January 11, 2010 - Hanoi archdiocese has condemned local security officials’ removal of a cement cross which stood on top of a hill used as a Catholic cemetery.
Fr John Le Trong Cung, secretary at the archbishop’s house, said 600-1,000 security officials using hand tools destroyed the cement cross at 2 a.m. on Jan. 6, UCA News reports.
The cross stood on top Nui Tho (Worship Mountain) near Dong Chiem church in Hanoi’s My Duc district.
In a message dated Jan. 7 to local Catholics, Father Cung said security officials had blocked roads leading to the hill which the parish has owned since its establishment over 100 years ago. Local Catholics once used the hill as a cemetery for family members and for the victims of a severe famine in 1945-1946, he added.
His message is posted on the archdiocesan website and other local Church websites.
The priest said many local Catholics were beaten and tear gassed when they protested the destruction of the cross. Two women were seriously injured and are in hospital, he added.
Fr Cung described the incident as a “sacrilege.”
“We are deeply concerned. Destroying a cross is offending Christ” as the cross is “the most sacred symbol of the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church,” he said.
The archdiocesan official also described the security officials’ treatment of protesters as “an inhuman action.”
Fr Cung asked local Catholics to pray for justice, spiritual values and human rights to be respected and protected in the country.
According to local Church sources, after the officials left the hill, local Catholics erected two small wooden crosses, hung funeral flags and placed candles around the foot of the old cross.
Later, 40 archdiocesan priests visited the site and concelebrated a special Mass at the church.
Local Catholics also peacefully gathered outside the homes of several officials to urge them to repent of what they had done.
According to local Church sources, parishioners erected the cement cross on the hill on March 4, 2009, replacing an old wooden cross.
Government authorities accused local Catholics of erecting the new cross illegally and ordered them to remove it. However, local people refused.
(Source: http://www.cathnewsasia.com/2010/01/11/hanoi-archdiocese-slams-cross-removal-sacrilege/)
Fr John Le Trong Cung, secretary at the archbishop’s house, said 600-1,000 security officials using hand tools destroyed the cement cross at 2 a.m. on Jan. 6, UCA News reports.
The cross stood on top Nui Tho (Worship Mountain) near Dong Chiem church in Hanoi’s My Duc district.
In a message dated Jan. 7 to local Catholics, Father Cung said security officials had blocked roads leading to the hill which the parish has owned since its establishment over 100 years ago. Local Catholics once used the hill as a cemetery for family members and for the victims of a severe famine in 1945-1946, he added.
His message is posted on the archdiocesan website and other local Church websites.
The priest said many local Catholics were beaten and tear gassed when they protested the destruction of the cross. Two women were seriously injured and are in hospital, he added.
Fr Cung described the incident as a “sacrilege.”
“We are deeply concerned. Destroying a cross is offending Christ” as the cross is “the most sacred symbol of the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church,” he said.
The archdiocesan official also described the security officials’ treatment of protesters as “an inhuman action.”
Fr Cung asked local Catholics to pray for justice, spiritual values and human rights to be respected and protected in the country.
According to local Church sources, after the officials left the hill, local Catholics erected two small wooden crosses, hung funeral flags and placed candles around the foot of the old cross.
Later, 40 archdiocesan priests visited the site and concelebrated a special Mass at the church.
Local Catholics also peacefully gathered outside the homes of several officials to urge them to repent of what they had done.
According to local Church sources, parishioners erected the cement cross on the hill on March 4, 2009, replacing an old wooden cross.
Government authorities accused local Catholics of erecting the new cross illegally and ordered them to remove it. However, local people refused.
(Source: http://www.cathnewsasia.com/2010/01/11/hanoi-archdiocese-slams-cross-removal-sacrilege/)