Viet Nam: Bishop appeals in an open letter to end harassment against Catholics
Vatican Radio – 10/16/2015
Bishop Michael
Hoang Duc Oanh of Kontum diocese has just issued an open letter to local
government questioning the motive of local government behind their relentless
effort to urge Catholics in a remote village to destroy a makeshift church.
In his letter summarizing in chronological order the series of actions taken by
the local communist officials since June 2015 to harass his flock in Daknu Msgr.
Hoang Duc Oanh on the behalf of thousands poor Catholics in the region expresses
a strong, resentful feeling of people of faith when the authorities keep
ignoring the people's repeated request for the permission to build new church to
provide service to an expanding Catholic population. The prelate laments that
local authorities at all levels have tried all tricks to take down any house of
worship the faithful trying to build regardless the size or material being used
to set up the shack.
In one typical episode, on June 28, 2015, Daknu parishioners attempted to
upgrade their old worship hut with corrugate roof and new columns made from tree
trunks. The government immediately responded with an order to dismantle the new
shack. The order was followed by bribe of alcohol to families to push for
compliance. Even the priests were summoned by the People's Committee to be
lectured on the need of parishioners to obey the order. None of their efforts
were successful and people started to take turn guarding the new build church
around the clock.
The bishop, quoting Dakto county's Correspondence No. 03/KH-UBND dated Jan 30,
2015, expressed his concern about the ripple effect on other 202 worship huts
throughout Kontum should this makeshift church be brought down. He reiterated
the need for respecting the law on freedom of religion as guaranteed by Vietnam
Constitution. He even suggested a fine payment in exchange for the newly
reconstructed house of worship to stay in existence, or even a court trial to
settle the dispute once in for all.
He concluded his letter with a warning: "while people may label us as being
anti-government, non-compliance with authorities, or constructing without a
permit. ..I ask the officials to calm down and take a look around the area to
see who are truly the ones who are sabotaging the people's confidence in the
government, and the regime, pushing it closer to a total collapse?”
Vietnam's 87
million people include 48 per cent Buddhists, more than 7 per cent Catholics,
5.6 per cent syncretistic and 20 per cent atheist. As a small, albeit
significant minority, the Christian community is particularly active in
education, health and social affairs.
Recently, the
Vietnamese bishops - among them the Bishop of Kontum and the Bishop of Vinh -
have strongly criticized Hanoi’s bill on "Faith and religion" which violates the
freedom of religion and limits worship. The prelates have stressed that the
proposed norm contrasts with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which, in principle, protects
worship. (Vietcatholic.net)