BANGKOK (UCAN, September 11, 2008 ) -- Bishops, priests and lay Catholics throughout the country continue to visit and show strong support for Redemptorists and Catholics from a Ha Noi parish engaged in a land dispute with the government.

When people asked Bishop Antoine Vu Huy Chuong of Hung Hoa about the dispute involving Thai Ha parish, he said, "Pray! Pray!" The bishop recalled this in his letter dated Sept. 8 to the Redemptorists and parishioners.

"I have been praying much for justice and the truth to be respected not only at Thai Ha parish but in any places where injustice and deceitfulness exist," wrote Bishop Chuong, whose diocese is based in Son Tay city, 42 kilometers northwest of Ha Noi. "I am always in communion with your prayers," he added.

Bishop Chuong, head of the Episcopal Commission for Clergy and Seminarians, said he hopes many people are praying in their hearts for the parish, "because only God can do things people cannot."

"Today, (Sept. 8) on the feast of the birth of Mother Mary, I earnestly pray to Our Lady of Perpetual Help to beseech God for the Church and people in Vietnam," the bishop said.

Bishop Chuong also condemned state-run media for inaccurate reports on developments at the parish. He recalled a priest in his diocese told him that Ha Noi television showed a person supposedly representing the priest's parishioners expressing views on the land dispute. However, the Church leader said local people all know that person is not a Catholic but a local government official. "It is a sad and worrying thing," the bishop wrote.

Local Church sources told UCA News that a delegation of priests from Bac Ninh diocese, led by Bishop-elect Cosme Hoang Van Dat, concelebrated an evening Mass at Thai Ha church on Sept. 9. Afterward, they and Massgoers gathered and prayed in front of the Marian statue at the contested site near the church. Bac Ninh also neighbors Ha Noi archdiocese.

That morning, many Catholics from the northern provinces of Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Phat Diem, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc visited and prayed at the site, sources also reported. Many of them arrived by bicycle, motorbike or public bus since security officials are trying to prevent people in private cars from reaching the parish, they added.

Sources also said four priests from the archdiocese's Ha Nam deanery had visited a day earlier, concelebrated Mass at the church and prayed for justice and peace to be respected.

Vietnam Television reported on Sept. 10 that police were prosecuting four Catholics -- two women and two men -- for damaging public property. One of the four, Marie Nguyen Thi Nhi, is a Muong ethnic woman who was arrested on Aug. 28 after she and other Muong ethnic people played gongs and prayed at the site.

Bishop Joseph Dang Duc Ngan of Lang Son, accompanied by seven priests and four nuns from his northernmost diocese, had led a concelebrated Mass at the church and visited the contested site that morning, according to Redemptorist Father Pierre Nguyen Van Khai, 38, stationed at the parish.

That afternoon, Bishops Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa and Paul Cao Dinh Thuyen of Vinh led Mass at the church joined by priests and Catholics from various. Afterward, they too prayed and offered incense in front of the Marian statue at the site.

Father Khai said police have been stopping buses and other vehicles carrying Catholics from outside the area to Thai Ha parish, so Catholics have had to say they were on the way to attend wedding parties or visit Ho Chi Minh's tomb.

The priest also told UCA News local Catholics continue to pray for the police to release the detained Catholics. The Thai Ha Redemptorists have asked where the four are being kept, but police refused to tell them, he added.

Due to the numbers of clergy, Religious and laypeople from various places who have been coming to offer their support, he continued, four or five Masses have been held each day at the parish instead of the usual two. Additionally, five-to-seven priests have been hearing confessions each day.

According to Father Khai, state-run media have been conducting campaigns to vilify local Redemptorists and parishioners, accusing them of breaking laws, and even discredit the Catholic Church in Vietnam as a whole. They also have been broadcasting reports and land laws through large speakers hung on two telegraph poles in front of the gate of the church to make people misunderstand the issue, he added.

Even so, local Catholics are not afraid, he said, noting that "there are 20-30 priests based at the parish to provide pastoral services."