The Nomination

As regards the hierarchical rank of “hoa thuong’ with respect to Buddhism or cardinal and bishop with respect to Catholicism and corresponding ranks in other religions, approval for promotion of the Council of Ministers is necessary (Article 18). Priests or religious devotees, ordained or nominated by overseas religious organizations all have to be granted approval  by the Council of Ministers.  The Roman Catholic Church, in particular, ever met difficulties in the domain of  nomination.  Nomination of high dignitaries to the prelacy by the Vatican was thus complicated by decisions  and law orders, creating  a serious  problem to  ten Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam.

 The Reverend Chan Tin voiced dissent in an interview with the Radio VNCR, January 28, 1998, contending that the Communist State infringed on the rights as citizen of the Vietnamese Catholics and committed serious religious violations against the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. The State imposed restrictions with rules and restrictions regulating on the religious life and intervened in the Church’s internal affairs. It negated the Vatican’s nomination of Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan to be Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon Diocese. Worse still, it eliminated the bishop from the Saigon prelacy. The dignitary was charged with false crimes for treason -a - blood debtor to the people. He was arrested and  imprisoned without a trial for 13 years. in prison. Such an hostile act to a high dignitary of the Church not only constituted  offense against the constitutional law but also a violation on the right to religious worship  and an infringement of religious freedom .

     

The Difficulties

After April 1975, the Episcopal leadership was in crisis.  Highest dignitaries in the South were either arrested and imprisoned or placed under residence.  In the North, the body of bishops thinned out after decades of  persecution. In 1980, the year of the establishment of the Episcopal Conference, there were thirty-one bishops for forty-two dioceses. Many bishops were  very old. Only two coadjutor bishops were nominated, four dioceses had no titular bishops, and many Episcopal sieges were vacant. The siege at Phu Cuong, Bui Chu Diocese, had been vacant since February 1995. No bishop had been nominated for Hung Hoa Diocese to replace Bishop Nguyen Phung Hieu who had passed away.

In the South, the diocese of Saigon had been without a titular bishop for a long time. The apostolic administrator Bishop Huynh Van Nghi of the Phan Thiet diocese could not fulfill his functions in an official manner. The civil authorities had not recognized his nomination by the Vatican.  It was not until March 9, 1988, five years of delaying of the approval of the State that Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man could be nominated archbishop of Saigon. The nomination had strained the efforts to normalize the Church ' s religious life, causing discord between the Vatican  and the Communist administration. Tension, in fact, began after the fall of South Vietnam with the negation of the Vatican nomination of Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan to the post of coadjutor archbishop of Saigo Diocesen. It was flatly denied by the civil authorities who not only sent the nominee out of the city but also inflicted on him 13 years in prison and house arrest. For the diocese of Hue where the Episcopal siege was also vacant, the situation was not much less complicated since the apostolic administrator, Bishop Nguyen Nhu The, who was recognized as titular prelate by the civil authorities, could only perform his duties under watch, however.

Elsewhere in the country, the situation remained entangled in difficulties. At the Episcopal ordination of the coadjutor bishop in Nha Trang, Cardinal Pham Dinh Tung, the Archbishop of Hanoi, maintained that amid the renovation of the country the urgent need for rejuvenation of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam as well as the upgrading the standard of competence of the episcopate, the clergy, and laity are still a must. The Vietnamese society is undergoing a radical transformation, and the Church can only respond to it by renovating and rejuvenating itself. “It is now the time the Church of Vietnam should be suitably equipped with a new contingent of bishops capable of assuming their role to meet the challenges  in the coming millennium.” He also hoped  for “the advent of a competent, generous, clear-sighted, and united clergy to work in collaboration with a laity that is well-formed and firm in faith”  The appeal of the cardinal was possibly addressed in part to the  authorities. The Episcopal nomination in Vietnam, in any case, must necessarily be approved on good will  by the civil authorities. The call fell to the deaf ears however. The delays of nomination for the two new coadjutor bishops, the prospective  bishop Nguyen Thich for Ban Me Thuot Diocese, andthe prospective bishop Nguyen Van Nho for Nha Trang Diocese, were the cases in evidence. 

Sources reported that since the nomination of Msgr. Pham Dinh Tung to be the head of the Hanoi prelacy, the relations between the civil authorities and the ecclesiastic members in the Saigon diocese became much more uneasy than it had been. Likewise, the nomination of Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi to the apostolic administrator of the Saigon prelacy presented a typically thorny problem,  causing severe damage to the relations between the State and  Church. In September 1993, the State showed its open opposition to the Vatican's nomination of an apostolic administrator for the Saigon prelacy. It openly downgraded the prestige of the clergy of Saigon that unanimously supported the Vatican's nomination and, mostly, that of the bishop concerned, Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi, who was performing with caution  his functions of Coadjutor Administrator instituted by the Vatican. Additionally, it seemed to ignore the demands of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam. In fact, in a petition sent to the prime minister, the Episcopal Conference had reminded the “the government of "the rights to freedoms which the Church deserves to exercise and which are ignored by the government."  The Ho Chi Minh City People's Council had even shown its disapproval to the proposal of the Vatican. The negotiations between the city authorities and the Saigon prelacy became increasingly worsened. The apostolic administrator was obstructed from performing his functions. The apostolic authorities at the Vatican might have plighted to restore Msgr. Nguyen Van Binh, whose health had been ameliorated, to his old position. A proposal announced in April 1994 presaged the nomination of  Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi to be Bishop Coadjutor of Apostolic Administrator of the Saigon diocese. His nomination, which took place on August 11, 1993, seemed to have caused dissatisfaction among the civil authorities of the city. The reaction was revealed in the City authorities’ hostile attitude. which was sonorously reflected in the letter of communion of September 15, 1993, in which the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City categorically disapproved the nomination of the Vatican.  (Eglise d'Asie, October 1, 19994).   

    

Bishop Huynh Van Nghi, the apostolic administrator of the Saigon diocese, who had been nominated to the post by the Vatican since August 1993, was obstinately denied approval by the authorities. As a result, on September 6, 1997,  he could not preside over the sacerdotal ordination of 7 priests that took place in the church of ND on Ky Dong Street, Saigon. The police warned him that his participation in the celebration or even his presence at the event would cause its immediate intervention. On October 7, 1993, he planned to organize an ordination for a group of 11 priests in Saigon. The civil authorities, again, denied the authorization to perform the services, arguing that the bishop, who had been not recognized by the State as coadjutor administrator of the Saigon diocese, would not be allowed to preside over the ceremony.  

In addition, the government still held the decision to appoint Bishop Huynh Van Nghi to the Saigon prelacy to replace the ailing Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh. A Catholic priest who asked anonyrmity said that the Party voluntarily troubled itself with  the ”religion of the Lord in Heaven.” The nomination of Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi to be Bishop Coadjutor at Saigon Diocese of the Vatican was not the sole object of disapproval. Tension grew as the authorities had already put the blame on the conduct of affairs of Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi, who, in their eyes, did not qualify for the post. Premier Vo Van Kiet  in his remarks confirmed this during an interview with the monthly magazine Cong Giao va Dan Toc (Catholicism and the Nation) on February 27, 1994. This was the reason for which  the civil  authorities of the city disapproved of Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi's conduct of affairs at the archdiocese.

