The meeting of a “patriotic Catholic” committee has marked the failure of Communists in a series of attempts to set up a Chinese style state-run Catholic Church in Vietnam.
After so many postpones, the fifth meeting of the so-called "Vietnam Committee for Solidarity of Catholics (VSSC)" scheduled to be held in 2005, finally took place in Hanoi on Nov. 19-20, but only to prove that the plot to establish a Patriotic Church loyal to the Party has now failed.
A report of state-run Vietnam News Agency on Nov. 12, a week ahead of the meeting, stated that the fifth congress would take place “with the attendance of 425 delegates, including 145 priests.” However, after the congress had concluded, the number of attendance was intentionally not reported.
Days after the meeting, in an abnormally short report, VietNamNet, another state-run News Agency, stated that the congress elected “128 members, including 74 priests, four clergymen and 50 followers, to the 5th VCSC.” It intentionally left the number of attendance for its readers to guess.
By guessing, one may think that there were at least 128 people joining in the meeting with a minimum of 74 priests. In fact, a priest who was forced to attend the conference spoke on condition of anonymity that “only a few dozens attended in a somber atmosphere,” and “no pictures were allowed to take as they could demonstrate that the plot [to create a Patriotic Church] had failed.”
During the meeting, attendances discussed a revised charter to be more updated with the current situation in Vietnam in which the task to set up a Church under directives of the Party – not the Vatican - is now considered “completely impossible”. State-run media reported that the committee would focus more on “calling upon Vietnamese Catholics at home and abroad to actively participate in a wide range of social activities in a myriad of areas, from work, study and business to production and humanitarian acts, and to continue working for national socio-economic development.”
Ironically, not to wait for the call of the committee, the Church in Vietnam has actively participated for years in social activities. Moreover, bishops have repeatedly asked the government to allow the Church to participate more on some specific areas that the Church has been proven to be capable of such as education, and health care. So far all of their petitions have gone into deaf ears.
Soon after the takeover in the North, Vietnamese communist government followed its Chinese counterpart in religion policies: it tried its best to set up a state-controlled Catholic Church. The “Liaison Committee for Patriotic and Peace-Loving Catholics” was born in March 1955. The attempt failed thanks to the fidelity to Christ and His Church of Bishops, priests, religious and the laity. While other religions were divided into an official (or state-approved) one and an underground one, there was only one Catholic Church in North Vietnam completely loyal to Christ and His Church even at the price of grave sufferings. As a result, alternative policies were applied, typically – the clergy eradication and the Church property confiscation policies.
Another attempt was taken in 1975 with the born of the “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” after communists had seized the whole country.
At first, communists seemed to achieve their objective when a significant number of Catholics joined the committee, especially after the imprisonment of thousands of Catholic priests, including the then Auxiliary Bishop of Saigon, Francis Nguyen Van Thuan, who later was elevated to Cardinal and chaired the Vatican Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Tables were turned after the Mass at the conclusion of the first congress of VCSC in December 1976 when concelebrating priests shocked attendances by intentionally leaving out completely the Prayer for the Pope, an act seen as a symbol of the tendency to break the tie with Vatican.
The fate of “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” was decided after a letter from The Holy See warning the clergy who involved in the committee. Most of priests withdrew from the committee when the letter was published in 1985.
“Most bishops in Vietnam explicitly asked their priests not to join the committee. For most Catholics in Vietnam, the involvement of priests in the committee confuses people if not to say a big scandal. Many Catholics might join the committee with a good intention to bridge misunderstandings between Communists and Catholics. With recent open persecutions against the Church, they now realize that their presence in the committee does not help Communists to overcome their prejudices against Catholics,” Fr. Joseph Nguyen reported from Hanoi.
After so many postpones, the fifth meeting of the so-called "Vietnam Committee for Solidarity of Catholics (VSSC)" scheduled to be held in 2005, finally took place in Hanoi on Nov. 19-20, but only to prove that the plot to establish a Patriotic Church loyal to the Party has now failed.
A report of state-run Vietnam News Agency on Nov. 12, a week ahead of the meeting, stated that the fifth congress would take place “with the attendance of 425 delegates, including 145 priests.” However, after the congress had concluded, the number of attendance was intentionally not reported.
Days after the meeting, in an abnormally short report, VietNamNet, another state-run News Agency, stated that the congress elected “128 members, including 74 priests, four clergymen and 50 followers, to the 5th VCSC.” It intentionally left the number of attendance for its readers to guess.
By guessing, one may think that there were at least 128 people joining in the meeting with a minimum of 74 priests. In fact, a priest who was forced to attend the conference spoke on condition of anonymity that “only a few dozens attended in a somber atmosphere,” and “no pictures were allowed to take as they could demonstrate that the plot [to create a Patriotic Church] had failed.”
During the meeting, attendances discussed a revised charter to be more updated with the current situation in Vietnam in which the task to set up a Church under directives of the Party – not the Vatican - is now considered “completely impossible”. State-run media reported that the committee would focus more on “calling upon Vietnamese Catholics at home and abroad to actively participate in a wide range of social activities in a myriad of areas, from work, study and business to production and humanitarian acts, and to continue working for national socio-economic development.”
Ironically, not to wait for the call of the committee, the Church in Vietnam has actively participated for years in social activities. Moreover, bishops have repeatedly asked the government to allow the Church to participate more on some specific areas that the Church has been proven to be capable of such as education, and health care. So far all of their petitions have gone into deaf ears.
Soon after the takeover in the North, Vietnamese communist government followed its Chinese counterpart in religion policies: it tried its best to set up a state-controlled Catholic Church. The “Liaison Committee for Patriotic and Peace-Loving Catholics” was born in March 1955. The attempt failed thanks to the fidelity to Christ and His Church of Bishops, priests, religious and the laity. While other religions were divided into an official (or state-approved) one and an underground one, there was only one Catholic Church in North Vietnam completely loyal to Christ and His Church even at the price of grave sufferings. As a result, alternative policies were applied, typically – the clergy eradication and the Church property confiscation policies.
Another attempt was taken in 1975 with the born of the “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” after communists had seized the whole country.
At first, communists seemed to achieve their objective when a significant number of Catholics joined the committee, especially after the imprisonment of thousands of Catholic priests, including the then Auxiliary Bishop of Saigon, Francis Nguyen Van Thuan, who later was elevated to Cardinal and chaired the Vatican Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Tables were turned after the Mass at the conclusion of the first congress of VCSC in December 1976 when concelebrating priests shocked attendances by intentionally leaving out completely the Prayer for the Pope, an act seen as a symbol of the tendency to break the tie with Vatican.
The fate of “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” was decided after a letter from The Holy See warning the clergy who involved in the committee. Most of priests withdrew from the committee when the letter was published in 1985.
“Most bishops in Vietnam explicitly asked their priests not to join the committee. For most Catholics in Vietnam, the involvement of priests in the committee confuses people if not to say a big scandal. Many Catholics might join the committee with a good intention to bridge misunderstandings between Communists and Catholics. With recent open persecutions against the Church, they now realize that their presence in the committee does not help Communists to overcome their prejudices against Catholics,” Fr. Joseph Nguyen reported from Hanoi.