Tensions between the Church in Vietnam and the atheist government go wider with Catholics call for the government to stop interfering in Church teachings through a patriotic committee and two state-run deceitful Catholic magazines.
A series of articles attacking the protests of Hanoi Catholics in a state-run magazine in Vietnam has helped make the tensions between the Church and the government go far beyond Church property issues. A bishop has issued a statement calling the government to reconsider the role of “the Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” – the owner of the magazine.
Soon after the communists took control of Vietnam, the committee was set up with its “Catholics and People” magazine first published on July 10, 1975. Its initial intention was to promote a state-controlled Catholic Church in Vietnam, but failed thanks to the fidelity of Bishops, priests, religious and the laity to Christ and His Church. While other religions were divided into official (or state-approved) and underground fractions, there has been and is only one Catholic Church in Vietnam completely loyal to Christ and His Church even at the price of grave sufferings.
Recently, the Vietnamese leadership has reiterated on many occasions that the committee’s purpose is to help Catholics be good citizens and promote dialogue between the Church and the government.
However, in a statement released on March 1, Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh diocese stated that “Without the committee, the faithful in my diocese are living as good citizens, and good Catholics. We live in peace, in harmony and have good relationships with everyone. That reality is recognized by one and all.”
“We do not need that sort of committee,” said the prelate underlining that, “We are afraid that the committee will only complicate things.” He urged the government to reconsider the role of the committee saying, “It’s only a burden on the nation’s budget” while causing more suspicions and divisions between Catholics and the government.
Bishops in Vietnam are concerned that the committee with its two magazines - the “Vietnam Catholics” and the “Catholics and People” – has tried its best to re-interpret and distort Church teachings in many ways favorable for the communists. Hence, in many dioceses members of the clergy are forbidden implicitly or explicitly to join the committee.
Bishop Francis Nguyen’s statement is a reply to criticism from Tran Dinh Phung, the chief of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs during a 2-day conference of the “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” held at Hanoi from 27 to 28 February. Phung complained that the committee could not operate in the diocese of Thai Binh as the prelate has opposed it by saying that “the committee does not bring about any benefits” for Catholics.
Articles attacking Hanoi Catholics published in the “Catholics and People” magazine, and its constant anti-Vatican tone have angered Catholics to the point that its owner - the “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” - admitted that the magazine has gone out of its control, and is asking the government to cease its publication all together.
A series of articles attacking the protests of Hanoi Catholics in a state-run magazine in Vietnam has helped make the tensions between the Church and the government go far beyond Church property issues. A bishop has issued a statement calling the government to reconsider the role of “the Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” – the owner of the magazine.
Soon after the communists took control of Vietnam, the committee was set up with its “Catholics and People” magazine first published on July 10, 1975. Its initial intention was to promote a state-controlled Catholic Church in Vietnam, but failed thanks to the fidelity of Bishops, priests, religious and the laity to Christ and His Church. While other religions were divided into official (or state-approved) and underground fractions, there has been and is only one Catholic Church in Vietnam completely loyal to Christ and His Church even at the price of grave sufferings.
Recently, the Vietnamese leadership has reiterated on many occasions that the committee’s purpose is to help Catholics be good citizens and promote dialogue between the Church and the government.
However, in a statement released on March 1, Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Sang of Thai Binh diocese stated that “Without the committee, the faithful in my diocese are living as good citizens, and good Catholics. We live in peace, in harmony and have good relationships with everyone. That reality is recognized by one and all.”
“We do not need that sort of committee,” said the prelate underlining that, “We are afraid that the committee will only complicate things.” He urged the government to reconsider the role of the committee saying, “It’s only a burden on the nation’s budget” while causing more suspicions and divisions between Catholics and the government.
Bishops in Vietnam are concerned that the committee with its two magazines - the “Vietnam Catholics” and the “Catholics and People” – has tried its best to re-interpret and distort Church teachings in many ways favorable for the communists. Hence, in many dioceses members of the clergy are forbidden implicitly or explicitly to join the committee.
Bishop Francis Nguyen’s statement is a reply to criticism from Tran Dinh Phung, the chief of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs during a 2-day conference of the “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” held at Hanoi from 27 to 28 February. Phung complained that the committee could not operate in the diocese of Thai Binh as the prelate has opposed it by saying that “the committee does not bring about any benefits” for Catholics.
Articles attacking Hanoi Catholics published in the “Catholics and People” magazine, and its constant anti-Vatican tone have angered Catholics to the point that its owner - the “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” - admitted that the magazine has gone out of its control, and is asking the government to cease its publication all together.