In defending his brothers against the latest governmental accusation, Vietnam Redemptorist Provincial Superior spoke out to set the record straight and expressed his disappointment at the authorities’ persistent resort to violence rather than dialogue.
“Facing unjust accusations of the local government, our hope for better Church – State relations after the Vatican visit of Vietnam’s chairman is so shaken,” said Fr. Vincent Pham Trung Thanh, the Vietnam Redemptorist Provincial Superior, in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Jan. 2.
Only two weeks after the historic visit of Vietnam Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet to Pope Benedict XVI, on Dec. 28, the local government of Ho Chi Minh City opened fire against the metropolitan Redemptorist community accusing them of using the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help “to distort, falsely accuse and criticise the government driving believers to misunderstand the Party's policies and the nation's laws”.
In response to these severe denunciations of the Committee, the Superior of Vietnam Redemptorist province expressed his “shocking surprise at the sudden attack”. No recent activities of Redemptorists at the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help seemed to be able to justify for the move of the government.
“As Catholic priests, we are bound to tell the truth as we find it, without fear of consequences. We did not distort or falsely accuse anyone,” Fr. Vincent Pham added frankly rejecting every accusation against the community.
“Before we raised our voice, our beloved spiritual leaders who are our fathers in faith, namely Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, President of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam, Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi, Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu The of Hue and others, had already condemned publicly injustices at Dalat Collegium Pontificium, Hanoi nunciature, Loan Ly..” continued the Superior.
"Regarding the accusation of inciting the public to cause civil unrest, I say, we are children of Lord Jesus, king of Peace and love, whose teaching taught us to follow his peaceful way of life, not to become advocates for segregation. However, he is also the Lord of justice, thus our duty is not to ignore or to stay mute in the face of injustice,” he went on.
“There are people who fear the truth. We have been attacked just because we speak of the truth. Some do not want to see the truth exposed. What else we can do?” asked the Superior.
Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Le Quang Uy, in particular, was singled out in this statement as the main subject for the Committee’s denunciations. He was charged with “taking advantage of his role of leading prayers in Vigils to distort the social, political and economic situation of Vietnam, and denounce the government for human rights violations,” and thus “undermines the great national unity bloc,” and “has given a hand to hostile forces, and reactionaries to conduct propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
Defending Fr. Joseph Le, the Superior stated that his brother “did nothing wrong” when speaking out against social and political injustices.
The Supervisor also pointed out that local government had gone too far beyond its authority when behaving like a kangaroo court accusing Fr. Joseph Le and other Redemptorists without due process.
“If our brothers have violated the law, let them be judged by the court. Until then, no one has the rights to convict them,” Fr. Vincent Pham insisted.
On Jan. 25, 2007, Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung paid a landmark visit to Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials promising better Church-State relations. Three weeks later, on Feb. 19, 2007, security police suddenly surrounded and raided Hue Archdiocese to ransack the office, confiscated computers, electronic equipments, and arrested Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Roman Catholic priest who had been imprisoned for 14 years for allegedly disseminating material criticizing the government's limitations on religious and political freedom.
“History repeats itself!” another Redemptorist priest, Fr. Tung Duong, lamented expressing his fear that the Church in Vietnam is going to suffer a new wave of persecutions after the Vatican visit of Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet.
The priest was afraid that Vatican visits of Vietnam communist leaders were carefully designed simply to mask Vietnam notorious records of human and religious rights abuse.
There are growing concerns among Catholics in Vietnam that the sudden attack against Redemptorists may harbinger a large-scale crackdown to silence dissidents in preparation for the National Communist Party Congress in early 2011.
In another development, Vietnam government has consolidated the state-run “Catholics and People” magazine with new appointments. Vice-chairman Phan Khac Tu of the so-called “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” was appointed the chief editor of the magazine. Tu has been known to be enthusiastically pro-Communist.
Soon after the communists took control Vietnam, the Committee was born and the magazine was first published on July 10th, 1975. This was seen as an attempt of the government to set up a state-run Church.
The magazine, which, despite its name, is controlled by the Communist party rather than the Church – has carried a series of anti-Vatican articles to lay harsh criticisms on Vatican and Pope John Paul II.
It almost died after the death of its founder, Truong Ba Can, who died on July, 10, 2009. During the last 5 months, the half-dead magazine had struggled hard to survive. The new appointment is obviously an effort of the government to revive it.
