Catholic bishops in Vietnam are calling for peaceful dialogue amid ongoing persecutions against Catholics in the diocese of Vinh and the government’s unwillingness to settle disputes with Catholics peacefully.

In an editorial published on VietCatholic News on Aug. 12, Vietnam Conference of Catholic Bishops has expressed bishops’ growing concerns on the tensions caused by recent land disputes between Catholics and local authorities, and the extreme way these disputes have been handled.

"Public opinion has been greatly concerned as recent disputes regarding Church property have ended up with law enforcement measures by the government up to and not limit by prosecutions and imprisonments against Catholics", the bishops said, noting the level of violence and hostility against Catholics by law enforcement forces and state media.

According to Vietnamese bishops, the main cause of current tensions is the prolonged, unresolved complaints and denunciations on land, including religious land in general and of the Catholic Church in particular. At the heart of the matter lies the outdated and inconsistent land law.

Echoing their viewpoints expressed on the issue at Hanoi nunciature, bishops state that “Vietnam land laws must be revised to take the right to own private property into consideration as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.’ and ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.’ (article17). We, therefore, assume that instead of resolving the issues by dealing with each case on an individual basis, authorities have to search for a more thorough solution, meaning to let the people have the right to own land and property. People in return must be responsible for the society. This demand becomes more urgent during the globalization process, when Vietnam has been more tuning in with the global rhythm. This should be the premise to resolve people’s complaints and denunciations on land and property; and at the same time, contributes to the economic growth and the steady development of the country.”

Lamenting on the abuse of the State’ absolute power on land, bishops continue: “According to the current Land Laws, all land belongs to the people and the state would be the representative of ownership. With their status as the representative owner, however, the State has the absolute right to decide the fate of the land. For example, pursuant to Rule 5 of the Land Laws, the State has the following rights: to decide the use of the land, to transfer land, to rent it out, to revoke land use, to modify the purpose of land use, to set value on land, to decide on the limit on land transfer and set time limit on land use.”

“Should this enormous power are not tied up with any guideline and an effective body to supervise, it would be inevitable for abuse to flourish by those who are decision makers on land issues. The problem is the abuse of power to gain personal interest, especially when land becomes a valuable commodity as it is now,” they warn.

Their warnings have been proven by what have happened in Vietnam: “Reality has shown that land has become people's ‘assets’, ‘capital’, ‘commodity’ in today's market. This is the premise or cause for desire to appropriate or to gain profits from land.

Land is undoubtedly has become a most lucrative source of profit, also the best breeding ground for corruption to take place, therefore, the goal to prevent it from happening cannot be ignored in the contents of Land Laws.”

In order to deal with issues effectively, they suggest that: “Acknowledgement and protection of the right to own land individually as well as preventing corruption to take place are the goals to be achieved when Land Laws are being modified.”

“Only when being able to reflect the above points, the Land Laws can be truly established because of and for the people.

It is one of the realistic solutions for untying the knots on the land issues, one of which is the history of ownership on homes, lands, schools, hospital, worshiping places for religions confiscated or appropriated by the government.”

Having pointed out the outdated and inconsistent land law as the main cause of land disputes, the bishops went on noting that "the prolonged, unresolved complaints and denunciations on land have transformed into massive gatherings and protests." Regrettably, to deal with them, the government opted to violence and the distortion of truth through its state media rather than looking for a mutual resolution which represents the fair and reasonable application of the law in which the rights and dignity of the citizens/ land owners are respected and protected.

"In the process of solving the disputes, a number of the mass media were proven to be effective in spreading doubts and mistrust instead of bridging the nation with mutual understanding and unification," the bishops lamented, warning that "The mass media can only bring benefits to people and society when it serves the truth and gives a true reflection of reality."

Noting that whenever Catholics express their views not in line with the government state media immediately interpreted as a "facing off" attitude, the bishops called for the respect of truth as "only when the truth is respected can the media community finish their duty which is to inform and educate the public of a just, democratic and civilized society."

Citing a paragraph from Pope Benedict XVI's speech to Vietnamese Bishops on their adlimina visit on June 27, 2009 "You know, as well as I do, that healthy collaboration between the Church and the political community is feasible. In this regard, the Church invites all her members to be loyally committed to building a just, supportive and fair society. Her intention is certainly not to replace government leaders; she only wishes to be able to play a fair role in the nation's well being, at the service of the whole people, in a spirit of dialogue and respectful collaboration," bishops concluded with an affirmation that Catholics in Vietnam are sincere in their desire to actively contribute to the stable and steady development of the country based on truth, justice and love.