   

 Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi, in an interview with a correspondent of the journal “La Croix en Asie et du Sud Est,” explained that there was  a reason behind the conflict between him and the civil authorities. This resulted from  the difficulties in his conduct of religious affairs with the authorities of the city of Saigon. The prelate particularly complicated the matter, relying on the blame the administration had mounted on him . He was accused of  trying to exclude "the Committee for Solidarity of Catholics" from the Saigon prelacy. The accusation was unfounded since the bishop only committed himself to the Church’s services.  He had been nevertheless obstructed from performing his duties in the diocese of which he had been in charge and where he had been officially nominated to perform his services. His duty was to obey once he had been nominated to the posit.

In its issue of October 1994, the bulletin of information of the Vietnamese Communist Party published a report on the political situation in the country. Among other issues, it stressed the intricate situation that entangled the relationship between Hanoi and the Vatican, imputing the blame to the Holy See for complicating the matter in the nomination to the highest prelate of Saigon Diocese. “The Vatican has striven to install Bishop Huynh Van Nghi in replacement of Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh and continues to obstruct priests and bishops from participating in political activities.” The allegation was an allusion to the letter of Cardinal Sodano to the president of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to help bring under protection the Vietnamese priests against political attempts of the Committee Of Union of Patriotic Catholics or political organs of similar type.

The deplorable situation of human rights in Vietnam became the center of attention of rights organizations worldwide. Australia, in particular, showed particular concern. A parliamentary delegation made a visit tour to Vietnam after the visit of Vietnam Foreign Affairs Minister Nguyen Manh Cam to Australia in February 1995. The delegation led by the Honorable Gareth Evans came to Vietnam to inquest the situation, which action had been accepted in principle by Vietnam Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet during his visit to Australia in May 1993. The Honorable Gareth Evans in an interview on the radio on February 7, 1995, declared that whereas the economic reforms inspired confidence and were even attractive abroad, a long way remained to go in matters of respect for political and civil rights.

The issue of religious freedom remained the subject of hostility. Vu Quang, Director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs, did not hide his uneasiness on the first day of meeting of the Conference of Catholic Bishops during September 5-12, 1994 after its Standing Committee had presented programs of activities. The presentation of the Conference was part of the proposal that the bishops had addressed to the government in 1993. It was a three-point proposal, including such matters as confirming the nomination of Msgr. Nguyen Van Thuan, who was then in Rome, restoring the position of Msgr. Nguyen Van Binh to his functions as Principal Bishop of the Saigon diocese, and nominating the Bishop of Phan Thiet to be Bishop Coadjutor at the Saigon prelacy. An agreement seemed to be far from taking shape. However, the government and the Church agreed to arrive at a decision within the several months to come. Nevertheless, until  November 1996, both the Vatican and Hanoi had not reached an agreement. The Vietnamese State refused to accept the nomination of Msgr. Huynh Van Nghi to the prelacy of Saigon Diocese but was ready to accept the nomination of any other bishop (Muc Vu (Ministry), No. 152, November 1996).

    

In his meeting with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, Msgr. Nguyen Minh Nhat, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Vietnam, expressed his "satisfaction to see the doors more largely opened" with regard to "unity and promotion of democracy."  In his meeting with Party Secretary-general Do Muoi, Msgr. Nguyen Minh Nhat also reminded the Party leader of his speech at the Congress of the Fatherland Front whereby "it is necessary not to intervene in the internal affairs of the religions." No action had practical  been taken since then.

Msgr. Nguyen Van Sang, Bishop of Thai Binh, evoked two major obstacles that faced the clergy of his diocese. One of them was the transfer of priests. In 1993, in a petition sent to the prime minister, the National Conference of Bishops requested the rights to appointment of bishops and to transfer of diocesan priests from one parish to another within a diocese. In his reply, the prime minister said he considered that "the appointment and transfer of  posts of priests in the diocese are determined by the exigencies of the work in the diocese." In a way, the appointment of a priest is conditional on certain specified criteria. The Bishop of Thai Binh remarked that “it is still uneasy to arrive at an accord between the government and the diocese on this issue. The prelate stressed that "disagreement took place at all levels, between the province authorities and the diocesan clergy and the local authorities and the diocesan clergy. This State’s conduct of affairs impedes the priest’s from performing his religious duty and disables the religious life of the diocese. obstructing the equitable services of 31 priests in 64 parishes of the diocese with total faithful of 120,000."

The problem of nomination became an issue at the arrival of a Vatican delegation in the capital (EDA 338. There were still no response to the proposals for the three auxiliary bishops at Bui Chu, Phan Thiet, and Saigon   On June 11, 2001, while conducting negotiations with the Vietnamese Communist government, the Secretary of the Episcopal Conference, Mugs. Nguyen Son Lam, in an interview accorded to “Radio France Internationale,” drew up a broad picture of the situation of the Roman Catholic Church  of Vietnam.  The prelate presented a certain number of problems that he thought to be appropriate at the moment.   In the first place, he evoked the problem of nomination of bishops. This was the principal object of discussion between the representatives of the Holy Siege and Hanoi, Msgr. Celestine Migliore, of the Secretariat of State at the Vatican and Msgr. Nguyen Van Phuong of the Congregation for the Bible Propagation, on one side, and the officials of the State Bureau of Religious Affairs, on the other. The Vatican delegation had made proposals but  had  received no answer from the Communist government. The delegates of the Vatican, on their part, had received no clear answers on many of these proposals.

 Msgr. Nguyen Son Lam himself had expected positive answers concerning the nominations of certain prospective bishops that had been approved by the authorities, especially, the nominations for the auxiliary bishop for  Saigon and the coadjutor bishop for the diocese of Phan Thiet in the Central Vietnam. As a matter of sine-qua-non principle, the decision should be agreed upon by the Vietnamese Communist government. The situation in these two dioceses presented separate difficulties.  The Vatican desired to see Msgr. Nguyen Van Hoa, the bishop of Nha Trang, occupy the post of coadjutor cardinal of Saigon Diocese because the cardinal in charge was then aged and weak. The Prime Minister, on the other side, opposed to this nomination, and, to clarify the situation the cardinal in charge had  to  testify,  expressing his opinions in writing. Again, no practical decisions were made, and the Episcopal Conference had to wait and see  (EDA 319).

The Formation of Priests

     

 

The number of candidates to priesthood was conditional on rules and regulations by the State authorities. Only ten students in each diocese were admitted to a seminary every two years. These conditions and others eventually hindered religious services and the performance of religious duties by lack of priests.  Impediments to formation of priests, therefore, created serious problems to the Church.  In the North, religious education was banned before the Vietnam War (1955-1975). The penury of priests in the North after decades of persistent repression during the Vietnam War was critical. Beginning in 1988, seven dioceses in the North could send prospective seminarians to Hanoi for religious education. For 5 years (1988-1992), the number of candidates still remained very low. Only a hundred students were admitted to the grand seminary. When the grand seminary of Hanoi reopened, it could only operate one class every two years. Worse still, it could only receive from each of seven dioceses 10 students every academic term. Of 100 candidates that were officially recommended by the local authorities, a diocese could only receive about ten due to such factors considered as "unfavorable" social and political backgrounds. by the authorities.

 

In the South, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, the Communist regime closed down the inter-diocesan seminaries in Saigon and Vinh Long. Seminarians were to return to their local dioceses. In the 1980’s, only six seminaries were permitted to reopen but were subject to strict State rules and regulations. For example, a new education term could only begin every six years, and only fifty seminarians could be admitted each new term.  The rules and regulations vacillated between permission and withdrawal of permission from the authorities. No sooner had a measure been put into effect than another one nullified it.

