The Diocese of Vinh, Vietnam has issued a statement decrying government propaganda attacks on the Catholic community and on Bishop Paul Nguyen Thai Hop.
The diocesan statement protested “false articles and stories, which distort the truth,” after a series of reports in the government-controlled media blaming Catholic activists for a series of violent confrontations with police. The statement said that the clashes—in particular, a bloody assault by police on peaceful demonstrators outside a Redemptorist church—reflected a “lawless” attitude on the part of public officials.
The statement from the Vinh diocese concluded with a lament: “The laws of Vietnam have become an effective means for the authorities to use whenever they want to suppress their own people.”
The diocesan statement protested “false articles and stories, which distort the truth,” after a series of reports in the government-controlled media blaming Catholic activists for a series of violent confrontations with police. The statement said that the clashes—in particular, a bloody assault by police on peaceful demonstrators outside a Redemptorist church—reflected a “lawless” attitude on the part of public officials.
The statement from the Vinh diocese concluded with a lament: “The laws of Vietnam have become an effective means for the authorities to use whenever they want to suppress their own people.”