Catholic Civic Resistance Campaign in Vietnam
In an unprecedented action, Vietnamese Catholics successfully demanded the return of the former Vatican Apostolic Nunciature in Hanoi to the Church from the Communist regime through a weeks-long campaign of prayer vigils around the country. The initiative spread to Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Dong, as Catholic faithful from these cities joined in solidarity with the original group. Their victory came in the form of a pledge from authorities on Friday, February 1, 2008 to return the 2.5 acre property.
Embassy Handover Promised, but Uncertain
Concord Live will continue to watch this story as the actual handover has yet to occur and there is no reason to attribute good faith to a murderous tyranny like the Socialist Republic. In fact, a secret police operation to investigate the demonstrators is underway. Under Vietnamese law, all land is state property, and the resources of the State may be brought down swiftly upon dissenting voices.
Vietnamese Catholics, Indian Independence, Anti-Communist Resistance and Beyond
The campaign waged by these Catholics is an example of nonviolent struggle, a form of social mobilization and political action famously pioneered by Mohandas Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. The Revolutions of 1989 which resulted in the collapse of Communist governments in Eastern Europe were also due to the efforts of nonviolent groups like Poland’s gigantic Solidarity movement and Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77 group. Today, there is a widespread and growing resistance movement in Cuba, another of the 21st century Communist holdovers, which also draws substantially on believers and Christian doctrine concerning human dignity and society to demand respect for basic rights and the establishment of a democratic republic. Another interesting effort of this type taking place in related cultural circumstances is Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in the former British colony of Burma (Myanmar) and the recent protest movement led by Buddhist monks and students against the ruling junta.
Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan: Christian Witness against Totalitarianism
Another inspiring story of Christian witness and staunch defense of human dignity and freedom is that of Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, imprisoned in a Communist “re-education camp” for 13 years, 9 of which were spent in solitary confinement. He was released in 1988 and forced into exile, where he went on to head the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican. He passed away in 2002 and is a hero to all friends of liberty and faith, and a candidate for beatification.
Vietnam’s Long Christian History
The history of Christianity in Vietnam dates back to the arrival of the first Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century and includes many instances of martyrdom. After the dissolution of French colonial rule in 1955 and the subsequent John F. Kennedy-backed coup against South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem, anti-communist forces in Vietnam were gradually overcome by Ho Chi Minh’s North. The Vatican embassy and many Church properties were confiscated in 1954 and the remainder in 1975 upon Vietnam’s unification under Communist rule.
References and Links in this Post
1. Agence France Presse. “Vietnam may return church land, Vatican wants rallies to stop: priest.” http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5pLYH2rDlLQe0BJ-p3DjbvhBixQ
2. Vatican. “The Holy See.” http://www.vatican.va
3. Catholic News Agency. “Vietnamese Catholics continue pressuring government over stolen property.” http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11582
4. The Associated Press. “Catholic-Communist Land Fight in Vietnam.” By Ben Stocking. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPYyTsDAhie7k4CDJFlxMA7NltHAD8UC4QF00
5. Asia News. “Vietnamese Catholics broaden their protest demanding justice
.” By J.B. An Dang. http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11257&size=A
6. Catholic News Agency. “Hanoi Archbishop praises the solidarity of Catholics in Vietnam and around the world.” http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11666
7. R.J. Rummel, University of Hawaii. “Statistics of Democide- Chapter 6- Statistics of Vietnamese Democide- Estimates, Calculations, And Sources.” http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP6.HTM
8. Agence France Presse. “Vietnam police launch probe against Catholic protesters.” http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3JfrKP7zcbmCSc9AwtfgI5zISCw
9. Radio Free Asia. “Catholics Step Up Pressure on Vietnam Over Land.” http://www.rfa.org/english/vietnamese/2008/01/29/vietnam_catholic/
10. Gene Sharp. “Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential.” http://www.wagingnonviolentstruggle.com
11. Gene Sharp, Albert Einstein Institute. “The Role of Power in Nonviolent Struggle.” http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/TheRoleofPowerinNonviolentStruggle-English.pdf
12. Gandhian Institutes. “Mahatma Gandhi’s Collected Writings.” http://www.mkgandhi.org/main.htm
13. Satyagraha Conference, Indian National Congress. “Peace, Nonviolence and Empowerment: Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century.” http://www.satyagrahaconference.com/introduction.asp
14. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. “Making the History of 1989: The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.” http://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/
15. Transitions On-Line. “Unique coverage of all of the region’s 28 post-communist countries.” http://www.tol.cz
16. The Solidarity Phenomenon. “Communism, martial law, and freedom.” http://www.solidarnosc.gov.pl/
17. Havel at Columbia University. “The Velvet Revolution.” http://havel.columbia.edu/the_velvet_revolution.html
18. Comite Cubano pro Derechos Humanos. “Creating Citizens: The Birth and Growth of the Cuban Internal Pro-Democracy Movement.” By Xavier Utset. http://www.sigloxxi.org/Archivo/creatingcitizens.htm
19. Cuban Democratic Directorate. “Steps to Freedom.” http://www.directorio.org/publications/note.php?note_id=1175
20. Wikipedia. “Aung San Suu Kyi.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
21. “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s pages.” http://www.dassk.com/index.php
22. Wikipedia. “2007 Burmese anti-government protests.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Burmese_anti-government_protests
23. Daughters of St. Paul. “Cardinal François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.” http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/cardvanthuan/bio.html
24. Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan Foundation. http://www.card-fxthuan.org/index2.php
25. The Vatican. “Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.” http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/
26. Catholic World News. “Beatification cause opened for Vietnamese Cardinal Van Thuan.” http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=53561
27. The Vatican. “Martyrs du Vietnam.” http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19880619_martiri_vietnam_fr.html
28. National Security Archive, George Washington University. “JFK and the Diem Coup.” http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/index.htm
[...] Concord Live reported in February on the courage of the Vietnamese Catholics engaging in acts of nonviolent struggle, holding prayer vigils and peaceful demonstrations to demand the return of lands belonging to the Church that were seized by the incoming revolutionaries in the 1950s. In our previous story, we warned: Embassy Handover Promised, but Uncertain. Concord Live will continue to watch this story as the actual handover has yet to occur and there is no reason to attribute good faith to a murderous tyranny like the Socialist Republic. In fact, a secret police operation to investigate the demonstrators is underway. Under Vietnamese law, all land is state property, and the resources of the State may be brought down swiftly upon dissenting voices. [...]