    

The seminaries in Da Lat,  Phan Thiet, Xuan Loc, Saigon, My Tho, and Can Tho were authorized to reopen, but  operated conditionally on restrictions. The requirements to be met were: 1) A new scholastic term will only  begin every other three years; 2) The  appointment of a member of the Church to the teaching staff must be approved by the State. Each teaching staff comprises six professors with one of whom must be state-designated; 3) Applicants to the seminary are required to have good social and political records and are to be recommended by the local authorities; and 4) Programs of education must be submitted to and approved by the State.

   

Under these conditions, the Church unavoidably faces a severe shortage of priests. Given that 50 applicants admitted every other three years for a six-year scholastic term, only 10 out of the 50 seminarians are expected to become priests each term. Reality shows that the majority of young seminarians generally wilt  not be able to overcome trials of an ascetic life of priesthood and abandon vocation to the priesthood halfway. Besides, the number of old and retired priests increases every year. Worse still, those priests who returned from the reeducation camps are forbidden to resume to perform priestly duties and forced to return to their families. This situation poses a serious problem to the Church.  The shortage of priests will lead to an erosion of the clerical body of the Church,  adding weight on its ministry throughout the country.

 

From 1986 to 1988, six seminaries in Da Lat, Phan Thiet, Xuan Loc, Saigon, My Tho, and Can Tho were authorized to reopen, but the conditions were still rigorous. They were to meet such requirements as: 1) A new scholastic term will begin every other three years. 2) The requirements for seminary professors must be approved by the State. There will be six professors at most, and one of them must be State-assigned. 3) Applicants for these institutions are required to have good social and political background and their nomination must be approved by the local authorities, and 4) The programs of education must be submitted to and approved by the State.

     

Candidates to the priesthood are subject to verification of identity. The center of sacerdotal training has to clarify the social and political background of the student. The State-affiliated National Assembly deputy Phan Khac Tu complained at the eleventh assembly (1997) that young men and women in the country who want to become priests or nuns actually face strict restrictions simply because they are not accorded permits of permanent residents in the city. Numerous requirements affect the recruit of the candidates. The restriction on the number of candidates to seminaries or nunneries create difficulties to the formation of priests.

   

Given that 50 applicants were admitted to a grand seminary every other three years for a six-year scholastic term, only 10 out of 50 seminarians are expected to become priests each term. This remark, which is based on fact and realty, shows that the majority of young seminarians generally will not ably overcome the trials of the ascetic life of priesthood. In addition, old and ailing priests are due for retirement, and priests who returned from the reeducation camps are forced to return home, thus reducing the number of priests on duty and adding weight on the extreme shortage of priests throughout the country.

 

In late March 1993, the chairman of the State Committee for Religions Affairs Vu Quang in a circular  informed the  Church of the government’s new religious policy.  The law-order specifically stated that  “ There will be solutions to the current issue of religion. The government will be ready to allow a number of Catholic priests to go and study religious subjects overseas. Those priests who return from reeducation will be allowed to resume their priesthood if their conduct proves to be appropriate. Seminaries who are legally accredited by the government will be allowed to function whether they are in the South or the North.” Nevertheless, these problems remained unsolved, unavoidably discrediting  the government new policy. Only a small number of priests were allowed to go and study in Paris, France.  Quite a few priests who returned from “reeducation” were not permitted to perform  pastoral services. In Dong Soai Parish, Saigon, where the State priest Phan Phac Tu was the pastor, as a case in evidence, several priests of this category could only do their duty “in hiding” under the pastor’s “umbrella.”

 

Under the new rules and regulations, the candidates to the priesthood were subject to rigorous requirements. Over the years, only 10 candidates of each diocese were admitted to a seminary every two years. These conditions and other difficulties eventually hindered the Church religious education and ministry. Msgr. Nguyen Son Lam, Secretary of the Episcopal Conference, brought up the question of religious formation before the general assembly of bishops. At the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam (2001, the dignitary hoped that the term fixed for the recruit of the seminarians should renew every two years, and the limited number of candidates imposed by the State should be abolished.

 

 A diocese like Thanh Hoa of which Msgr. Nguyen Son Lam was in charge, only had the right to receive 12 candidates every two years. Nonetheless,  the local authorities unilaterally interfered in the Church's internal affairs, exercising  control on it, fixing the number the number of the candidates.  Only 8 of them were authorized to accede to the candidacy. The Episcopal Conference also  wished to see more seminaries to be instituted o the candidacy. Two new institutions should be instituted as annexed seminaries functioning within the grand seminaries of Saigon and Hanoi. One annexed seminary should be established at Xuan Loc, in the South, and another one, in the diocese of Thai Binh, in the North. However, difficulties arising from overt disagreement between the central and regional authorities, negating the bishops’ wishes. Until 2001, there was no response from the authorities.  (EDA 323. Visit of the Vatican to Vietnam (June 11, 2001).

 

The  Ordination

 

The Decree 69/HDBT of March 21, 1991 stipulates that the ordination of priests of diverse religions has to be approved by the authorities concerned of the provincial people’s council. For two decades, the  Church's obsolete clergy diminished incontestably. In spate instances, priests had to be ordained "in hiding," as was the case of Fr. Pham Van Lois of Hue Diocese.

Worse still, old seminarians had to wait for years to be ordained. The case of the diocese of Kontum in the Central Highlands is an example. On August 25, 1998, Bishop Pierre Tran Thanh Chung was allowed to confer ordination on the prospective priest Joseph Tran Ngoc Tan, who had been waiting for 23 years to receive ordination due to delay of authorization  from the civil administration. The preceding ordination in this diocese took place in 1992.  It was also the case of Fr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, who was the first priest in the diocese to be ordained with State authorization. He was then 45 years old. He had begun his theological studies at the pontifical seminary of Da Lat before the Communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975.   

 

In the North, after more than forty years of interruption, a cleric was ordained priest in the monastery Chau Son of the diocese Phat Diem. Everyone agrees to qualify the recent ordination of Father Bui Van Hung, a cleric, as an historic event. A celebration presided over by the Cardinal Joseph Pham Dinh Tung took place on July 2, 2001. at the abbey of Chau Son in the diocese of Phat Diem, Ninh Binh, North Vietnam. In effect, not only did this celebration, which was a discreet-mark of the beginning of revival of a monastery whose life had been  perturbed since 1954, but also and above all,  the rebirth of the religious life in North Vietnam. Fr. Bui Van Hung was the first cleric ordained priest in North Vietnam since the political partition of Vietnam in 1954. Fr. P. Antoine Doan Minh Hai who served the parish nearest to the monastery confided that this ordination was, for him, the sign of gleam of hope that shined again on the religious community after so many years of adversity.

The Difficulties

The Shortage of priests

Violations of religious freedom are evident. The Council of Ministers, at the national level and the local administrative authorities and party members, at the lower levels are empowered with legal authority to control the citizen’s secular and religious life. For instance, the most serious problem facing the Catholic Church is the shortage of priests.  Young Catholics are not only discouraged to enter the priesthood but also are bound to meet strict requirements, rules, and regulations  if they wish to serve their Catholic faith as a priest.

