House to house raid and beating innocent people continue in Dong Chiem. The archdiocese urges all churches to devote special prayer sessions for the parishioners until the end of violence against them.
Ever since Hanoi government sent hundreds of professional combatant soldiers, tear gas, batons and explosives to demolish the crucifix on Mount Worship, and to assault those who tried to prevent this sacrilegious act from being done on Jan 6, there has hardly been a day when Dong Chiem parishioners and their priests can live a normal life.
The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in Dong Chiem was marked with a rise in violence against Catholics by local authorities. An angry verbal exchange burst into flame between police and Catholics from a nearby village who were prevented from coming to Dong Chiem for Sunday Mass, resulted in the arrest of two lay people.
Insisting that the area is unsafe due to riot possibility, police forced the churchgoers to turn back. On facing their defiance, police arrested one married couple. Their daughter who protested the arrest was punched on the face, causing her to lose consciousness and a bloody face.
After Sunday Morning Mass, hundreds of parishioners of Dong Chiem came to the Mount Worship (Nui Tho) to pray. They broke down in tears when they saw what happened at the scene. Hundreds of crosses on the tombstones of their passed relatives were smashed up; the makeshift altar set up by the foothill for prayer vigils was littered and turned upside down; and the bamboo cross to replace the old crucifix on the top of Mount Worship was knocked down.
Since Lunar New Year is coming, most tombstones had just been renovated. Parishioners were so painful that some could not help but strongly blame local authorities to be the culprits responsible for the act of vandalism. Their reactions, however, were under close surveillance by uniformed and plain clothes police, who taped and took picture of those who were speaking ill against the government.
Among those who mourned at the site, “a woman and a man were jailed,” one person reported on behalf of the parish.
Further arrests happened on Monday Jan. 18. “Two women over age 60, Mrs. Pham Thi Heo, and Dinh Thi Dau, were arrested on Monday morning,” added the report.
Catholics from nearby villages flocked to Dong Chiem on Sunday after news of a police house to house raid and a series of arrests on Friday leaked out.
Despite the public outcry and condemnation of the government's senseless, arrogant action to the crucifix and the people of Dong Chiem, on Jan 15, local authority accompanied by hundreds of uniform and plain clothes police, and military men had conducted house to house raid without giving a reason to the residents. Four parishioners were arrested. The four were reportedly infected by HIV and had to be isolated to prevent further transmission.
On the Media battle against Catholics, Hanoi has employed all of its media resources. Hà Nội Mới (New Hanoi Newspaper), An Ninh Thủ Đô (Capital Security Newspaper), Kinh Tế Đô Thị (Economic & Urban Newspaper), Pháp luật và Đời sống( Law and Life Review Newspaper), Radio The Voice of Vietnam, and Hanoi Television have special sessions to cover the incident at Dong Chiem with distortions and false accusations against Fr. John Le Trong Cung, vice-chancellor of the archdiocese of Hanoi; Fr. Nguyen Van Huu, parish priest, Fr. Nguyen Van Lien, assistant priest, and Thai Ha Redemptorists.
Hanoi’s Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet is not being forgotten, either. The prelate had been portrayed during the last two years as “troublemakers” who had been “inciting riots, falsely accusing the government, disrespecting the nation, breaking and ridiculing the law, and instigating followers to violate it”.
On Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, deputy chairwoman of Hanoi’s People Committee led a delegation of the local government to visit and present gifts to the archbishop and his auxiliary bishop on the occasion of Christmas. He and his flock were praised by Hang for their “contributions and quick responses to movements launched by the government.”
Now, state media conveniently “downgrade” him to be “troublemakers” once again.
The police are actively searching for him, even though he has been on medical leave as ordered by his physician since the day after the Jan 6 annual retreat.
Facing the outright persecution, the archdiocese has asked all parishes to sing the Peace prayer of St. Francis of Assisi at the end of each and every Mass until and only when the persecution against them stops and justice for all is restored.
Throughout the country massive prayer vigils have been held in dioceses to pray for Dong Chiem parishioners. In Vinh, Catholics wore protest banners on their heads which read "revere the crucifix", an indication of what is about to become a fierce but resolute battle against forces of evil which seem to aim at the most sacred symbol revered by billions of Christians throughout the world, the Crucifix.
