HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Redemptorists in southern Vietnam have rejected the Ha Noi city government's accusations that four confreres acted against the government and violated the law during the recent trial of lay Catholics in connection with a Church-government land dispute.
In a letter dated Dec. 19, the Redemptorists state that, according to Canon Law and the Redemptorist constitution and regulations, "Fathers (Matthew) Vu Khoi Phung, (Joseph) Nguyen Van That, (Pierre) Nguyen Van Khai and (John) Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong did not violate anything for which they need to be 'criticized and educated' and 'transferred out of the city of Ha Noi.'"
Those four priests are based at Redemptorist-run Thai Ha parish in Ha Noi, which has a dispute with the government concerning some land the government confiscated in the early 1960s. The plot is next to the parish church.
The Redemptorist province is based in Ho Chi Minh City, 1,710 kilometers from Ha Noi, and Father Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, head of its secretariat, signed the letter. It answers a Dec. 12 letter Nguyen The Thao, head of the People's Committee of Ha Noi, sent to Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon, leader of the Vietnam Bishops' Conference, and to Father Vincent Phan Trung Thanh, superior of the Redemptorist province of Vietnam. In it, Thao accused the Redemptorists in Ha Noi of slandering the government and provoking people to break the law.
During the trial, as UCA News previously reported, about 2,000 supporters from the capital and neighboring provinces sat on sidewalks, prayed and sang hymns in front of the heavily guarded trial building. They held cycad leaves, a traditional symbol of martyrdom, along with crosses, Marian images and placards. Among the 120 people who attended the trial, only 10 were relatives of the defendants. All the others were government officials.
Thao's letter says Ha Noi city's Dong Da District Court on Dec. 8 tried eight Catholics for disturbing public order and damaging public property "publicly and legally." It also says the defendants are under suspended sentences due to his government's humanitarian and tolerant policies.
According to Thao, local Redemptorists used words and actions to slander the government and provoke people to break the law, and Father Phong actually defamed the government and the law. The government official asserted that the priest proclaimed to supporters outside the trial building that the trial was unfair and threatened that "judges and their families would be punished."
Thao claims that the behavior of Father Phong and other Redemptorists was against the government and the law, created a bad image of the local Religious congregation and damaged relations between the government and local Church.
His letter asked local bishops and the provincial superior to "criticize and educate Father Phong and three other Redemptorists at Thai Ha church" and to transfer all four of them to places outside the city.
In his own letter, Father Thoai responded: "We did not find any statements from these priests that slandered anyone or incited riots. Their statements are completely true." Their only fight, he said, is against wrongdoing, not against the government, and they have no wish to create division between the government and the people.
Father Thoai stressed that the four priests "did nothing wrong" and they, in defending and speaking out for the truth, are standing on the side of the poor. He concluded that if the government found his four confreres guilty of violating the law, it should try them according to the law.
Meanwhile, a local Church source has told UCA News that the eight defendants on Dec. 17 appealed their sentences before the People's Court of Ha Noi, asking the court to reverse the verdicts.
(Source: http://www.ucanews.com/2008/12/23/redemptorists-say-their-priests-at-thai-ha-parish-did-nothing-wrong/)
In a letter dated Dec. 19, the Redemptorists state that, according to Canon Law and the Redemptorist constitution and regulations, "Fathers (Matthew) Vu Khoi Phung, (Joseph) Nguyen Van That, (Pierre) Nguyen Van Khai and (John) Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong did not violate anything for which they need to be 'criticized and educated' and 'transferred out of the city of Ha Noi.'"
Those four priests are based at Redemptorist-run Thai Ha parish in Ha Noi, which has a dispute with the government concerning some land the government confiscated in the early 1960s. The plot is next to the parish church.
The Redemptorist province is based in Ho Chi Minh City, 1,710 kilometers from Ha Noi, and Father Joseph Dinh Huu Thoai, head of its secretariat, signed the letter. It answers a Dec. 12 letter Nguyen The Thao, head of the People's Committee of Ha Noi, sent to Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon, leader of the Vietnam Bishops' Conference, and to Father Vincent Phan Trung Thanh, superior of the Redemptorist province of Vietnam. In it, Thao accused the Redemptorists in Ha Noi of slandering the government and provoking people to break the law.
During the trial, as UCA News previously reported, about 2,000 supporters from the capital and neighboring provinces sat on sidewalks, prayed and sang hymns in front of the heavily guarded trial building. They held cycad leaves, a traditional symbol of martyrdom, along with crosses, Marian images and placards. Among the 120 people who attended the trial, only 10 were relatives of the defendants. All the others were government officials.
Thao's letter says Ha Noi city's Dong Da District Court on Dec. 8 tried eight Catholics for disturbing public order and damaging public property "publicly and legally." It also says the defendants are under suspended sentences due to his government's humanitarian and tolerant policies.
According to Thao, local Redemptorists used words and actions to slander the government and provoke people to break the law, and Father Phong actually defamed the government and the law. The government official asserted that the priest proclaimed to supporters outside the trial building that the trial was unfair and threatened that "judges and their families would be punished."
Thao claims that the behavior of Father Phong and other Redemptorists was against the government and the law, created a bad image of the local Religious congregation and damaged relations between the government and local Church.
His letter asked local bishops and the provincial superior to "criticize and educate Father Phong and three other Redemptorists at Thai Ha church" and to transfer all four of them to places outside the city.
In his own letter, Father Thoai responded: "We did not find any statements from these priests that slandered anyone or incited riots. Their statements are completely true." Their only fight, he said, is against wrongdoing, not against the government, and they have no wish to create division between the government and the people.
Father Thoai stressed that the four priests "did nothing wrong" and they, in defending and speaking out for the truth, are standing on the side of the poor. He concluded that if the government found his four confreres guilty of violating the law, it should try them according to the law.
Meanwhile, a local Church source has told UCA News that the eight defendants on Dec. 17 appealed their sentences before the People's Court of Ha Noi, asking the court to reverse the verdicts.
(Source: http://www.ucanews.com/2008/12/23/redemptorists-say-their-priests-at-thai-ha-parish-did-nothing-wrong/)