   A case in Evidence

Phan Van Loi was born on March 9, 1941 in Huong Tra, Thua Thien Province (Central Vietnam). He was admitted to the Little Seminary Hoan Thien, Hue, in 1961 then to the Grand Seminary Xuan Bich, Hue, in 1969. In May, 1978,  Phan Van Loi was dismissed from the priesthood and ordered to leave the Grand Seminary on ungrounded reason by the Communist administration in Hue. However, Phan was determined in his decision firm to continue to serve his religious faith as a priest. He was ordained without State authorization, that is “in hiding,” by Bishop F. X. Nguyen Van Thuan at Giang Xa, Son Tay (North Vietnam) on May 21, 1981. He was arrested and imprisoned by the Communist administration on October 21, 1981 for "unusual" religious  practices  He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and incarcerated in Dong Son Camp, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh Province. 

The reason for his arrest originated from his involvement in a play entitled “Let’s Offer Mother Mary Our Children”  on the “Day of Student Priests.” The play, which is based on a true story, relates he pilgrimage to La Vang Holy Cathedral on August 14, 1981 of a Catholic couple in Phu Cam, Hue. They earnestly prayed for the Holy Mother of La Vang and God’s divine favor, in their belief in God that their child would successfully enter the priesthood and successfully lead a priestly life. They were stopped and interrogated at a police checkpoint at My Chanh. Catholic nuns in a vehicle met the same difficulty. By kneeling down on the roadside to pray God for favor they were finally allowed to go.

The players were mostly seminarians. For unspecified reasons, they were all arrested and brought to stand trial before the Court. The Communist administration later discovered that Phan Van Loi, one among the convicts, had been ordained “in hiding.”  Phan  was  separated from the other convicts and transferred to another prison in Binh Dien, Thua Thien Province. He was imprisoned for three additional years. After his release from the prison, he was placed under house arrest  at 90/13  Phan Cu Trinh Street Hue, from October 1988. In the beginning of the ministerial year 1996, he served as  editor-in-chief of the “Ban Duong” (The Companion), selection of articles reflecting his meditations on the needs of the Children of God.  On April 21, 1998, he was convoked “to work with” the security service as a result of the publication of “Ban Duong.” His printed materials of a photocopy type and computer were confiscated.

        

The approximate version of the report by the priest on the “session of work” at the police headquarters  is as follows:

“[I said to the interrogator] Yesterday you came to my residence. You ransacked it unmannerly. You found no evidence whatsoever. You got improperly angry and seized a number of written religious  materials the possession of which, in your views, is in violation of the law, and thus is considered as illegal. Any Catholic priest is  naturally in possession of these photocopied religious materials like this. If you ransack any Catholic priest’s dwelling all over the world, or any place of residence of the Catholic priests in Hue Diocese, you will find the materials of this kind. I would then consider that you have enforced the law unlawfully. Those books are not on the black list. I bought them here and there. Naturally, Books of this kind are published without State authorization.  Control on religious publication is strict. But, they are sold in the street Why do you arrest those people who sell them and ransack the houses of those people who buy them, instead? Is it right to cause harm to a honest man --a priest-- to admonish other priests in Hue. You abuse authority to do this while our Bishop is absent from Hue. It is evident that it is an act of repression against religion.    

[The interrogator said]: We will carefully read the books we confiscate one by one to examine their contents and their techniques of printing then settle the matter. Any book that violates either one of these criteria will be held back. However, the main problem to solve  is that you have to admit that you have distributed the “Tin Nha” (News from Home) to Catholic priests in Hue.

      

[I replied]: I have already reported to you on this matter. We need not talk more about it. You should bring in witness for confrontation. That will settle the matter.

At this point, the interrogator changed his tone. giving a lecture on  moral conduct and principles of honor of a priest. Playing the role of a counselor, he explained to a priest  how to perform self-examination in the interests of the Church's service and individual life in the future. He advised me to legalize my status as priest to better serve my Catholic faith. The lecture is sometimes coupled with warning, threat, and insult with a tone of superiority “dare to do things but dare not admit  doing them” and “do things of which  the Church is really ashamed.” 

       

[I ] sat reading prayers [I then said]: “For a long time, I have preached about faith to people. Today, I listen to you  doing the preaching. Thank you.

       

They produced a whole pile of printed materials with this remark on the cover sheet “Report on the Violations of the Conduct of  Public Administration.” As they prepared to list the items they intended to confiscate in the report, I :verbally reacted::  “I protest the way you conduct public affairs. You do as you please, regardless of l due legal procedures. You can only draw up minutes and execute a temporary seizure of “evidences,” if you like. While paper is already at hand, list the items on it.” 

When one cadre of the Culture Department  prepared to draw up minutes, another one showed me a small sheet of paper with the printed word “SEALED”  and this line: “the offender signed” on it.  I protested: “Should I sign this paper, I would voluntarily avow that I have committed a crime, and you will use this as proof to arrest me in the future? I demand that you correct that line. “All right. Correct it yourself,” they replied. I crossed out  the line and wrote: “The proprietor signed.”

Phan Van Loi was arrested without a proof thereafter. (Tin Nha, No. 34, July, 1998).

     The Shortage of Priests in the South

Harassment of this type was common practice, discouraging the Catholic youth to enter the priesthood.  In the parishes in Saigon, where international organizations and agencies have their ears to the ground, the ratio of priests to the faithful was exceptionally low, with only one or two priests for about 7,000 followers. There were 5 priests for 95,000 followers in the Phan Thiet diocese. The shortage 0f priests was also critical in the provinces of the Center. In the diocese of Nha Trang where the Catholic faithful  numbered about 150,000 out of the population of 1.4 million inhabitants. The entire diocese had only 117 priests for this huge faithful. The diocese of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands had only 56 priests for 185,000  followers.  The State tightened control on the Church. The State-created “Patriotic Catholics Committees” was vested with authority to direct the Church functioned alongside the Church’s clergy in the parishes. Methods of  administration and political measures as such, within twenty years, had decreased the number of the Church’s  Orders and priests to an alarming rate.

     The Shortage of Priests in the North

In the North, the shortage of priests became increasingly critical. In many parishes, there were no priests at all. In the Bac Ninh diocese, there were two bishops and one priest for 120,000 followers. In the Lang Son diocese, there was only one priest for 5,000 followers in a region of 25,000 km2. The priest was the Reverend Hoang Trong Quynh, who was then  over 70 years old. Bishop Vincent de Paul Pham Van Du was also very old. He was ordained in 1948. He became the bishop of the diocese in 1960 and had been in office there ever since. In 1990.  after 36 years  under the Socialist regime, the number of Catholic priests deteriorated immensely. There were only 7 priests for the faithful of 145, 000 in the Haiphong diocese. There were 2 bishops and 1 priest for 72,000 followers in the Bac Ninh diocese. By 1993, the total number of priests in the North was about 277 including 30 priests who were ordained “in hiding. In the Hanoi diocese, there were 16 priests 7 of whom were over sixty years old for the faithful of 150,000. In the Phat Diem Diocese, there were 23 priests for the faithful of 125,000. In the Bui Chu Diocese, there were 27 priests and 27 “illegally-ordained” priests for 300,000 followers. In many parishes, there were no priests at all. In the diocese of Lang Son, there was 1 priest, who was 93 years old (1998) for approximately 5,000 followers.

The total number of priests throughout the North  decreased alarmingly the following years. There were  about 277, including 30 priests who had been ordained “chui” (in hiding). It was much less than the number of priests in Saigon Archdiocese, where 300 priests served their faith. In  Hanoi Diocese, there were only 16 priests, 7 of whom were over 60 years of age, who were in charge of 150,000 faithful. In the Bac Ninh Diocese, there were 5 priests and 12 nuns for the  service of 100,000 faithful in 46 parishes. In  Phat Diem Diocese, there were only 23 priests for the 125,000 faithful.  In Bui Chu Diocese, there were 27 priests and 27 "illegally ordained" priests for 300,000 followers. The Communists expect that, in 15 to 20 years when the older priests will have died, the faithful will become leaderless and the Church will disintegrate by itself.  (The Committee for the Struggle for Religious Freedom in Vietnam, 1993: 11-12).

