Viet Catholics step up protests
Hanoi, Jan. 28, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Catholics in Hanoi have continued their demonstrations outside the former offices of the apostolic nuncio, despite ominous warnings from the Vietnamese government.
More than 3,000 Catholics gathered in the garden of the building that once housed the apostolic nuncio for a prayer vigil on Sunday, January 27, in defiance of a government order to vacate the site.
The protesters rejected a directive issued by Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, the deputy chairman of the People's Committee in Hanoi, who ordered the demonstrators to leave and to remove a Cross they had placed in the garden of the building. Ngo-- who had earlier accused Church leaders of undermining public order-- again riled the demonstrators by claiming that Catholics had attacked security guards at the site of the protests.
Ngo added to the protesters' ire by demanding a report from Hanoi's Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet about the protests. "Is she a Pope, demanding the archbishop make a report to her?" asked Father Joseph Nguyen
The archbishop did make a public statement in response to government claims that the office of the nuncio had been officially donated to the government by Church officials in 1961. He pointed out that the priest who signed a letter ceding the property to the Communist government-- almost certainly under duress-- did not have the authority to dispose of the building. The priest, the archbishop said, "was only a property manager; he himself was not the owner of the property and had no authority" to make a donation.
The government's claims about the donation of the building came after a long public silence on the protests orchestrated by Hanoi's Catholics. State-controlled media quickly publicized the government's claim, charging that Catholics were distorting history by claiming that the government had seized the building illegally. The archbishop rejected those charges, insisting that the Church has the only legal claim on the building.
Meanwhile in Ha Dong, a city of about 200,000 people located east of Hanoi, local Catholics staged their prayer vigil outside a parish building that had been seized by the Communist government. Evidently inspired by the protests in Hanoi, parishioners in Ha Dong walked in procession to the old parish building, where they prayed quietly for several hours, braving a cold rain.
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| Praying at the cross erected on January 25 |
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| Praying at the Pieta Virgin Mary statue |
More than 3,000 Catholics gathered in the garden of the building that once housed the apostolic nuncio for a prayer vigil on Sunday, January 27, in defiance of a government order to vacate the site.
The protesters rejected a directive issued by Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, the deputy chairman of the People's Committee in Hanoi, who ordered the demonstrators to leave and to remove a Cross they had placed in the garden of the building. Ngo-- who had earlier accused Church leaders of undermining public order-- again riled the demonstrators by claiming that Catholics had attacked security guards at the site of the protests.
Ngo added to the protesters' ire by demanding a report from Hanoi's Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet about the protests. "Is she a Pope, demanding the archbishop make a report to her?" asked Father Joseph Nguyen
The archbishop did make a public statement in response to government claims that the office of the nuncio had been officially donated to the government by Church officials in 1961. He pointed out that the priest who signed a letter ceding the property to the Communist government-- almost certainly under duress-- did not have the authority to dispose of the building. The priest, the archbishop said, "was only a property manager; he himself was not the owner of the property and had no authority" to make a donation.
The government's claims about the donation of the building came after a long public silence on the protests orchestrated by Hanoi's Catholics. State-controlled media quickly publicized the government's claim, charging that Catholics were distorting history by claiming that the government had seized the building illegally. The archbishop rejected those charges, insisting that the Church has the only legal claim on the building.
Meanwhile in Ha Dong, a city of about 200,000 people located east of Hanoi, local Catholics staged their prayer vigil outside a parish building that had been seized by the Communist government. Evidently inspired by the protests in Hanoi, parishioners in Ha Dong walked in procession to the old parish building, where they prayed quietly for several hours, braving a cold rain.