A crowd in great numbers attacked Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery on Saturday night while government officials tried to prevent rescue efforts.
Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery was suffered a new wave of attacks on Saturday Nov. 15 while hundreds of street gang, backed by the People Committee of Quang Trung precinct, attacked its chapel.
“At 10 pm local time, on Saturday night, a delegate of the People Committee of Quang Trung precinct came to Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery asking for an urgent meeting with Redemptorists while hundreds of people attacked our Saint Gerardo Chapel,” Fr. Joseph Nguyen Van That, vice superior of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery reported.
The vice superior believed that the purpose of the “urgent meeting” at 10pm was nothing but a plot to prevent any efforts from the Redemptorists to rescue the chapel from destruction. “It was an organized attack at nighttime of the government aiming at Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery,” he warned.
In an urgent email, sent to Redemptorists in Vietnam, Fr. Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, the secretary of Vietnam Redemptorist Province, reported the incident asking his confreres to pray intensively for Redemptorists in Hanoi at this very difficult time.
Condemning “the organized attack at nighttime of the government,” Fr. Joseph Dinh reported further that Hanoi Redemptorists rang bells to summon nearby parishioners to rescue the monastery. Thousands of Catholics and nearby parish priests rushed to the site to stop the gang from destroying the chapel.
At first, hundreds of police with stun guns prevented Catholics to get inside the chapel in an obvious attempt to buy time for the gang to ransack it. Parishioners only could flow in when they were far outnumbered the police.
A parishioner reported that at a point of time, a group of gang who were ransacking the chapel ran out to ask a police if they could destroy it. They were instructed to “wait for an order from higher ranking officials.”
It was the second time Saint Gerardo Chapel was attacked by government’s thugs. On Sunday Sep. 21, the chapel was ransacked with statues destroyed, and books torn down to rubble. The thugs “yelled, smashed everything on their way, threw stones into our monastery, and shattered the gate of Saint Gerardo Chapel,” wrote Fr. Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery in a letter sent to People’s Committee of Hanoi City and police agencies of Hanoi and Dong Da district.
In addition, “the gang yelled out slogans threatening to kill priests, religious, faithful and even our archbishop,” he added.
Fr. Matthew Vu went on expressing his deep concerns about the incident as “everything happened clearly in front of a large number of officials, police, security personnels, anti-riot police 113, and mobile police – those who in charge of keeping security and safety in the region – but they did nothing to protect us.”
“All statues of Our Lady where protestors pray every day were destroyed. They [the gang] threw rubbles inside the yard of the monastery,” the letter added.
Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery was suffered a new wave of attacks on Saturday Nov. 15 while hundreds of street gang, backed by the People Committee of Quang Trung precinct, attacked its chapel.
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| Government officials prevented a priest from rescuing the chapel |
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| Police also prevented Catholics from rescuing the chapel |
The vice superior believed that the purpose of the “urgent meeting” at 10pm was nothing but a plot to prevent any efforts from the Redemptorists to rescue the chapel from destruction. “It was an organized attack at nighttime of the government aiming at Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery,” he warned.
In an urgent email, sent to Redemptorists in Vietnam, Fr. Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, the secretary of Vietnam Redemptorist Province, reported the incident asking his confreres to pray intensively for Redemptorists in Hanoi at this very difficult time.
Condemning “the organized attack at nighttime of the government,” Fr. Joseph Dinh reported further that Hanoi Redemptorists rang bells to summon nearby parishioners to rescue the monastery. Thousands of Catholics and nearby parish priests rushed to the site to stop the gang from destroying the chapel.
At first, hundreds of police with stun guns prevented Catholics to get inside the chapel in an obvious attempt to buy time for the gang to ransack it. Parishioners only could flow in when they were far outnumbered the police.
A parishioner reported that at a point of time, a group of gang who were ransacking the chapel ran out to ask a police if they could destroy it. They were instructed to “wait for an order from higher ranking officials.”
It was the second time Saint Gerardo Chapel was attacked by government’s thugs. On Sunday Sep. 21, the chapel was ransacked with statues destroyed, and books torn down to rubble. The thugs “yelled, smashed everything on their way, threw stones into our monastery, and shattered the gate of Saint Gerardo Chapel,” wrote Fr. Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery in a letter sent to People’s Committee of Hanoi City and police agencies of Hanoi and Dong Da district.
In addition, “the gang yelled out slogans threatening to kill priests, religious, faithful and even our archbishop,” he added.
Fr. Matthew Vu went on expressing his deep concerns about the incident as “everything happened clearly in front of a large number of officials, police, security personnels, anti-riot police 113, and mobile police – those who in charge of keeping security and safety in the region – but they did nothing to protect us.”
“All statues of Our Lady where protestors pray every day were destroyed. They [the gang] threw rubbles inside the yard of the monastery,” the letter added.