Reports published today by the Vietnamese Government’s National Election Council show that 7 Catholic priests have won seats in the National Assembly and Provincial Councils in the General Election held on last Sunday May 22.

At the national level, despite strong criticism from Catholics, Fr. Tran Manh Cuong and Fr. Le Ngoc Hoan, of the dioceses of Ban Me Thout and Bui Chu, respectively, have succeed in their election bid for membership in the 13th National Assembly.

At the provincial level, Fr. Do Quang Chi and Fr. Phan Dinh Son were elected to the People’s Councils of the two Southern major cities of Ho Chi Minh and Can Tho. In addition, Fr. Nguyen Van Vinh, Fr. Nguyen Van Hau, and Fr. Hoang Thai Lan of the dioceses of Nha Trang, Ba Ria, and Vinh, respectively, have confirmed their seats in the People’s Councils of Provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Quang Binh.

At least 20 more priests have succeed in their election bid for membership in People’s Councils at lower levels.

However, not all priest candidates won in their election campaign. In Saigon, Fr. Phan Khac Tu who made international headlines in April for his involvement in the Vietnam War, was defeated badly in his run for the National Assembly. Catholics got shocked at his claim that during the war, he built inside a church in Saigon downtown a small secret factory to produce hand-held bombs that could be used against American soldiers.

Fr. Tran Van Qui, the Provincial Fatherland Front Vice Chairman of Thua Thien and Hue, was knocked out of the provincial election in Hue.

It has reportedly been the result of an active campaign carried out by Catholic activists in the archdioceses of Saigon and Hue urging the faithful not to vote for them. However, many believe that the result of the election had been pre-determined before the actual voting, and that Fr. Tu and Fr. Qui must “give way” for some other more important communist figures.

The running of priests for communist ruling bodies caused heated debates among Vietnamese Catholics. The Code of Canon Law (285-3) forbids clerics from holding political office “if it means sharing in the exercise of civil power.” In an open letter to the Vietnamese hierarchy, several priests—including Father Nguyen Van Ly, a prominent dissident who has spent almost 15 years in prison—argued that membership in communist ruling bodies falls into that proscribed category, since these organs exist to legitimize and carry out decisions of the Communist Party. “It is clear from Church teachings that no true Catholic can ever be a Communist, or condone Communism,” the priests added. They asked the Vietnamese bishops to take disciplinary action against the priests who were candidates for election.

In the diocese of Vinh, on May 3, Bishop Paul Nguyen Thai Hop issued a statement to cease “all pastoral activities of religious” by Fr. Nguyen Thanh Tu who had run for the Provincial People’s Council of Ha Tinh. One day later, the priest withdrew from the election.

A similar approach was carried out by Cardinal Jean Baptise Pham Minh Man of Saigon Archdiocese, but it failed to make Fr. Phan Khac Tu give up his election campaign for the National Assembly. Fr. Tu is the chief editor of “Catholics and Nation”, a magazine that was founded with government support in 1975 and well notorious for its frequent criticism of Pope John Paul II and the Vatican. He is currently the vice-chairman of the Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics (CSVC) (founded by the regime with an impetus to establish a Church breaking up with Rome piece by piece).

The decision of the archdiocese to remove him faced prompt oppositions from the communists. A “delegate of spontaneous people” gathered at the Archbishopric of Saigon yelling their demands for the withdrawal of the Cardinal’s decision. In his interview with Radio Free Asia on May 13, it emerged that Fr. Tu is still carrying out his pastoral activities in the Vietnamese Martyrs Church of Vuon Xoai. “I am still here, still saying Masses, still administering sacraments...everything keeps going on as usual,” he said in a language that apparently challenged the jurisdiction of the archdiocesan ordinaries.

Asked if the presence of Catholic priests in Communist ruling bodies may help improve the Church’s life in any aspects, Fr. Joseph Nguyen from Hanoi told VietCatholic News: “Not at all. Look, they have been there for years, but have never said a single word against the series of unjust seizure of Church premises and land. On the contrary, when priests were beaten to half dead in Tam Toa, Dong Chiem, it was Fr. Phan Khac Tu who called for more severe punishments against his brothers and sisters in Christ.”

None of priests in the archdiocese of Hanoi have run for the election nor joined the CSVC.

Priests running for seat in organs of state power were selected from the Central Council of CSVC which consists of 74 priests who are leaders of CSVC’s Provincial Councils in 38 provinces and major cities.

Among an estimated of 2800 Catholic priests in Vietnam, hundreds join the CSVC. So far, the CSVC has never set itself up as a church per se or sought to ordain bishops not endorsed by the Vatican as its Chinese counterpart did in China. However, it creates dysfunction within the Church. Typically, the atheist government has deprived the legitimate power of bishops and then granted to some State priests in CSVC who have been unofficially and effectively running the Church in parallel with the bishops. They are even overshadowing the bishops in cases where permission from the State is needed.

Recently, the Vietnamese government has proposed amendments to existing laws which will further restrict freedom of worship and require more permission on church-related activities in the country.

“Instead of being able to enjoy their legitimate rights, they [Catholic clergy] have to beg for permission to held religious ceremonies, to preach their beliefs, to carry out formation and ordination,” lamented Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man in a recent letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister.

Working closely with Catholic youth, Fr. Joseph Tran saw the issue in another aspect. “Their presence in communist organisations has hammered the credibility of the Church, and ultimately the effectiveness of our mission efforts. I have difficulties explaining their outrageous violations against the Canon Law to the young generation of faithful and catechumen who are not willing to accept unquestionably whatever we teach them, but react more and more vigorously against this sort of grave scandal of the Church in Vietnam,” he told VietCatholic News.