As the Vietnamese church marks the opening of its Jubilee Year, Hanoi Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet has reportedly submitted his resignation to the Pope under pressure from the government.

On Monday Nov. 23, Cardinals Roger Etchegaray, André Vingt-Trois and Bernard Francis Law joined Vietnamese bishops, priests and an estimate of 120,000 faithful of northern dioceses in the grand opening ceremony of the Holy Jubilee in Vietnam, Viet Catholic reports.

The joy on the opening day, however, was overshadowed by news that Archbishop of Hanoi had submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict.

At the annual retreat of priests in Hanoi Archdiocese concluded on Nov. 14, Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet told his priests that he had submit his resignation to Pope Benedict due to his deteriorating health.

However, Archbishop Ngo, 57, is among the youngest bishops in Vietnam leqding to speculation that the underlying cause of his resignation is the persistent pressure from Vietnam government after a series of Church land disputes in recent years, Viet Catholic says.

Nguyen The Thao, chairman of Hanoi’s People Committee has repeatedly called for the prelate’s resignation. On Oct. 15 2008, Thao met with foreign diplomats and charged that “a number of priests, led by Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, took advantage of parishioners’ beliefs and their own low awareness of the law to instigate unrest, intentionally breaking the law and acting contrary to the interests of both the nation and the Church” trying to gauge diplomats’ attitude toward possible government action Church officials.

The next day, the Saigon Liberated reported Thao’s insistence that “the Hanoi archbishop must be transferred out of Hanoi as he has neither reputation nor creditability with the city’s citizens, including Catholic faithful.”

Since then, Thao has repeatedly called for Archbishop Ngo’s transfer.

Rumors of Archbishop’s departure have circulated since the “Ad Limina” visit of Vietnamese bishops on June 27, 2009. However, the official announcement of his resignation by the prelate himself still caused shock.

Observers also noted that during his Jubilee speech, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray solemnly gave his crosier to Archbishop Joseph Ngo as a gift saying that he did not want to bring it back to Rome with him.

Some interpreted this as a symbolic gesture that Rome wanted Archbishop Joseph Ngo to stay in Hanoi, VietCatholic says.

(Source: http://www.cathnewsasia.com/2009/11/24/hanoi-archbishop-submits-resignation/)