Their convent has already been bulldozed to build a public square but the defiant Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres in Vinh Long still refuse to let themselves submitted to injustice.

“The local government of Vinh Long province must rectify its mistakes consistent with the moral tradition of the nation,” cried out Sister Patrick de la Croix Huynh Thi Bich Ngoc, the Superior of the congregation.

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The Vietnamese government had recognised the area as a ‘memorial site’ because it was damaged by US planes. Local officials have signed a deal with a contractor worth millions of dollars.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) - Waving Vatican flags, Catholics (pictured) from Cau Ram, Yen Dai and Ke Gai parishes in the Cau Ram deanery (Vinh Diocese) met on Sunday to demonstrate against a decision by local authorities to turn land belonging to Church in Cau Ram into a residential area.

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In an unexpected move made by the Vietnamese government on Mar 15, 2010, Fr. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly whose raw, courageous criticism of the government on human and religious rights had landed he in the communist prison 15 times since 1977 has been released to the custody of Hue Archdiocese and his family for medical treatment for 12 months.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2010

Vietnam: USCIRF Condemns Intimidation of Le Thi Cong Nhan and Urges Obama Administration to Name Vietnam a CPC

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Vietnam continues to backslide on human rights and religious freedom with the detention Wednesday of Le Thi Cong Nhan for giving interviews to international media, said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today.

Le Thi Cong Nhan, a prominent human rights and religious freedom dissident, was released from prison Saturday, two months shy of completing a three-year sentence for “anti-government activity.” But she was detained again at a Hanoi police station Wednesday for telling reporters that her time in prison confirmed her “faith” in the peaceful “struggle for human rights and democracy in Vietnam.”

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Parish Under Siege - Catholics Persecuted

On January 6 Vietnamese officials dynamited a crucifix in a cemetery belonging to the Dong Chiem Parish Church, 40 miles from Hanoi. Parishioners who tried to prevent the destruction were beaten by police. Since then, Catholic priests and faithful have been assaulted by uniformed and plainclothes police, and Catholics who try to visit the parish are harassed and beaten; one journalist pummeled to unconsciousness. The latest outrage is a February 24 attack on a group of nuns visiting various parishes in the area.

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Archdiocese of Hanoi welcomed back the congregation of Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres after its 50 years of absence.

Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi, Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu The of Hue, Bishop Josep Nguen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa, and dozens of bishops and priests from various dioceses in Vietnam concelebrated on March 1 the re-establishment of the congregation of Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres in Hanoi.

The congregation of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres is an international, missionary congregation founded by Fr.Louis, parish priest of Levesville-la-Chenard, a small village in France. Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres arrived in Vietnam in 1860 when the Church in the country was being suffered harsh persecutions under the kingdom of Tu Duc (1847-1883).

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Doors and windows are smashed, computers are damaged and members of the community beaten. After surrounding the building security forces go after monks hiding in the vicinity. The authorities had been eyeing the place for months in order to seize it and its immediate area.

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The United States’ decision not to put Vietnam back onto the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) regarding religion flies in the face of absurdity given that repressive country’s ongoing war on religion. Religious repression appears to have actually increased since Vietnam was taken off the CPC list.

The Washington Times' August 7 article “Zen master at center of row” exposes but one more example of Vietnam’s war on religion, this time against the disciples of famous Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh: “The monks and nuns at Bat Nha monastery in Vietnam’s Central Highlands have been quietly meditating and studying the teachings of the 82-year-old Vietnamese sage who is perhaps the world's best-known living Buddhist after Tibet's Dalai Lama.”

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They "confessed" their crimes against the Vietnamese government and appealed for "clemency". They are all part of Block 8406, an illegal movement for democracy. The priest, who also risks jail, defends them: the confessions were extracted under torture.

Hue (AsiaNews) - A Catholic priest from the diocese of Hue (Central Vietnam) has denounced the shows on TV where some dissidents were forced to confess their "crimes" and ask the state’s forgiveness. Now even the priest is likely to be imprisoned.

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