Hanoi, Dec. 16, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Government officials in Hanoi have asked Church leaders to transfer several Redemptorist priests out of their assignments in the city, charging that the priests have been "smearing the system of justice in Vietnam."
In a December 12 message that was directed to both Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, the president of the Vietnamese bishops' conference; and Father Vincent Nguyen Trung Thanh, the Redemptorist provincial in the country, the city's leading official, Nguyen The Thao, called for the transfer of 5 Redemptorist priests, including the superior of the monastery at which regular public protests have been mounted against the government's confiscated of Church-owned property. The Communist Party leader charged that the clerics were "insulting and ridiculing the court" in which Catholic activists had been tried and convicted on charges of damaging public property during the protests.
Nguyen The Thao had demanded the transfer of several Hanoi priests previously, in September 2008. At that time the Vietnamese bishops indicated their support for the clerics. The same reaction is likely in response to the latest complaint.
In a December 12 message that was directed to both Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, the president of the Vietnamese bishops' conference; and Father Vincent Nguyen Trung Thanh, the Redemptorist provincial in the country, the city's leading official, Nguyen The Thao, called for the transfer of 5 Redemptorist priests, including the superior of the monastery at which regular public protests have been mounted against the government's confiscated of Church-owned property. The Communist Party leader charged that the clerics were "insulting and ridiculing the court" in which Catholic activists had been tried and convicted on charges of damaging public property during the protests.
Nguyen The Thao had demanded the transfer of several Hanoi priests previously, in September 2008. At that time the Vietnamese bishops indicated their support for the clerics. The same reaction is likely in response to the latest complaint.