In Hanoi thugs again in action in front of archbishop’s office
In Hanoi thugs again in action in front of archbishop’s office
ICC Note:
“Thugs” carried out a new attack Thursday on the Catholics praying in front of a compound seized from them by the government. They destroyed an iron cross and a statue of the Pieta. The police merely watched the attack – some even helping them destroy the cross and statue – until villagers began responding to pleas for help from the Catholics.
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9/26/08 Vietnam (AsiaNews) A new attack was carried out yesterday afternoon against Catholics praying in front of the compound that once housed the apostolic delegation. This time government thugs reached the front entrance of the archbishop’s office, shouting slogans and calling for Ngo Quang Kiet’s head. An iron cross on the property was destroyed and a statue of the Pietà, which was in the building before it was seized by the authorities in 1959, was taken away.
The thugs (in photo wearing a blue overall) arrived at 4 pm. Following a well-established Stalinist scenario state-owned buses delivered youth, military veterans and other communist associations to express what one agent called “the fury of people” against Catholics, especially the archbishop.
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In the building priests and employees locked down the doors as police, out in large numbers, stood idly by. Some agents even helped the mob destroy the iron cross erected in January in the former delegation’s garden and wheel away the statue of the Pietà that was in the building.
Some Catholics found refuge in St Joseph Cathedral where they rang the bell to call for help from the faithful in nearby parishes.
Only then did police order the thugs away to avoid a clash with the people who were rushing to the site.