I don’t know how many of you have been following the extremely disquieting events that have been taking place in Vietnam in recent weeks, including widespread reports of ruthless persecutions of Catholics throughout the country. AsiaNews published a very lengthy report several days, noting that, “On July 20, 2009 police in Quang Binh province launched a surprised attack on the unarmed parishioners of Tam Toa - a struggling parish of the diocese of Vinh in Central Vietnam - when these Catholics were erecting a makeshift tent as a temporary place for worshiping services. The assault resulted in hundreds being injured, and dozens were taken away in police vehicles and detained indefinitely.”
In following days, says the report, “series of articles on almost every state media outlets filled with false accusations against the victims flooded the newsstands, putting Tam Toa parish in spot light extremely unfavorable to them. This time the victims have been portrayed as stubborn, organized criminals who were out to disturb and destroy the national security and the integrity of the state. Their fate now is in limbo as no one knows their whereabouts and how badly they have suffered in the hands of this ruthless regime. Respected, devoted priests were not excluded and two priests in the central coastal city of Dong Hoi were badly beaten and left in critical condition.”
These two paragraphs are only the tip of the iceberg in this report about an ongoing situation of abuse and persecution of Catholics.
Many of you know from this column that I have a friend here in Rome, Fr. Cuong Pham, a Vietnamese priest who is studying at the Pontifical North American College in the graduate studies program. In January 2008 I did a riveting two-part interview for “Vatican Insider” with Fr. Cuong, telling the story of his childhood in Vietnam, how he came to America, his decision to become a priest and how he eventually was sent to Rome for further studies.
I emailed Fr. Cuong, who is in New York, helping out at a parish in Brooklyn for the summer, asking if he knew any of the priests or lay people involved, had this occurred near his home, or had family or friends affected by the violence.
Here is the letter I received from him yesterday morning: “I do not know the priests or the people there in that part of the country. It is near the central city of Hue, between Hanoi and Hue. The diocese there is the Diocese of Vinh, covering the city of Vinh and other provinces that featured prominently in the history of the Church as well as the Vietnam War.
”By coincidence, this past Thursday I had an opportunity to celebrate a private Mass and share a family dinner with the Bishop of Vinh in Long Island, New York. His name is Bishop Paul Marie Cao Dinh Thuyen, 82 years old, with stamina and a full (head) of white hair just like the Pope. The Bishop is visiting his people from Vinh who now reside in the United States, after finishing his ad limina visit to the Holy Father three weeks ago. I met him in Rome before I returned to Brooklyn, and met him again here due to a common priest friend's invitation to Long Island.
”I had a long and meaningful conversation with him about the situation that is developing in his diocese. Even though he is abroad, he communicates daily via phone, fax and email to the Vicar General and the priests there, encouraging them with letters and messages of prayerful support as well as practical direction. He will be back there soon to join them in the struggle. I believe that he did not expect the situation to turn this bad. He was quite shaken after learning of the latest beatings of priests and lay faithful to (being in) critical condition, mass arrests and all kinds of intimidation and persecution. He believes that there will be mass martyrdom if the government does not cease the violence, something he says that the people themselves do not mind going through for the faith.
”If you wish to know more information, I will be happy to assist in anyway you see fit. For now, the information is quite public and widespread in the media. Even the secular press is paying lots of attention. One priest from Vinh describes it as being ‘very hotly volatile’ right now, a situation in which blood shed will likely occur on a massive scale as the government is using the old tactic of paying thugs, homeless men, non-Christians and disaffected youth to attack the Church. Thousands of them are chanting on the streets: "Kill them all!", "Kill their priests," using profane and violent language. There are reports of Catholic children and women being beaten up by the police.
”The whole diocese of Vinh, half a million Catholics, and all her priests, are strongly united against injustice. They demonstrate now in peaceful protests, carrying banners that describe the horrible crimes of the local government. Insiders from the central government and those friendly with the Church says that it is something directed and allowed by the top leaders who want to suppress the Church once and for all. It is interesting that Msgr. J.B. Huynh Cong Minh, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Saigon, long believed to be a communist party member, is now speaking out against the atrocities and denouncing the government for escalating the tension.”
Thanks, Fr. Cuong – we’ll remember your people in our prayers.
Vietnam is second only to the Philippines in Asia for the number of Catholics among its population. The bishops of Vietnam were in Rome last month on their mandatory quinquennial “ad limina” visit. On July 25, Pope Benedict named four new bishops in Vietnam. The Church in Vietnam in 2010 will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishing of the Episcopal hierarchy.
Inexplicably following on the heels of this news of abuse and persecutions of Catholics in Vietnam, came the announcement days ago Cardinal Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) that a Vietnamese government delegation, headed by the country's president, will visit the Vatican in November 2009.
Some see this as a sign that diplomatic ties between the Holy See and Vietnam may be forthcoming, although the Holy See does not usually establish such ties with countries if there are important outstanding issues to be resolved - such as the confiscation of Church property by the government, one of the primary issues of contention in Vietnam. That is not always the case, however, as was seen in the 1993 establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and the Holy See when many issues remained on the table to be resolved – and most of them are still there today.
Others see this as a sign that talks between Vietnamese and Vatican officials may help ease the exiting tensions between Catholics and the communist Vietnamese government.
