Three thousands Hanoi Catholics marched for justice at Thai Ha Redemptorists monastery while ten thousands Saigon Catholics showed their solidarity to their brothers and sisters in Hanoi.
After Saturday Mass celebrated by Archbishop Joseph Ngô Quang Kiệt of Hanoi at the parish of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, the faithful joined those who have been protesting peacefully since January 7th to demand for the return of their 14 acres of land still holding by the government.
Carrying a large cross, the Redemptorists led a procession all the way to the property that they are asking to be restored. The weather did not deter the demonstrators who chanted, and sang for hours in front of dozens of crosses and icons of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, which are hanging on the fence that surrounds the confiscated property.
Throughout the day, hundreds of vehicles were busy going back and forth carrying Catholics from dioceses of Bắc Ninh, Hải Phòng, Nam Định, Hà Tây, Vĩnh Yên to the site. Some had to travel up to 400km to join protestors.
Foreseeing the Saturday’s mass demonstration, security forces in the land of dispute were called to the site to setup barriers to prevent a similar incident as in the former nunciature where protestors poured in and camped inside. However, the barriers were removed later out of the fear that they might add fuel to the fire. Large numbers of security police, in uniform and in plain-clothes, were on the site, mingling in the demonstrators’ ranks, taking photos and filming with video cameras.
According to the Redemptorists who run the parish, they originally purchased 15 acres of land in 1928. In 1954, the Communist government took control of northern Vietnam and jailed or deported most of Redemptorists. This left Fr. Joseph Vu Ngoc Bich to run the church by himself. Despite Fr. Vu’s persistent protests, local authorities gradually seized the parish’s land one section at a time. Consequently, the plot of land was reduced from 15 acres to its present-day size of little more than half an acre.
For more than ten years, Redemptorists in Vietnam have petitioned the government asking for the return of their land, but their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
The government upped the ante at the beginning of this year by allowing construction on the Chiến Thắng sewing company to commence. The confiscated church property soon was surrounded by a fence and the presence of security officials.
The new construction on the land commandeered from the parish led a crowd of local Catholics to gather on the afternoon of January 7 in protest. Local authorities arrived on the scene and promised that the construction work would end. However, the next day the Hanoi People’s Committee issued an official order authorizing the company in question to continue its work.
Protestors have been gathering at the work site for over a month to prevent any further construction by the state-run company.
In a message sent last January 7 to all the Redemptorists in the country, the provincial superior Fr Joseph Cao Dinh Tri says the local government has illegally confiscated land belonging to their monastery at Thai Ha, Hanoi and is supporting a construction project there. The Redemptorists in Hanoi, Fr Cao continues, "have responded by gathering people to pray at the construction site, asking the government to respect fairness and put justice into practice. I would earnestly implore all of you, the whole province of Vietnam, to be in solidarity with our brother Redemptorists in Hanoi, in order to pray for our common apostolate".
In that spirit, ten thousands Catholics showed their solidarity to their brothers and sisters through special prayers and hymns in the Mass celebrating for New Year at the Redemptorists church in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), organized synchronously with that of in Hanoi.
Thousands have been surrounding church bulletin boards to see images and read articles relating to the protests in Hanoi. There is no independent, privately-run media in Vietnam. Domestic newspapers, television and radio stations remain under strict government control. They had been silent about Hanoi Catholics’ protests for the requisition of Church properties until recently when they were mobilized to carry out systematic reprisals against protesters and Archbishop Joseph Ngô Quang Kiệt of Hanoi. Catholics in Vietnam have been getting the news mostly through the Internet and church bulletin boards.
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| Archbishop Joseph Ngô in the Mass |
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| Thousands Catholics attend the vigil |
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| Marching to the site |
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| Praying at the site |
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| Crosses and icons are hung on the fences |
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| The vigil in Saigon |
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| Marching in procession |
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| Ten thousands attending the vigil in Saigon |
Carrying a large cross, the Redemptorists led a procession all the way to the property that they are asking to be restored. The weather did not deter the demonstrators who chanted, and sang for hours in front of dozens of crosses and icons of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, which are hanging on the fence that surrounds the confiscated property.
Throughout the day, hundreds of vehicles were busy going back and forth carrying Catholics from dioceses of Bắc Ninh, Hải Phòng, Nam Định, Hà Tây, Vĩnh Yên to the site. Some had to travel up to 400km to join protestors.
Foreseeing the Saturday’s mass demonstration, security forces in the land of dispute were called to the site to setup barriers to prevent a similar incident as in the former nunciature where protestors poured in and camped inside. However, the barriers were removed later out of the fear that they might add fuel to the fire. Large numbers of security police, in uniform and in plain-clothes, were on the site, mingling in the demonstrators’ ranks, taking photos and filming with video cameras.
According to the Redemptorists who run the parish, they originally purchased 15 acres of land in 1928. In 1954, the Communist government took control of northern Vietnam and jailed or deported most of Redemptorists. This left Fr. Joseph Vu Ngoc Bich to run the church by himself. Despite Fr. Vu’s persistent protests, local authorities gradually seized the parish’s land one section at a time. Consequently, the plot of land was reduced from 15 acres to its present-day size of little more than half an acre.
For more than ten years, Redemptorists in Vietnam have petitioned the government asking for the return of their land, but their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
The government upped the ante at the beginning of this year by allowing construction on the Chiến Thắng sewing company to commence. The confiscated church property soon was surrounded by a fence and the presence of security officials.
The new construction on the land commandeered from the parish led a crowd of local Catholics to gather on the afternoon of January 7 in protest. Local authorities arrived on the scene and promised that the construction work would end. However, the next day the Hanoi People’s Committee issued an official order authorizing the company in question to continue its work.
Protestors have been gathering at the work site for over a month to prevent any further construction by the state-run company.
In a message sent last January 7 to all the Redemptorists in the country, the provincial superior Fr Joseph Cao Dinh Tri says the local government has illegally confiscated land belonging to their monastery at Thai Ha, Hanoi and is supporting a construction project there. The Redemptorists in Hanoi, Fr Cao continues, "have responded by gathering people to pray at the construction site, asking the government to respect fairness and put justice into practice. I would earnestly implore all of you, the whole province of Vietnam, to be in solidarity with our brother Redemptorists in Hanoi, in order to pray for our common apostolate".
In that spirit, ten thousands Catholics showed their solidarity to their brothers and sisters through special prayers and hymns in the Mass celebrating for New Year at the Redemptorists church in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), organized synchronously with that of in Hanoi.
Thousands have been surrounding church bulletin boards to see images and read articles relating to the protests in Hanoi. There is no independent, privately-run media in Vietnam. Domestic newspapers, television and radio stations remain under strict government control. They had been silent about Hanoi Catholics’ protests for the requisition of Church properties until recently when they were mobilized to carry out systematic reprisals against protesters and Archbishop Joseph Ngô Quang Kiệt of Hanoi. Catholics in Vietnam have been getting the news mostly through the Internet and church bulletin boards.