The diocese of Da Nang reports another attack of Vietnam government against Catholics in Vietnam. Hundreds of police have been deployed to back the demolition of homes of more than 2000 Catholics.
On Jan. 27, hundreds of both plain-clothes and heavily armed and well-entrenched police equipped with tear gas and electrical prods have been deployed in the Con Dau Parish to back the demolition of 400 homes of parishioners.
The parish, located in Hoa Xuan ward, Cam Le district, with 400 Catholic families living in an area of 400 hectares, has been eyed by Da Nang city officials to be the location for the establishment of Hoa Xuan ecotourism project. Parishioners now face a complete clearance in order to pave the way for the project leaving Fr. Emmanuel Nguyen Tan Luc, the pastor, alone to serve a parish with no parishioners.
“Our parish is going to celebrate the 135th anniversary of our first conversion to Catholicism and the 80th year of our parish formation on August of 2010,” said Fr. Emmanuel Nguyen expressing his concern on a scary and very dark future ahead.
Mr. Thai Van Lien, Chairperson of parish council said that he had learned about the project for the clearance and resettlement of the parish to a new area two years ago. “But, it’s too ridiculous and unjust to believe that local authorities could go ahead with their project. Unfortunately, it's a reality now,” he added.
“We are calling out for help, and even willing to die for our church and our property,” he continued.
As indicated in the city proposal, Con Dau would be transformed into a housing project with multi-million dollar homes. It's obvious that as the value of land being compared to that of gold, the authority would waste no time to remove the residents out of their homes and land with a nominal portion of monetary compensation that won't be enough for the victims to rebuild their lives anywhere else.
Parishioners have sent out an urgent appeal to the Vietnam top officials and the Parliament asking them to halt the decision to clear out their homes to make room for the construction of a tourist attraction. However, it’s very likely that their petition would go into deaf ears as in numerous previous incidents.
In the era of open markets, land values have increased at a dizzying rate. As values of religious properties being reassessed, their economic potentials turn out to be so great that the authorities must find ways to claim them for personal gains. Citing the Communist system where “all land belongs to the people and is managed by the State on behalf of the people”, local governments throughout Vietnam have forced religious leaders to “donate” religious properties. In most cases, demolition would start soon to convert these properties into hotels, restaurants, and night clubs before the victims could react.
On Jan. 27, hundreds of both plain-clothes and heavily armed and well-entrenched police equipped with tear gas and electrical prods have been deployed in the Con Dau Parish to back the demolition of 400 homes of parishioners.
The parish, located in Hoa Xuan ward, Cam Le district, with 400 Catholic families living in an area of 400 hectares, has been eyed by Da Nang city officials to be the location for the establishment of Hoa Xuan ecotourism project. Parishioners now face a complete clearance in order to pave the way for the project leaving Fr. Emmanuel Nguyen Tan Luc, the pastor, alone to serve a parish with no parishioners.“Our parish is going to celebrate the 135th anniversary of our first conversion to Catholicism and the 80th year of our parish formation on August of 2010,” said Fr. Emmanuel Nguyen expressing his concern on a scary and very dark future ahead.
Mr. Thai Van Lien, Chairperson of parish council said that he had learned about the project for the clearance and resettlement of the parish to a new area two years ago. “But, it’s too ridiculous and unjust to believe that local authorities could go ahead with their project. Unfortunately, it's a reality now,” he added.
“We are calling out for help, and even willing to die for our church and our property,” he continued.
As indicated in the city proposal, Con Dau would be transformed into a housing project with multi-million dollar homes. It's obvious that as the value of land being compared to that of gold, the authority would waste no time to remove the residents out of their homes and land with a nominal portion of monetary compensation that won't be enough for the victims to rebuild their lives anywhere else.
Parishioners have sent out an urgent appeal to the Vietnam top officials and the Parliament asking them to halt the decision to clear out their homes to make room for the construction of a tourist attraction. However, it’s very likely that their petition would go into deaf ears as in numerous previous incidents.
In the era of open markets, land values have increased at a dizzying rate. As values of religious properties being reassessed, their economic potentials turn out to be so great that the authorities must find ways to claim them for personal gains. Citing the Communist system where “all land belongs to the people and is managed by the State on behalf of the people”, local governments throughout Vietnam have forced religious leaders to “donate” religious properties. In most cases, demolition would start soon to convert these properties into hotels, restaurants, and night clubs before the victims could react.