Vietnamese Catholics have for some time desperately been longing for a papal visit. Going to Vietnam was an unfulfilled dream of John Paul II.
Will Benedict XVI be invited for a visit?
Seems like a huge number of issues would have to be resolved first, not the least of which is the brutal persecution of Catholics.
(Source: http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blogposts_ID=773&blog_ID=1)
In following days, says the report, “series of articles on almost every state media outlets filled with false accusations against the victims flooded the newsstands, putting Tam Toa parish in spot light extremely unfavorable to them. This time the victims have been portrayed as stubborn, organized criminals who were out to disturb and destroy the national security and the integrity of the state. Their fate now is in limbo as no one knows their whereabouts and how badly they have suffered in the hands of this ruthless regime. Respected, devoted priests were not excluded and two priests in the central coastal city of Dong Hoi were badly beaten and left in critical condition.”
These two paragraphs are only the tip of the iceberg in this report about an ongoing situation of abuse and persecution of Catholics.
Many of you know from this column that I have a friend here in Rome, Fr. Cuong Pham, a Vietnamese priest who is studying at the Pontifical North American College in the graduate studies program. In January 2008 I did a riveting two-part interview for “Vatican Insider” with Fr. Cuong, telling the story of his childhood in Vietnam, how he came to America, his decision to become a priest and how he eventually was sent to Rome for further studies.
I emailed Fr. Cuong, who is in New York, helping out at a parish in Brooklyn for the summer, asking if he knew any of the priests or lay people involved, had this occurred near his home, or had family or friends affected by the violence.
Here is the letter I received from him yesterday morning: “I do not know the priests or the people there in that part of the country. It is near the central city of Hue, between Hanoi and Hue. The diocese there is the Diocese of Vinh, covering the city of Vinh and other provinces that featured prominently in the history of the Church as well as the Vietnam War.
”By coincidence, this past Thursday I had an opportunity to celebrate a private Mass and share a family dinner with the Bishop of Vinh in Long Island, New York. His name is Bishop Paul Marie Cao Dinh Thuyen, 82 years old, with stamina and a full (head) of white hair just like the Pope. The Bishop is visiting his people from Vinh who now reside in the United States, after finishing his ad limina visit to the Holy Father three weeks ago. I met him in Rome before I returned to Brooklyn, and met him again here due to a common priest friend's invitation to Long Island.
”I had a long and meaningful conversation with him about the situation that is developing in his diocese. Even though he is abroad, he communicates daily via phone, fax and email to the Vicar General and the priests there, encouraging them with letters and messages of prayerful support as well as practical direction. He will be back there soon to join them in the struggle. I believe that he did not expect the situation to turn this bad. He was quite shaken after learning of the latest beatings of priests and lay faithful to (being in) critical condition, mass arrests and all kinds of intimidation and persecution. He believes that there will be mass martyrdom if the government does not cease the violence, something he says that the people themselves do not mind going through for the faith.
”If you wish to know more information, I will be happy to assist in anyway you see fit. For now, the information is quite public and widespread in the media. Even the secular press is paying lots of attention. One priest from Vinh describes it as being ‘very hotly volatile’ right now, a situation in which blood shed will likely occur on a massive scale as the government is using the old tactic of paying thugs, homeless men, non-Christians and disaffected youth to attack the Church. Thousands of them are chanting on the streets: "Kill them all!", "Kill their priests," using profane and violent language. There are reports of Catholic children and women being beaten up by the police.
”The whole diocese of Vinh, half a million Catholics, and all her priests, are strongly united against injustice. They demonstrate now in peaceful protests, carrying banners that describe the horrible crimes of the local government. Insiders from the central government and those friendly with the Church says that it is something directed and allowed by the top leaders who want to suppress the Church once and for all. It is interesting that Msgr. J.B. Huynh Cong Minh, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Saigon, long believed to be a communist party member, is now speaking out against the atrocities and denouncing the government for escalating the tension.”
Thanks, Fr. Cuong – we’ll remember your people in our prayers.
Vietnam is second only to the Philippines in Asia for the number of Catholics among its population. The bishops of Vietnam were in Rome last month on their mandatory quinquennial “ad limina” visit. On July 25, Pope Benedict named four new bishops in Vietnam. The Church in Vietnam in 2010 will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishing of the Episcopal hierarchy.
Inexplicably following on the heels of this news of abuse and persecutions of Catholics in Vietnam, came the announcement days ago Cardinal Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) that a Vietnamese government delegation, headed by the country's president, will visit the Vatican in November 2009.
Some see this as a sign that diplomatic ties between the Holy See and Vietnam may be forthcoming, although the Holy See does not usually establish such ties with countries if there are important outstanding issues to be resolved - such as the confiscation of Church property by the government, one of the primary issues of contention in Vietnam. That is not always the case, however, as was seen in the 1993 establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and the Holy See when many issues remained on the table to be resolved – and most of them are still there today.
Others see this as a sign that talks between Vietnamese and Vatican officials may help ease the exiting tensions between Catholics and the communist Vietnamese government.
Vietnamese Catholics have for some time desperately been longing for a papal visit. Going to Vietnam was an unfulfilled dream of John Paul II.
Will Benedict XVI be invited for a visit?
Seems like a huge number of issues would have to be resolved first, not the least of which is the brutal persecution of Catholics.
(Source: http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blogposts_ID=773&blog_ID=1)