Police have harassed a priest for not administering the sacrament of marriage for an unknown couple and kidnapped another priest to force him to sign in a minute of meetings to remove a statue of Our Lady.
About 150 priests from the diocese of Vinh have gathered at the Bishop Office in Xa Doai from Nov. 3-7 for their annual retreat during which they have also discussed on the diocesan plan for the coming Holy Jubilee, the situations of their parishes, and issues they have recently faced.
Security for priests in the diocese of Vinh has also been on the agenda. Months after the brutal attacks against Fr. Paul Nguyen Dinh Phu and Fr. Peter Nguyen The Binh, relationship between Catholics and local government remains tense. The two priests were beaten to half dead by police and a pro-government mob at the parish of Tam Toa in July.
Fr. John Nguyen Minh Duong of Ke Sat reported that on Aug. 27 while administering sacrament of marriage for 22 couples at the church of Con Se, Quang Binh, he suddenly saw another couple, not in the group of those who had been well prepared for the holy sacrament. This couple showed up unexpectedly and asked him to confer the sacrament upon them as well.
Fr. John Nguyen refused to do so, explaining that since they had not completed a Marriage Preparation course as required by the church, and their Catholic background was virtually unknown to him, he was not permitted to honor their request.
Since that bizarre incident, the priest had been continuously receiving death threats in his mobile from an anonymous caller.
Parishioners searched for the couple who failed to receive the sacrament and found the culprit who was hired to send death threats to their pastor. This person shamelessly confirmed that he indeed was the caller who made such serious threats against Fr. John Nguyen. Parishioners also found a knife in his pocket. They immediately sent him to the nearest police station. However, for reasons unknown to parishioners, he was released almost immediately by the police. In their more shocking surprise, the next day, the priest and a few church council-members received a citation from the police charging them of attacking the man and illegally taking him in custody.
In a letter dated Sep. 5 sent to Bishop Paul Marie Cao Dinh Thuyen and various Vietnam’s security agencies, Fr. John Nguyen - the pastor of Con Se and Ke Sat - expressed his “shocking surprise” to see the injustice imposed against him and his parishioners when they as “victims have been turned into criminals". But, his letter seemed to go into deaf ears. He and church council members have continually been harassed by local police.
What happened to the pastor of Bau Sen, Fr. Peter Nguyen Van Huu, was also quite peculiar. On early morning of Nov. 5, he was kidnapped by a group of local police when he was on his way to the annual retreat at the Bishop Office in Xa Doai.
He was detained by local police while the statue of Our Lady in his parish’s cemetery being removed. Hundreds of heavily armed and well-entrenched militants were deployed in the area to protect for a large number of police officers remove the statue.
On Sept. 21, 2008 the People's Committee of Bo Trach county, Quang Binh province issued Decision 3150 QĐ – CC to coerce the parish of Bau Sen to remove the statue within 5 days from the date of Decision's issuance. The statue of the Virgin Mary was placed by parishioners in April of last year on a boulder in the parish cemetery across the road from Bau Sen Church.
The infamous decision shocked the Catholic community throughout the region since the statue had been placed on a religious premise. A wave of protest had taken placed with tremendous support from fellow Christians at home and abroad, which somewhat helped to deter the government's action to a lesser degree until typhoon Ketsana put a stop to the effort.
But when the storm was over, on Oct 16, the government again mobilized heavy equipment and bulldozers to resume their removal task. An anonymous source in the pro-government Fatherland Front said provincial authorities approved a budget of 1.2 billion dong (US$ 68,000), a considerable amount for a poor province like Quang Binh, to complete the demolition work. Intimidating tactics and threats against Fr. Peter Nguyen and his parishioners had also been employed.
After police had removed the statue and taken it away, Fr. Peter Nguyen was taken to the site where he was asked by the police to sign on unknown document which he consistently refused. Subsequently, he was released after the police failed to obtain a signature from him.