     

The shortage of priests in Thai Binh Diocese, which comprises Thai Binh  and Hung Yen provinces, was most critical. In March 1996, Bishop Nguyen Van Sang  could ordain only 4 new priests, raising the number of priests of the diocese to 35 for 140,000 followers. Many priests had to take charge of  two parishes. Since its foundation in 1936, the ecclesiastic personnel had never been obsolete. According the statistics established in 1938, the diocese was administered by 1 bishop, 25 priests, 333 Bible instructors, and 12 brothers for 120,000 followers.  The Bishop indicated that restrictions on the formation of priests instituted an obstacle. A large number of seminarians of the diocese had to wait for decades to be admitted to the seminary. Some seminarians  became old, 50 or even 60 years of age. Politics was all that matters. The Church  performed its sacerdotal services with a small number of priests.  “The Office of Religious Affairs disfavors the candidacy to the priesthood of people of old age. Young candidates devoted to the sacerdotal life are numerous, but the number of those who are permitted is limited. Only 14 students from Thai Binh Diocese are admitted to the candidacy.”

Monopoly of Power

   The Rights to Religious Freedom

     The Official Viewpoint

On December 31, 1993, the Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations at Geneva defended the religions policy in Vietnam, saying; that “Vietnam is a country where approximately 20 million  people (nearly one third of the population) practice more than 10 different religions. Through thousands of years of its history, Vietnam hast experienced religious intolerance, discrimination, or conflicts. The Vietnamese State and the Communist Party of Vietnam have affirmed that Religious beliefs constitute a spiritual need of the believers as proclaimed in the political report delivered before the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1991. In the light of Vietnam's tradition of national union, the Vietnamese Government pursues a consistent policy of broad national union between believers and non-believers with a view to encouraging the Vietnamese of all social strata and diverse religions in the whole country and abroad to contribute to the national cause of building Vietnam into a strong country with a rich people and a civilized country. In order to dispel prejudices and complex difficulties existing among the people as a result of 30 years of war, the Vietnamese State is committed to ensuring abolition on all narrow-minded prejudices and discriminatory attitudes towards religions fellow countrymen.  On the legal plane, religious rights and freedoms are guaranteed in Vietnam's Constitution. Article 70 of Vietnam's Constitution stipulates that citizens are entitled to the rights to  freedoms of belief and religion,  to practice or not to practice a religion. All religions are equal before the law. To concretize and realize the provisions in matters of religion in the Constitution, the Vietnamese Government has promulgated specific orders:  Circular 234 (signed by the President of the Republic on June 14, 1955), Resolution 297 (adopted by the Government Council on November 11, 1977), Decree 69 (issued by the Government Council on March 21, 1991) and Circular 479 (issued by the Prime Minister of the Government).”

    The Reality

Inconsistencies in the provisions of the laws and the enforcement practices of the  laws with persistent, inconsistent, harsh and measures of the authorities had led to discontent or even unrest in various religious communities. There were voices raising problematic issue by the Bishops of Vietnam in their petition to the government in October 1993. The prelacy of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam requested the government to allow all  Catholic priests and religious returning from  reeducation camps to resume their pastoral duties, that Catholic laity be free to contribute  to  educational services  the Church to  be free to maintain its own ministerial publications. And, although some seminaries reopened, there were still more candidates than spaces. The Bishops of Vietnam hoped that other closed seminaries would soon be reopened, and the State to return to the Church the confiscated properties and the facilities of various Catholic religious Orders. In conclusion, the Church's leadership wished that " the basic conditions that are indispensable to the normal functioning of a religion and that would allow the Catholic Church to serve the country and the people effectively be the concerns of the government."

   

There were other issues that were of great concern to the Church. The Bishops insisted that the plight of the nearly 55,000 refugees that still suffered misery in the refugee camps in Southern Asia. They had been denied refugee status and had faced with forced repatriation They were concerned as well with the unresolved problems affecting American children,  the continuing effects  of Agent Orange, and other consequence left y the destruction.

       

“We pray that, with the growing dialogue in these  recent years and, nowadays,  with the lifting of the economic sanctions, greater tolerance and understanding will come, thus characterizing the  relations between the two countries. We hope in particular that the Vietnamese authorities will develop a more respectful and tolerant approach toward the religious institutions of their country. Religious liberty will ever an essential criterion for improving relations between the United States and Vietnam. As the advocates of improved relations between our two countries, we remain committed to defending the rights and dignity of all believers in Vietnam.” As always, their requests  came to no response.

    The Measures

In late March 1993, the Chairman of the State Committee for Religions, Vu Quang, informed the Episcopal Conference in Saigon of the government’s new policy concerning religious practices. There would be solutions to the current religious issue. The government would be ready to allow a number of Catholic priests to go and study religious subjects overseas. Those priests who returned from reeducation would be allowed to resume their priesthood unless their conduct proved to be appropriate. Seminaries that were legally accredited by the government would be allowed to perform religious functions.  Nevertheless, Catholic priests were still not be allowed to study abroad without authorization and those priests who returned from reeducation were not permitted to perform their religious services as pastors.

Other measures were executed. The state-affiliated daily Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberated), on August 17, 1975, reported that, on August 15, 1975, at a meeting of the Catholic clergy in Saigon, Mai Chi Tho, the then Vice-chairman of Saigon Military Management Committee, affirmed with antipodal remarks that to nominate a bishop, for instance, is not only a religious matter. Catholicism is essentially an incorporated component of the Nation. Therefore, the appointment of a person to head a diocese must be approved by the revolutionary administration. Following this line of politics, in October 1993, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council had pronounced its protest against the Vatican's nomination of Bishop Huynh Van Nghi of Phan Thiet diocese as the Coadjutor Administrator of Saigon Archdiocese. The Council also announced that it would never bear to see Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan to become the Archbishop of the Saigon prelacy, charging the Bishop with anti-revolutionary crimes, a blood debtor to the people and the mastermind of national discord. The protest, in reality, came out of preexisting decision. The Communist rule wanted Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh to remain the unique supreme leader of the Saigon Archdiocese. Its hostile attitude toward Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan might result from political reason. The Bishop is a nephew of the late President of the Republic of Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem`, an old political adversary to the Communist regime.

Artifices, in effect, were devised to blind public opinion from the reality. On November 11, 1993, the State Catholic priest Huynh Cong Minh, the pastor of the Archdiocese Cathedral of Saigon, informed without an ecclesiastic order before the First Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Committee for Solidarity of Catholics that Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh had asked all Catholic priests to withdraw from the said organization. The State priest even stressed that “the participation of Catholic priests in the Committee as well as in other political and social organizations are the responsibilities of the laity, and not of the clergy. Political realities in the past had not allowed the laity to assume this task. Therefore, the archbishop gave a number of priests permission to temporarily be in charge of it. The situation has changed. The country is in the process of renovation, and the economic, social, and political activities have gone back to normalcy. The archbishop wanted all activities of the laity to be normalized, and, thus, the clergy` will eventually be able to assume the task that the laity cannot. Their task, now,  is to perform religious duties, an area where the religious personnel are in want.” 