“Facing unjust accusations of the local government, our hope for better Church – State relations after the Vatican visit of Vietnam’s chairman is so shaken,” said Fr. Vincent Pham Trung Thanh, the Vietnam Redemptorist Provincial Superior, in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Jan. 2.
Only two weeks after the historic visit of Vietnam Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet to Pope Benedict XVI, on Dec. 28, the local government of Ho Chi Minh City opened fire against the metropolitan Redemptorist community accusing them of using the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help “to distort, falsely accuse and criticise the government driving believers to misunderstand the Party's policies and the nation's laws”.
In response to these severe denunciations of the Committee, the Superior of Vietnam Redemptorist province expressed his “shocking surprise at the sudden attack”. No recent activities of Redemptorists at the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help seemed to be able to justify for the move of the government.
“As Catholic priests, we are bound to tell the truth as we find it, without fear of consequences. We did not distort or falsely accuse anyone,” Fr. Vincent Pham added frankly rejecting every accusation against the community.
“Before we raised our voice, our beloved spiritual leaders who are our fathers in faith, namely Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon, President of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam, Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi, Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu The of Hue and others, had already condemned publicly injustices at Dalat Collegium Pontificium, Hanoi nunciature, Loan Ly..” continued the Superior.
"Regarding the accusation of inciting the public to cause civil unrest, I say, we are children of Lord Jesus, king of Peace and love, whose teaching taught us to follow his peaceful way of life, not to become advocates for segregation. However, he is also the Lord of justice, thus our duty is not to ignore or to stay mute in the face of injustice,” he went on.
“There are people who fear the truth. We have been attacked just because we speak of the truth. Some do not want to see the truth exposed. What else we can do?” asked the Superior.
Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Le Quang Uy, in particular, was singled out in this statement as the main subject for the Committee’s denunciations. He was charged with “taking advantage of his role of leading prayers in Vigils to distort the social, political and economic situation of Vietnam, and denounce the government for human rights violations,” and thus “undermines the great national unity bloc,” and “has given a hand to hostile forces, and reactionaries to conduct propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
Defending Fr. Joseph Le, the Superior stated that his brother “did nothing wrong” when speaking out against social and political injustices.
The Supervisor also pointed out that local government had gone too far beyond its authority when behaving like a kangaroo court accusing Fr. Joseph Le and other Redemptorists without due process.
“If our brothers have violated the law, let them be judged by the court. Until then, no one has the rights to convict them,” Fr. Vincent Pham insisted.
On Jan. 25, 2007, Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung paid a landmark visit to Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials promising better Church-State relations. Three weeks later, on Feb. 19, 2007, security police suddenly surrounded and raided Hue Archdiocese to ransack the office, confiscated computers, electronic equipments, and arrested Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Roman Catholic priest who had been imprisoned for 14 years for allegedly disseminating material criticizing the government's limitations on religious and political freedom.
“History repeats itself!” another Redemptorist priest, Fr. Tung Duong, lamented expressing his fear that the Church in Vietnam is going to suffer a new wave of persecutions after the Vatican visit of Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet.
The priest was afraid that Vatican visits of Vietnam communist leaders were carefully designed simply to mask Vietnam notorious records of human and religious rights abuse.
There are growing concerns among Catholics in Vietnam that the sudden attack against Redemptorists may harbinger a large-scale crackdown to silence dissidents in preparation for the National Communist Party Congress in early 2011.
In another development, Vietnam government has consolidated the state-run “Catholics and People” magazine with new appointments. Vice-chairman Phan Khac Tu of the so-called “Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics” was appointed the chief editor of the magazine. Tu has been known to be enthusiastically pro-Communist.
Soon after the communists took control Vietnam, the Committee was born and the magazine was first published on July 10th, 1975. This was seen as an attempt of the government to set up a state-run Church.
The magazine, which, despite its name, is controlled by the Communist party rather than the Church – has carried a series of anti-Vatican articles to lay harsh criticisms on Vatican and Pope John Paul II.
It almost died after the death of its founder, Truong Ba Can, who died on July, 10, 2009. During the last 5 months, the half-dead magazine had struggled hard to survive. The new appointment is obviously an effort of the government to revive it.