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| Priests and faithful wearing protest banners |
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| Protest in Vinh diocese |
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| Protest in Hanoi |
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| Protest in Ham Long, Hanoi |
The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in Dong Chiem was marked with a rise in violence against Catholics by local authorities. An angry verbal exchange burst into flame between police and Catholics from a nearby village who were prevented from coming to Dong Chiem for Sunday Mass, resulted in the arrest of two lay people.
Insisting that the area is unsafe due to riot possibility, police forced the churchgoers to turn back. On facing their defiance, police arrested one married couple. Their daughter who protested the arrest was punched on the face, causing her to lose consciousness and a bloody face.
After Sunday Morning Mass, hundreds of parishioners of Dong Chiem came to the Mount Worship (Nui Tho) to pray. They broke down in tears when they saw what happened at the scene. Hundreds of crosses on the tombstones of their passed relatives were smashed up; the makeshift altar set up by the foothill for prayer vigils was littered and turned upside down; and the bamboo cross to replace the old crucifix on the top of Mount Worship was knocked down.
Since Lunar New Year is coming, most tombstones had just been renovated. Parishioners were so painful that some could not help but strongly blame local authorities to be the culprits responsible for the act of vandalism. Their reactions, however, were under close surveillance by uniformed and plain clothes police, who taped and took picture of those who were speaking ill against the government.
Among those who mourned at the site, “a woman and a man were jailed,” one person reported on behalf of the parish.
Further arrests happened on Monday Jan. 18. “Two women over age 60, Mrs. Pham Thi Heo, and Dinh Thi Dau, were arrested on Monday morning,” added the report.
Catholics from nearby villages flocked to Dong Chiem on Sunday after news of a police house to house raid and a series of arrests on Friday leaked out.
Despite the public outcry and condemnation of the government's senseless, arrogant action to the crucifix and the people of Dong Chiem, on Jan 15, local authority accompanied by hundreds of uniform and plain clothes police, and military men had conducted house to house raid without giving a reason to the residents. Four parishioners were arrested. The four were reportedly infected by HIV and had to be isolated to prevent further transmission.
On the Media battle against Catholics, Hanoi has employed all of its media resources. Hà Nội Mới (New Hanoi Newspaper), An Ninh Thủ Đô (Capital Security Newspaper), Kinh Tế Đô Thị (Economic & Urban Newspaper), Pháp luật và Đời sống( Law and Life Review Newspaper), Radio The Voice of Vietnam, and Hanoi Television have special sessions to cover the incident at Dong Chiem with distortions and false accusations against Fr. John Le Trong Cung, vice-chancellor of the archdiocese of Hanoi; Fr. Nguyen Van Huu, parish priest, Fr. Nguyen Van Lien, assistant priest, and Thai Ha Redemptorists.
Hanoi’s Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet is not being forgotten, either. The prelate had been portrayed during the last two years as “troublemakers” who had been “inciting riots, falsely accusing the government, disrespecting the nation, breaking and ridiculing the law, and instigating followers to violate it”.
On Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, deputy chairwoman of Hanoi’s People Committee led a delegation of the local government to visit and present gifts to the archbishop and his auxiliary bishop on the occasion of Christmas. He and his flock were praised by Hang for their “contributions and quick responses to movements launched by the government.”
Now, state media conveniently “downgrade” him to be “troublemakers” once again.
The police are actively searching for him, even though he has been on medical leave as ordered by his physician since the day after the Jan 6 annual retreat.
Facing the outright persecution, the archdiocese has asked all parishes to sing the Peace prayer of St. Francis of Assisi at the end of each and every Mass until and only when the persecution against them stops and justice for all is restored.
Throughout the country massive prayer vigils have been held in dioceses to pray for Dong Chiem parishioners. In Vinh, Catholics wore protest banners on their heads which read "revere the crucifix", an indication of what is about to become a fierce but resolute battle against forces of evil which seem to aim at the most sacred symbol revered by billions of Christians throughout the world, the Crucifix.