse the evil contentions of lackey churchmen. For instance, the Communists resorted to trickery to calumniate the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam, assailing it with misleading arguments to distort the cause for the Canonization for Martyrs (1987-1988). They nevertheless failed to achieve their purpose. Much to their surprise, the Communists and the State-affiliated priests did not know how the Church's priests and faithful could have saved the necessary documents with which they countered the Communists' calumny and aborted their lackeys' deranging activities;

4. Execute strict measures of management on the religions. In particular, during the 1975-85 decade, religious leaders were subject to rigorous control. Movement outside the church, pagoda, or temple of priests, monks, and dignitaries was required by permission from the authorities. They were often called to work with the police at their headquarters. Catholic dignitaries and priests in the dioceses of Hue, Da Nang, Ban Me Thuot, Vinh Long, Xuan Loc, Phan Thiet, and Kontum. Buddhist monks and nuns, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao dignitaries, pastors of Evangelical Churches, and religious leaders of the B'ahai throughout the South were alt their targets. Many were placed under strict administrative management. From 1986 on, the Communists appeared less conspicuous in their conduct of public service. They nevertheless planted their secret agents within the leadership of each religion in the local area to follow the religious leader more closely, spying on his religious daily services and activities;

5. To disintegrate religious organizations and associations. Throughout the country, religious associations were all forbidden to operate. In the beginning years of the 1990’s, upon the State abrogation of the legitimate status of religious organizations and associations, local authorities loosened grip in some respects on religious activities of State-affiliated religious associations. Many of them attempted to rekindle their activities. However, religious association that operated without State permission were still regarded as illegal, and local authorities sought to stifle their activities were stifled in the bud. Moreover, these Communists can easily reverse their decisions any time. They may arrest and detain the associates with these organizations depending on their whims and wishes. As regards the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam, the Salvation Army, the Legio Mary, and the Pax Romana are among those associations the Communists have itemized on the black list. They are attributed to as the armies that recruit volunteered soldiers to counter the Revolution (!). As for the Catholic intellectuals, they distrust them as they are regarded the intelligence agents for the foreigners (!)

6. To destroy the clergy of all religions. During the first years of the takeover of South Vietnam, if the Communists wanted to expropriate a church, a preaching hall, or a temple, they only needed to execute an administrative order to appropriate the establishment and expel the priest, monk, or dignitary in residence. The victim was charged with an ungrounded political crime --a reactionary who is intent on overthrowing the "Revolution" --the Communist regime. They then confiscated the establishment and sent the religious to reeducation. Unlawful incidents of expropriation of religious establishments expanded and electrified shocks in the population. In 1978, being apprehensive that the Catholic Alexandre de Rhodes Center (at 161 Yen Do Street, Saigon) would attract a large number of Catholic youths and organize religious activities and events, the Communists frightened and closed it down. They charged the Catholic priests of the Dong Dong Cong (Order of Mary Co-redemptrix) residing at the Center with being the accomplices to a fictitious anti-revolutionary plot the instigators of which were Nguyen Van Hien and his group. They then arrested the priests in residence and confiscated the center, which is now the headquarters of the daily Tuoi Tre (The Youth). As regards Buddhism, being hostile to the straightforward statements on the Communist despotic regime by the Monks Thich Tue Sy (Pham Van Thuong) and Thich Tri Sieu (Le Manh That), the Communists framed up the so-called the "Gia Lam Plot." They arrested the two monks on April 1, 1984. Worse still, they harassed the Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu into depression, intermittently convoking him to their headquarters to "work with" the cadres and tormenting him into a gradual death. The Order of Mary Co-Redemptrix incident during May 19-20, 1986 is another example. On the pretext of inspecting the Order’s facilities for suspected anti-revolutionary activities, the Communists confiscated the Order's main monastery in Thu Duc District. The monastery with large premises, which possession they had long craved for but failed to take by force due to resilient resistance of the Most Reverend Tran Dinh Thu, the Superior priest of the Order. The confiscation of the chapels and houses of worship of the Evangelical Churches began with the expropriation of the chapel on Tran Cao Van Street in First Precinct, Saigon. The incident took place on the Christmas Eve of 1986. It was instigated with the similar pretext;

7. To create State-affiliated religious organization to replace the traditional legitimate ones. Only state-run organizations such as the Association of Patriotic Buddhists and the Association of Solidarity for Catholics are accorded the privilege to disseminate newspapers and magazines, publish printing materials, and establish contacts with the foreigners or foreign humanitarian organizations coming to Vietnam to assess information on religion. In the years following the takeover of South Vietnam, other state-sponsored agencies operated in this category were the monthly magazines Cong Giao va Dan Toc (Catholicism and the Nation and The People. They were directed by the state-affiliated Catholic priests. Among them were Phan Khac Tu and Truong Ba Can, a Communist whose real name is Tran Ba Cuong. The weekly magazine Giac Ngo (Coming to Reason) and the magazine Nguoi Yeu Nuoc (The Patriot) stationed on Phan Dinh Phung Street were also run by a group of state-affiliated Buddhists;

8. To act out the division within a religion and among the religions. Their stratagem was "to use religion to destroy religion.' This is the most malicious trick the Communists have executed to eradicate the religions. The legitimate Hoa Hao Buddhism was outlawed and a State-affiliated Hoa Hao Church was created to vie for the leadership. Similarly, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was outlawed, and the State-affiliated Buddhist Church of Vietnam came into being. At the Tay Ninh Holy See, a Supreme Council of Administration was created in replacement of the Church’s legitimate leadership. Concerning the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam, the Communists commanded the state-affiliated Catholic "Gang of Four" (Phan Khac) Tu, (Truong Ba) Can, (Thien) Cam, and (Vuong Dinh) Bich for this purpose. These "gangsters" used the magazine "Catholicism and "The Nation" for the service of the Communist Party. They themselves aggressively attacking the Church’s dignitaries during the year 1987-1988 when the preparations for the Canonization for the Vietnamese Martyrs were under way in Rome. Above all, with vile trick and dupe, the Communists sowed division between and among the faithful of the Churches. After the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang' s letter of protest against the Communist authorities had circulated in the population, the Communist administration and their secret agencies operating abroad sought to complicate the relationship between the Buddhist Church and the Roman Catholic Church, outlawing the former while granting the former favors, sowing doubts, creating quarrels among the faithful of these two faiths; and

9. Tighten control on the religious of prestige. The Communists undeniably use any means possible to annihilate the religions. The Gia Lam incident of April 1984 reveals this artful scheme. They arbitrarily arrested the venerable monks residing in Gia Lam Pagoda’ among whom were the two editors of the weekly magazine Giac Ngo (Coming to Reason), on charges of "doing silly things." They even mounted repression on resilient monks of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in Hue. Facing strong protests with self-immolation by fire of the Buddhists in Central Vietnam, the Communists tightened control on the Unified Buddhist Church pagodas in many cities and provinces. They arrested Monk Thich Tri Tuu, the guardian monk at Linh Mu Pagoda, after the May 1993 incident in Hue. At the same time, they tried to please the Catholics by freeing the Most Reverend Tran Dinh Thu of the Order of Mary Co-redemptrix from prison and free the Catholic priest Chan Tin and the Catholic writer Nguyen Ngoc Lan from house detention." (Tran Van Tri. Sach Luoc Tieu Diet Ton Giao. Hiep Nhat 7 (July 1993:40-43).