A Special Report by ICC
10/20/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Recent attempts to seize land belonging to a Monastery in Hanoi characterize Vietnam’s historic habit of persecuting the Christian minority to wipe out their influence in the country.
Recent Attempts to Seize Land Belonging to a Monastery
Since it was purchased in 1928, the land around Lake Ba Giang, Hanoi, has belonged to the Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery of Thai Ha Catholic parish. But recently, the Department for Urbanism in Hanoi ordered the Redemptorists to hand over the land, falsely claiming that is “public property.”
“We have never granted, given or transferred the right to use any part of land to individuals or organizations,” said Father Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, in his letter to the president of the local Communist People’s Committee, Nguyen The Thao. The letter also said, “The priests, religious and faithful say the measure is illegal and constitutes a violation of the rights of the Christian community.”
When the Communists took over in 1945, the authorities gradually whittled away the land for themselves, until the area occupied by the monastery shrunk from 61,455 sq. m to 2,700 sq. m. The new order to claim church property simply perpetuates the age-old habit of authorities to seize any land belonging to the church.
In 2008 and 2009, thousands of Catholics demanded an end to the seizures by planting themselves in front of the convent and holding a peaceful demonstration for days. But their efforts were only rewarded with more land being seized and eight Catholics being charged with disturbing the public order.
History of Violence and Land-Seizure by Vietnamese Authorities
On 3 Nov. 2011, hundreds of police officers, hired thugs, stone-wielding vandals, trained dogs, broke into the Monastery, shattering the gates and smashing everything in their path. They were even accompanied by state-run television crews. Church leaders were physically and verbally assaulted when they tried to stop the thugs from smashing through the gate. After church bells were rung to summon help, the attackers withdrew when thousands of Catholics and nearby parish priests rushed to the site of the violence.
On 11 Nov. 2011, authorities launched a second attack on the church with an even larger crowd of thugs, following a complaint from the Redemptorists relating to the attack a few days earlier. The violence was compounded by the involvement of police and state media, showcasing the callous and calculating measures being taken against a parish who are considered to be one of the biggest “thorns in the flesh” of the government.
On 21 Sept. 2008, the monastery’s chapel was ransacked by state authorities. Their statues were destroyed and books were torn to pieces. “The gang yelled out slogans threatening to kill priests, religious, faithful and even our archbishop,” according to a protest letter by Fr Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, that was sent to various authorities.
On Jan. 6, 2008, parishioners protested over a State plan to sell their land to private estate developers. After a series of attacks, arrests and trials of parishioners, the government hastily converted the land into a public park, according to Independent Catholic News.
The most serious disputes between people and local authorities in Vietnam are related to land issues, according to the report on Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) 2012. However, when it applies to Christians, the motives go beyond the obvious financial and economical gain to a state-empowered campaign of religious persecution.
As Ryan Morgan, International Christian Concern’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, say, “The attempts by the Vietnamese Communist Party to seize Catholic property is just a part of the overall pattern of discrimination and harassment that Christians face, even in 2013, on a regular basis.”
General Hostility against Christians in Vietnam
The Communist country views Christianity as a foreign religion, subversive to the state by its very existence. Churches are especially seen as influenced by the US, vulnerable to Western ideology and subversive to the political authority of the single-party Communist State. Although religion is permitted in the country, the authorities are taking extreme measures to regulate and intimidate Christians to undermine their influence and preserve their own power in government.
On 16 Sept., Vietnamese authorities used the state-run television to launch a smear campaign against the Vinh diocese and Monsignor, Paul Nguyen Thai Hop, accusing the prelate of leading a revolt and exploiting a story to create legal cases of religious persecution. The smear campaign is significant because it marks a new way to undermine Christian influence in the country – by exploiting their monopoly over the media and manipulating the truth to turn public opinion against the Christian minority. However, violence has not been replaced by the use of media.
On 4 Sept., authorities attacked demonstrators in Nghi Phuong Commune, Nghi Loc District, Nghe An Province, who were protesting the arrest of two Catholics in May. Hundreds of police and militia, armed with tear gas, batons and police dogs, attacked the demonstrators and beat them into submission. Ryan Morgan says, the incident is “ample evidence that the Vietnamese government has no qualms over using force to impose its will on those who peacefully demand the liberty to practice their faith without fear of arrest or interference.”
On Jan. 9, Vietnamese authorities sentenced 14 peaceful activists, including some Catholics, to prison terms on charges of undertaking activities aimed at overthrowing the government, a ruling that was forcefully criticized by human rights activists and movements. In 2013 alone, Hanoi has arrested more than 40 activists for crimes “against the state,” a legal notion human rights groups consider too general and vague, according to Asia News.
As Vietnam adds the manipulative use of media to its strategy of using force, violence, false arrests and land seizure to intimidate Christians, the religious minority will need all the help it can get from the international community before the authorities succeed in their hate campaign against the peaceful Christian minority.

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