As of now, the fate of Our Lady statue is still unknown. Bau Sen's parishioners are asking for the public support and prayers during this crisis, that the religious item to be soon returned to its site as intended by the Catholic community of Bau Sen, rather than being held as a hostage in a power show-down from the authority.
About 150 priests from the diocese of Vinh have gathered at the Bishop Office in Xa Doai from Nov. 3-7 for their annual retreat during which they have also discussed on the diocesan plan for the coming Holy Jubilee, the situations of their parishes, and issues they have recently faced.
Security for priests in the diocese of Vinh has also been on the agenda. Months after the brutal attacks against Fr. Paul Nguyen Dinh Phu and Fr. Peter Nguyen The Binh, relationship between Catholics and local government remains tense. The two priests were beaten to half dead by police and a pro-government mob at the parish of Tam Toa in July.
Fr. John Nguyen Minh Duong of Ke Sat reported that on Aug. 27 while administering sacrament of marriage for 22 couples at the church of Con Se, Quang Binh, he suddenly saw another couple, not in the group of those who had been well prepared for the holy sacrament. This couple showed up unexpectedly and asked him to confer the sacrament upon them as well.
Fr. John Nguyen refused to do so, explaining that since they had not completed a Marriage Preparation course as required by the church, and their Catholic background was virtually unknown to him, he was not permitted to honor their request.
Since that bizarre incident, the priest had been continuously receiving death threats in his mobile from an anonymous caller.
Parishioners searched for the couple who failed to receive the sacrament and found the culprit who was hired to send death threats to their pastor. This person shamelessly confirmed that he indeed was the caller who made such serious threats against Fr. John Nguyen. Parishioners also found a knife in his pocket. They immediately sent him to the nearest police station. However, for reasons unknown to parishioners, he was released almost immediately by the police. In their more shocking surprise, the next day, the priest and a few church council-members received a citation from the police charging them of attacking the man and illegally taking him in custody.
In a letter dated Sep. 5 sent to Bishop Paul Marie Cao Dinh Thuyen and various Vietnam’s security agencies, Fr. John Nguyen - the pastor of Con Se and Ke Sat - expressed his “shocking surprise” to see the injustice imposed against him and his parishioners when they as “victims have been turned into criminals". But, his letter seemed to go into deaf ears. He and church council members have continually been harassed by local police.
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| Poilce armed with dogs and batons at the scene |
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| Parishioners look in despair |
He was detained by local police while the statue of Our Lady in his parish’s cemetery being removed. Hundreds of heavily armed and well-entrenched militants were deployed in the area to protect for a large number of police officers remove the statue.
On Sept. 21, 2008 the People's Committee of Bo Trach county, Quang Binh province issued Decision 3150 QĐ – CC to coerce the parish of Bau Sen to remove the statue within 5 days from the date of Decision's issuance. The statue of the Virgin Mary was placed by parishioners in April of last year on a boulder in the parish cemetery across the road from Bau Sen Church.
The infamous decision shocked the Catholic community throughout the region since the statue had been placed on a religious premise. A wave of protest had taken placed with tremendous support from fellow Christians at home and abroad, which somewhat helped to deter the government's action to a lesser degree until typhoon Ketsana put a stop to the effort.
But when the storm was over, on Oct 16, the government again mobilized heavy equipment and bulldozers to resume their removal task. An anonymous source in the pro-government Fatherland Front said provincial authorities approved a budget of 1.2 billion dong (US$ 68,000), a considerable amount for a poor province like Quang Binh, to complete the demolition work. Intimidating tactics and threats against Fr. Peter Nguyen and his parishioners had also been employed.
After police had removed the statue and taken it away, Fr. Peter Nguyen was taken to the site where he was asked by the police to sign on unknown document which he consistently refused. Subsequently, he was released after the police failed to obtain a signature from him.
As of now, the fate of Our Lady statue is still unknown. Bau Sen's parishioners are asking for the public support and prayers during this crisis, that the religious item to be soon returned to its site as intended by the Catholic community of Bau Sen, rather than being held as a hostage in a power show-down from the authority.