By: Hanoi Regime Communists Break Vatican Embassy Pledge to Vietnamese Catholics « Concord Live- Conservative. Incisive. Worldwide. on 22 September, 2008
at 11:38 pm
Hate to burst your bubble, but the decision was made and the land of the former Vatican ambassador was not given back to Catholics. Vietnamese government, in following with their usual policy of heavily disputed lands, made the area a public park. Thereby not creating complete outrage by giving the land to another tenant and at the same time not giving any victories for Catholics which would lead to a landslide of new protests across the country from not only Catholics but anyone else who had their land confiscated in 1945, 54, or 75. I would guess that more than half of the schools in the country are former seminaries or Catholic institutions so it would be disastrous for the government to give up one and see the results…hence the current policy.
By: Tyler Watts on 14 October, 2009
at 10:54 pm
Thanks for your comment, Mr. Watts!
Talk of bubble bursting seems a bit uncharitable.
After all, this post is dated February 8, 2008 and reflected the information that was available at the time. Indeed, Concord Live sounded a note of caution in this very article: “Embassy Handover Promised, but Uncertain. Concord Live will continue to watch this story as the actual handover has yet to occur and there is no reason to attribute good faith to a murderous tyranny like the Socialist Republic. In fact, a secret police operation to investigate the demonstrators is underway. Under Vietnamese law, all land is state property, and the resources of the State may be brought down swiftly upon dissenting voices.”
We also continued to follow the story and reacted to the decision you mention in an entry dated September 22, 2008, which can be found here: http://concordlive.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/hanoi-regime-communists-break-vatican-embassy-pledge-to-vietnamese-catholics/
I am not sure what you mean by “not creating complete outrage.” One outrage here is that land and property have been forcefully seized from their owners without appropriate compensation and the authorities responsible go unpunished. The larger outrage is the tyrannical rule under which the Vietnamese live and the violence of that regime, which has claimed many victims.
Nonviolent struggle continues to be employed by Catholics and pro-freedom Vietnamese as a way of asserting their rights and protecting their dignity before the Communist state.
Concord Live earnestly hopes what you call “a landslide of new protests across the country from not only Catholics but anyone else who had their land confiscated in 1945, 54, or 75″ will take place, as well as a peaceful transition to a free government.
By: Aramis on 17 October, 2009
at 8:03 pm
I apologize for my lack of observation regarding the date and my heartfelt apologies if the phrasing of my comment came across as uncharitable.
I have little optimism for the government of Vietnam’s policies on religion therefore I believe I wrote the comment with a jaded tone.
By not a complete outrage I do not speak to the events as ‘un-outrageous’ but rather they are not to such a degree of strength as a national movement of outrage at government policies and for the long-term I do not think they will ever reach a formation as such.
The long-held distrust of Catholics by Buddhists here and the government’s knowledge and use of this distrust keeps any Catholic protest from becoming more than just that. It’s an effective yet equally horrible tactic.
Likewise free-Vietnam movements are always associated with usually wrongly motivated groups outside Vietnam and therefore while I believe their aim is noble, I also think these groups will never gain a footing in Vietnam because of the connections.
My hope itself is for reform from within and my own viewpoint of the government here is one that while fearful of deviation from the one-party rule is looking to reform itself. These two are often times subject to conflict however and I think the weekly news reports reveal that.
My prayer is for nationalists to take up the rights of all people and fight for them regardless of religion, creed, or ethnicity and I see that as the most effective way to bring about greater freedom for Vietnam. I think it is coming but it will take time and our prayers.
Thanks for responding to my comment and for the chance to dialogue.
By: TW on 18 October, 2009
at 1:10 am