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| Despite threats of police |
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| Thousands of Catholics still praying at the site |
“In these days, the Gospel has become so relevant to us. We are reading the Gospel very lively. We are living the Gospel with full of challenges...We are living up the Redemptorist vocation to a great extend: we are living the fate of the poor, of the persecuted while keep proclaiming the truth in the belief that the truth will set us free”, Fr. Vincent Nguyen says.
“In these days,” the letter goes on, “earthly storms try to oppress us, the earthly power runs rampant on us”.
“Let us offer our prayers with intense devotion,” the superior encourages Redemptorists.
In conclusion, Fr. Vincent Nguyen commands the Redemptorists that “wherever you are doing your pastoral work, it is your responsibility to ask the congregation there to pray for Thai Ha, for the truth, justice, and fairness.”
State-run media keep running a noisy media campaign threatening to use “extreme actions” against Redemptorists, depicting them as “criminals” who have used their influence to incite the faithful in a confrontation against the government, destroying state property, assembling and praying illegally in public areas, and disturbing the public order. The campaign, which has incited a social sentiment not only against the Redemptorists but also the Church as a whole, has been accompanied by a series of arrests since August 28.
The latest in a series of confrontations at the embattled Redemptorist monastery was the assault of police on Sunday August 31. Police in Hanoi disrupted a procession spraying Fr. Peter Nguyen Van Khai - the celebrant, altar boys, and lay people with tear gas at close range. It is believed that another teargas-bomb was thrown into the crowd causing many ran and cried out in panic. At least, 20 were hospitalized.