Hanoi, Jan. 24, 2008 (CWNews.com) - A Vietnamese government delegation has visited Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi, evidently hoping to ease tensions arising from a public dispute over church property.
Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, the deputy chairwoman of the People's Committee in Hanoi, led a large group of officials in a surprise visit to the archbishop. The officials said that their visit was a simple greeting for the lunar new year celebration, but in fact Vietnam will not mark the new year ("Tet") until February 7.
Ngo, who angered local Catholics with a January 14 statement in which she accused the archbishop of "using freedom of religion to provoke protests against the government” and thus "damaging relations between Vietnam and the Vatican," did not apologize or retract those accusations. Nor did she withdraw the hint that the government might crack down of Catholic protestors who have demonstrated for the past month outside the former office of the apostolic nuncio in Hanoi. However, her appearance at the archbishop's office was seen as a conciliatory move.
A source in the archbishop’s office reported that the disputes over church property seized by the government had not been discussed during the archbishop's session with the government officials. Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Ðình Tung, the retired Archbishop of Hanoi, and Father John Lê Trong Cung, who had issued a sharp rejoinder to Ngo's earlier public accusations, also attended the meeting.
Local authorities issued a statement recognizing "the contributions paid by Archbishop Joseph Ngo and the Catholic community to the common cause for a society of peace, equality, progress, and development." Although that statement echoed the language of similar pronouncements made by the government in past years, it constrasted dramatically with the threatening language used by government representatives just a few days earlier.
Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, the deputy chairwoman of the People's Committee in Hanoi, led a large group of officials in a surprise visit to the archbishop. The officials said that their visit was a simple greeting for the lunar new year celebration, but in fact Vietnam will not mark the new year ("Tet") until February 7.
Ngo, who angered local Catholics with a January 14 statement in which she accused the archbishop of "using freedom of religion to provoke protests against the government” and thus "damaging relations between Vietnam and the Vatican," did not apologize or retract those accusations. Nor did she withdraw the hint that the government might crack down of Catholic protestors who have demonstrated for the past month outside the former office of the apostolic nuncio in Hanoi. However, her appearance at the archbishop's office was seen as a conciliatory move.
A source in the archbishop’s office reported that the disputes over church property seized by the government had not been discussed during the archbishop's session with the government officials. Cardinal Paul Joseph Pham Ðình Tung, the retired Archbishop of Hanoi, and Father John Lê Trong Cung, who had issued a sharp rejoinder to Ngo's earlier public accusations, also attended the meeting.
Local authorities issued a statement recognizing "the contributions paid by Archbishop Joseph Ngo and the Catholic community to the common cause for a society of peace, equality, progress, and development." Although that statement echoed the language of similar pronouncements made by the government in past years, it constrasted dramatically with the threatening language used by government representatives just a few days earlier.