The declarations by the State priest were really unconvincing. People knew very well the Committee of Union of Catholics led by the “Gang of Four,” of which Hynh Cong Ninh is a member, was only an instrument in the hands of the Communist Party. It was used as a means to an end in the monopoly of power of the Communist Party. The political regime sought through its activities to impose control on the Catholic Church. Nonparty members in it only played a nominal role.  Genuine priests could only be exploited to the service of the regime. Being aware of the anxiety of the Catholic clergy to a presence of certain true priests who would involve in the activities of that State-created organization, Huynh Cong Minh assumed the role of a State spokesman to maneuver the public. His assertions came from the common  tactics usually applied by the Communist, "to move a step backward in order to move two steps forward.

The control of the State on the Church fomented indignation among Catholic circles and parishes. Leaflets denouncing violations of religious freedoms by the Catholic Movement for Religious Freedom were found at La Vang Cathedral in Quang Tri Province, Central Vietnam (August 18, 1993) and in Long Thanh Catholic Community and the Ho Nai parishes in Dong Nai Province in South Vietnam (September 5, 1993). Regarding the issue of religious freedom, the Committee for the Struggle for Religious Freedom, in its communication to the United Nations Committee on Human Rights in 1994, had this to say:

"If there exist now 20 million believers, that is one-third of the Vietnamese population, as the Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations reported, it is then understood that 50 million of the Vietnamese population are atheistic. Supposing that the aforementioned statistics were authentic, it reveals a desperate tragedy: after 50 years under the Communist rule the Vietnamese Communist Party and its administration have successfully transformed the traditionally pietistic Vietnamese into atheists, with only one-third of them are now religious believers. This fact alone reveals how crafty the so-called  religious policy of the Vietnamese Communist Party and State is.”

    A Show of Power

The show of authority was apparent. For instance, the civil authorities refused to grant authorization to three Vietnamese bishops to go and attend the conference organized by the Federation of Conferences of Bishops of Asia scheduled to be held in Manila, January 1995. They said that they would not allow the bishops to attend the event because the Conference of Bishops of Vietnam Reunified had not yet been a member of the federation (Much Vu, October 1994). Vu Quang, Director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs, might have explained to the bishops that it was the old Conference of Bishops of South Vietnam that had been a member of the said organization. The new Conference of Bishops Reunified was not a member in the federation. During the process, twelve Bishops had requested in vain the Communist authorities to give permission to come to Manila to participate in the event. 

On October 7, 1994, Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The, the Titular Archbishop of Tipasa in Maretania and Apostolic Administrator of Hue Archdiocese, reported to the World Bishops Conference at the Vatican that the religious life in Vietnam was suffering restrictions. The situation gave rise to many problems, “particularly those concerning the formation of priests, the lack of means for the reconstruction of diocesan premises, and the shortage of ministerial personnel. Congregations that are devoted to religious education and charitable activities cannot pursue their missions in accordance with their own charisma because of the State monopoly of power in the areas of religious and humanitarian services. Thus, despite some relaxation in 1986, the Catholic Church of Vietnam had not had  significant freedom. As a matter of fact, “the household registration system restricts freedom of movement and residence status caused difficulties for the clergy to perform ministerial duties and religious services and religious organization and to operate religious activities even within religious communities. Meetings for religious services, in principle, are not subject to  authorization. Nevertheless, authorization prior to any form of assembly is required.”

  

State oppression ever persisted. On October 1, 1995, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, again, sent a letter to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet reminding him of the difficulties that it had met as a result of the application of the State’s hostile politics of the government on the religion.  The prime minister had already given promises and granted solutions to the problems the Church had presented in its previous requests, namely, the ban on restrictions on movement of the priests and bishops to perform pastoral duties. the creation of a seminary at Hue, and the considerations of  the proposal from the Episcopal Conference on processing procedures for  admission of prospective seminarians to seminaries. Most problems concerned remained unsolved, thus causing the pastoral duties of the clergy as well as the religious life of the faithful more difficult.  It took off much of the Church's utmost persuasive fervor due to the hostile politics on religions of the government.    

   The Conference of Bishops of Vietnam for many years had wished to be allowed to own and operate a house of editions to print and diffuse diverse religious materials. Nevertheless, their requests for authorization had never been accorded. Surprisingly, the Directives 379/TTG, issued on July 23, 1993 decreed, among other regulations, that "the authorization for printing religious books must be given in conformity with the law on publications, as foreseen in Article 18, and "the organs of administration of the State with competence in the matter of  publication  will determine concretely [the legal procedures for the creation of] the houses of editions that take charge of  publishing most  books of prayers and religious works conveniently.” (EDA 291)

As always, the Vietnamese Communist Party turned kept a close watch on ideological deviations of the organizations orbiting within its system. The religious circles are of particular concern. The review “Catholicism and the Nation,” which is an propagation  organ of the State-sponsored Committee of Union of Catholics, in its issue of June-July 1997, was called into order by the Committee of Ideology and Culture of  the Communist Party Section  of Ho Chi Minh City. In its letter addressed to the editorial staff, the Party authority blamed the review for forming erroneous judgments on history and historical personages as they did not chime with the official appreciation of the Communist Party.  For instance, the Reverend Truong Ba Can, the editor-in-chief and a regime’s “protégé,” was blamed for his devious judgments on Stalin and his regime. Indeed, In his article in the monthly supplement, the politician-priest described Stalin as a leader who had acquired numerous merits but who at the same time had committed numerous unforgivable errors and mistakes. The commentator further proliferated that under Stalin’s  leadership, the Soviet regime became “sanguinary and cruel.” The two adjectives “sanguinary and cruel,” the authorities stressed, did not depict in any way the true picture of the political regime even if, during a certain period under his leadership, Stalin carried an erroneous politics. “Sanguinary and cruel” were only appropriate for the description of a capitalist regime or the fascist regime of Hitler. By giving improper judgments of value on Stalin and his regime, the review involuntarily incited animosity towards socialism among those who tried to discredit the “Revolution.” 

The editor was also blamed for infringement on the unwritten orientation rules and regulations according to which opinions and viewpoints that did not  reflect the Party’s lines of  politics are likely deemed to be deviations. The warning was equally addressed to the author of an article published in the same issue. The article appeared in a form of a prayer of a priest who repented his sin and asked for redemption on Ash - Wednesday.. expressing excruciating grief: “Lord, We Have Caused Misfortune to the Generation to come.” The author evoked in veiled terms the misconduct in matters of abuse of power of a dogmatic State education agency. Weaknesses of similar type reflected the worries of the population about the  penury of intellectuals, the increase in evils, the practices of commercialization of the instruction, and the quantitative insufficiency and qualitative incompetence of the teachers as well.

To justify their remarks, the authorities redirected public opinion to the Party’s orientation. Everyone must constrain himself to the study and practice of socialist ideals as well as the contents and methods that are prescribed by the Party’s political lines in the domain of education. To elevate that spirit, after having recommended the teachers to fight against the actual degradation of ideology education and the expansion of religious propaganda to  poison  the school environment, thus genuinely strengthening civic, ideological, and moral education, and the practice of Marxism-Leninism..   

Control of thought was persistent and pervasive throughout a long period. The rights to information of the Church was limited within the places of worship. In April 2000, in an interview accorded to the review “Catholicism and the Nation,”  the press organ of the Committee of Union of Catholics in Ho Chi Minh City, Pham Ngoc Chau affirmed the exact date of the creation of a Printing House for Religious Editions. The State cadre even enumerated the objectives of the printing house and specified the character of two categories of publication of different forms, one for the books with religious contents, books of prayers and the other for books for religious teaching. In the latter category, there were two sub-categories, one for the publication of books of religions published by the religion and the other for the books on religions published by the Communist Party of Vietnam and the State. (EDA 309)

The review “Catholicism and the Nation”  cited as proof, a number of works had already appeared in this house of editions such as the ones administered by the Bishop of Long Xuyen Bui Tuan and Father Ngo Duc Hau, the editor of the “Journal of Jesus.” According to Pham Ngoc Chau, during the interview in April 2000, the House of Editions would have published 120 book titles belonging to the first category. Many Catholic and other religious works  might have been  published in the year 2000, among which were the Buddhist Scriptures (Holy Writings), the Old Testament, the New Testament, the “K'oran” as well as the prophetic writings of the Founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism Huynh Phu So (EDA 269).

      

Restrictions on diffusion of information and communication between the Church and faithful became even stricter. The Catholic review Hiep Thong (Communion) was suspended at  the command of the Bureau of Religious Affairs and the secretary of the Episcopal Conference. The review might survive if it changed its subjects and form, although the notice from the authorities indicated clear decision  on the matter.

    

Along with the suspension of “Hiep Thong,” the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam ceased to have its official voice. The Party-affiliated review “Cong Giao va Dan Toc” (Catholicism and the Nation) seemingly played the role of an semiofficial organ of information and apparently assumed the role of “spokesman” of the Church. To make it clear about the nominal role of the review to public opinion, the Reverend Chan Tin, an advocate for human rights and religious freedom. declared his protest against the decision by the International Catholic Union Press (UCIP) to  recommend the “Catholicism and Nation” with a gold medal  during  a congress held at Fribourg, September 17-23, 2001, which honor it did not deserve. 

In his letter to the UCIP on October 12, 2001,  the Reverend Chan Tin stressed that “the organization has made a serious error, due to lack of adequate information on the role that the review “Cong Giao va Dan Toc” and the Committee of Union of Catholics.  They only play a nominal role of demagogues within in the political context created by the Vietnamese Communist Party. The award only evokes an outrage and deepen a wound inflicted on the honor of the whole Vietnamese Catholic community and, especially, those who have suffered injustice, imprisonment ,and  residence surveillance, or are resigned to live in forced silence for their struggle for freedoms of speech, of the press and of religious freedom in Vietnam.”

The review, in effect, had been created in Paris before the end of the Vietnam War. Its office was later installed in Saigon after the war and became the press organ of the Committee of Union of Patriotic Catholics, the precursor of the Union of Catholics. The latter association then became a member of the Fatherland Front. Its function was, according to the terms used in its charter, was in charge of mobilizing the Catholics to engage in carrying out important objectives of the Communist Party and State. The authorized Catholic publication  is not the least representative of the entirety of the Catholic faithful of Vietnam.

The Repression

Having failed to create  a self-directed Vietnamese Catholic Church of the Chinese type in March 1979, the Communist administration sought to repress the Church by violence. On the one hand,  it intimidated the clergy and confiscate the Church’s facilities. However, facing  flexible but resolute defense of the Church, it had to manipulate the  Communist-created Union of Catholics to replace the Union of Catholic Patriots, exerting pressure on the Church.  On the other hand, it used diverse measures, both political and administrative, to maneuver tricks against the Church. To defend its legitimacy as a religious institution, on April 4, 1990, the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam published a letter of recommendation requesting the Communist administration to create favorable conditions for religious activities, to respect the rights to religious worship, to allow the Church to reopen seminaries, and  attend to the service of the poor. The requests cane to no response.

     The Role of the Committee of Union of Catholics

The Committee of Union of Catholics, an organization operating in the orbit of the Party-satellite  Fatherland Front, actually played the role of a watchdog of the Party and State  to  control the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam at all levels of the Church’s hierarchy. It was even vested with authority to designate members to work beside the clergy the local parishes. This organization, like its predecessor, was the successor to the Committee for Solidarity of Patriotic Catholics. Since the term “patriotic” sounds “too Communist.” it is then stripped off. Structurally, It  operated under the direction  of  the “Gang of Four,” (Huynh Cong) Minh, (Truong Ba) Can, (Phan Khac)Tu, (Vuong Dinh) Bich. People do not know, however, how close they were to the Party’s leadership, but had great influence on State-affiliated work teams at the parishes. Oftentimes, they tended to exert their influence on local priests and prestigious members in the hierarchy of the Church. Nevertheless, their pressure fluctuated with various circumstances. For instance, during the years of 1985-1986,  the Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien of Hue Diocese, Central Vietnam, was constantly harassed by the local civil authorities. He was finally arrested, interrogated, and detained for 120 days at the Binh-Tri-Thien police headquarters. Released, he was immediately placed under house arrest. The Reverend Tran Van Quy of the Hue diocese was coincidentally arrested and interrogated about the archbishop’s activities from 1980 to 1986. A delegate from the Committee of Union of Catholics in Saigon came to Hue with an intent  to complicate the matter. Nevertheless, the Most Reverend Nguyen Kim Dien  categorically ruled out every artful argument of the delegate in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. Facing complexities of the situation, the work of the Committee was, however highly appreciated by the Party and State. At the close of the assembly of the Episcopal Conference that took place in Hanoi from October 6-11,1997, the chief of the State Office of Religious Affairs Le Quang Vinh, on his own initiatives, spoke highly of the merits of the Committee and evaluated the role it played alongside the bishops and the contributions that this organ had paid to the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam.

      

The Bishops, on their part, pointed out that,  in the context of the politics of “doi moi” (renovation), it was suitable to let the laity only to participate in  the operation of this political organization and take charge of responsibilities as the representatives of the laity in it. Traditionally, they added, in diverse branches, the responsibilities in the direction of the Church's religious activities resided with personalities with merits.  They evidently had acquired merits or possessed honorific titles. Moreover, responsibilities should be given to specialized people. A priest must serve first his pastoral duties.   

Resentment against the presence of priests in the Committee of Union of Catholics wais strong. This organization, in the eyes of the Catholic laity, was a political watchdog of the Communist Party. The Episcopal Conference  reaffirmed the statement by the late Archbishop of Saigon Diocese Nguyen Van Bin when he had delegated the general vicar of Saigon Cathedral Huynh Cong Minh to the meeting with the Committee of Union of Catholics on November 11, 1993 with this message: “Nowadays, the situation has changed. Our country has engaged in the process of complete renovation. The economic, social, and political situation is on the path of normalization. That is why the archbishop desires that the activities of the Committee of Union of Catholics should also be normalized. Our laity brothers must assume their role. The priest should come back to his duty, that is, he should be accorded the credentials to perform his ministry services, which responsibilities lay people cannot assume.”

Pham Ngoc  Hai, a devout Catholic of Vuon Soai Parish, Saigon, recounted the circumstances in which religious practices were  conducted in the Saigon archdiocese: "The Catholics are now free to some extent to observe  their religious practices and  activities. They are allowed to perform religious practices and activities, but all these performances are  restricted to the worship place. They are mainly Holy Masses. Bible studies for converts, teenagers, and the youth. They are conducted within the church. only Al celebrations for the All Saints' Day, Christmas Eve, or reception parties are all under the writ of authorization. Outdoors activities and services of the “Legio,” the Catholic Youth Association and the Sacred Heart of the Holy Mother are strictly prohibited to operate. Even the practice of charity is forbidden. While the 1984 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam recognizes the right to freedom of religion, the State places the Church under its control with all forms of regulations, restrictions, and authorization. Worse still, pious Catholics are publicly derided. Bishop Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh Diocese (North Vietnam) reported at the International Caritas Conference in Rome, May 29, 1991: "Anyone who practices charity and performs religious creeds is criticized as being backward and benighted." (Trung Tan, VHRW 3 (November 2001)

   

Prior to “renovation” when the religious policy for the South had not come into force, the authorities’ measures of control varied from one region to another. In some parishes such as the Vuon Soai Parish in Saigon where the State priest Phan Khac Tu was in charge of the ministry, those priests returning from reeducation camps were allowed to celebrate Sunday Masses because of lack of priests. Seminaries were closed. Seminarians had to return home. Pious youths were barred from entering the priesthood, Dignitaries in certain dioceses sought to fill the gap by forming priests in hiding. Upon completion of this type of religious education,  if they were lucky, they had to perform their sacerdotal duties secretly. They were subject to self-isolation as police raids were continually performed against them (Trung Tan, VHRW 3 (November 1991). 

   

Demands for Religious Freedom

During October  12-19, 1992, twenty-six bishops representing twenty-one dioceses attended the Fifth Congress of Catholic Bishops held in Hanoi. Again, they issued a letter of opinions demanding the Communist Party to lift the restrictions on religious activities, to terminate prohibition against Catholic converts to serve their faith, to restore the Church’s right to religious propagation, and to return to it the right to property ownership. Also, in the motion to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on October 26, 1992,  the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam demanded the rights to freedom of religious activities of the Catholics in various dioceses. As regards the legitimacy of the Church, the Episcopal Conference stressed that "being the superior organ that is responsible for the Catholic communities inside the country, the Conference needs to have proper conditions and adequate means to render its services corresponding to its role as the representatives of the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam. Therefore,  "the Church has the right to free assembly, to assemble wherever it is deemed necessary and convenient. The Catholic Bishops equally have the right to free movement to perform their sacerdotal duties in their dioceses.  The  restrictions on the formation of priests have to be lifted. Of most importance, the  State is requested to return to Church the cathedrals, monasteries, seminaries, abbeys and real estates properties that are managed and occupied or  unsuitably used by the State."

The Persecution

   Arrests and Imprisonment

For nearly two decades after the reunification of the country, the Roman Catholic Church of Vietnam still suffered tragic persecution due to profession of faith of  the clergy and faithful.  The Communist rule continued to ruthlessly persecute numerous Catholic dignitaries, priests, and believers. The history of Vietnam under “renovation” recorded  such cases of religious persecution as follows:      

   

In the North, the Catholic  community of the ethnic minority H’mong was targeted with persecution. Recognized among the preachers who were arrested and detained were:  1. Sung Khai Pha in Ha Giang Province was repeatedly arrested in 1992, “for spreading illegal religious propaganda,” 2. Vang Seo Sang in Ha Giang Province was repeatedly arrested in 1992, “for illegal religious propaganda”  and 3. Ly Van Dinh was repeatedly arrested in 1992, for” spreading illegal religious propaganda.”

In the South, fervent and prestigious personalities and  priests were the victims of persecution. Recognized among them were Ngo Van An, Doan Thanh Liem, the journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan, and the Reverend Chan Tin.

 In the open letter of August 15, 1989, Ngo Van An demanded the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to manifest strong will of independence from the State  as regards the creation of the Committee of Union of Catholics. Ngo Van An was subject to interrogation by the police in December 1990. He was arrested on February 25, 1991. He was sentenced without trial to three years of forced labor and detained at Phan Dang Luu Prison, Saigon.  

The lawyer Doan Thanh Liem was arrested without charge in 1990. The lawyer was a signatory to a letter of protest to the Catholic Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh denouncing the artful scheme of the Communist-sponsored Committee of Union of Religions and accusing the Vietnamese Communist authorities in Hue of their violations of freedom of religion, and, specifically for their detention of the Catholic Vice-archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan. On May 14, 1992, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City imposed on the lawyer  a 12-year imprisonment. The official daily Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberated), reported the Court's accusations against him such as maintaining relations with U .S. high ranking officials as well as the old officials of the Republic of Vietnam, printing and diffusing anti-socialist documents and calling for the abolition of the monopoly of power of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the dissolution of the Communist-created National Assembly, and the promotion of a regime of political plurality.  He was also attributed to as a reactionary for drafting a project for a new  constitution for Vietnam. In reality, the lawyer had served as a legal counselor for Michael David Morrow.

Sources close to the lawyer said that Doan Thanh Liem was a graduate from Georgetown University in Washington D. C. On May 14, 1992, the Ho Chi Minh City Court sentenced the lawyer to 12 years in prison. His trial aroused deep concerns among celebrities and political circles in the United States. A group of 125 politicians and celebrities signed a letter of protest to Party Secretary-general Do Muoi requesting him to release the lawyer forthwith and unconditionally. Recognized among those who signed the letter were Senator Jesse Helms, Jane Fonda, David Dellinger, David Berrigan, and Tom Hayden. Nevertheless, the protest came to no result.

On May 12, 1993, the Ho Chi Minh City police released the Catholic priest Chan Tin and the journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan from arbitrary detention. The Reverend Chan Tin, a Redemptorist, and Nguyen Ngoc Lan, a Catholic intellectual, were always under police guard. They were the principal inspiring authors of the open letter of August 15, 1989 in which they demanded the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam to manifest more independence vis-à-vis the State and to define the assumed role of the Committee of Union of Catholics.

The journalist Nguyen Ngoc Lan, who had  been under house surveillance, was charged with secretly sending abroad a two-volume diary whose contents, according to the Communist rule, denigrated the political regime. On May 16, 1990, the police broke into and searched his home at Tan Phuoc  but found no evidence. The journalist was nevertheless placed under constant administrative detention at his home and was prohibited to leave the quarters where he was living. He had to report himself to the police headquarters every week. At every interrogation, during the time under permanent detention he refused  to answer any questions and held firmly to hiss political  standpoint.    

Along with the articles severe criticisms on the State's acts of religious repression and persecution, the Reverend Chan Tin preached in a series of sermons during the Lenten in 1990, arousing the State’s interference in the internal affairs of the Church, and thus committing violations on religious freedom.    

The priest, who had also been placed under administrative detention., was charged with acts of subversion. against the regime. He was arrested while he was residing at the Redemptorists Cathedral on Ky Dong Street, Saigon. The Reverend Chan Tin was designated a new residence at a small church in the district of Duyen Hai, 70 kilometers east of Saigon. Five days later, he was prohibited from celebrating Masses and  his preaching was terminated. On June 22, 1989, after an interrogation by the police, he was put under house arrest for three days. The priest's movement was restricted within the village of Can Thanh. He was prohibited from performing his priesthood. His citizenship was withdrawn, and he had to report himself to the police every fifteen days. The authorities also interdicted his relations with other fellow priests at the Redemptorists Order on Ky Dong Street, Saigon. The police showed vigilant zeal in the search for and confiscation of the priest’ s records of preaching. A priest of a diocese in the Central Highlands who obtained one of these records was arrested and sentenced without a trial to three years under administrative detention. International organizations, such as the CIDSE was not allowed to go to and visit the priest at the  place of detention.