False priests appear on Hanoi media to discredit Catholics

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This is a very serious escalation in these troubles.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Some priests have appeared on Vietnamese state TV and have been interviewed by government newspapers speaking out against Thai Ha parishioners who want the restitution of parish property, except that these men of the cloth are neither priests nor Catholic. At least one of them has in fact been identified as a Communist party official. “They were ‘ordained’ by the government,” was the scathing comment from the diocese of Hanoi.
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As this is happening Catholics are still carrying on their peaceful protests in Hanoi. Flyers expressing solidarity to the parishioners and the Redemptorist Fathers, the original owners of the disputed land, are being handed out all over the place.
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Full story here.
 
i do not know what the history of Catholicism is in viet nam. when the french were in viet nam, i think there were many. however, since the war, and the return of communism, i am not sure how many Catholics are there.

viet nam is a beautiful country now and although it is communist, i am not sure what the freedom of religion is like there. the government is still communist, so if they are bringing out government officals to pose as priests, this is very dangerous.
 
I have been following these developments with great interest and concern. It seem like only a matter of time until the Communist government arrests Archbishop Kiet and other clergy in and around Hanoi and Thai Ha. His excellency and his priests have all said that they are ready to go to prison, almost expecting for it to happen. There have been reports in Vietnamese that Priests have been getting their affairs in order in preparation for arrest and imprisonment. More people need to know about this. It is a pivotal time in the history of Vietnam and for the venerable Church in Vietnam.

Archbishop Kiet of Hanoi recently returned to his Archdiocese from a trip to the United States, specifically the Diocese of Orange, in California. Rather than seeking asylum in the US, the courageous Archbishop returned to his country to be with his flock in these tumultuous times. The Archbishop, his brother bishops, clergy, religious and lay people of Vietnam are innocent and abiding by the laws in place regarding public assembly. This shows the injustice and hypocrisy of the Communists. They have tried many tactics including intimidation and harassment of the peaceful protesters, including physical violence, to no avail. The people are undaunted and thousands continue to gather every day.

Please pray for the Catholics of Vietnam, for Archbishop Kiet and other clergy who will most certainly be arrested and charged with “inciting protests or disturbing public order” or some other bogus accusations. Pray through the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam.
 
MugenOne said:
Same like China, there are many fake priests around.
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The thing is these guys are not even Catholics! They are public officials who go on camera and claim that they are priests and denounce the actions of the church.
 
that sounds very bad for the Catholic Church in Viet Nam. how long has this been happening? are there still many Catholics in viet nam?

i had neighbors who were vietnamese and had escaped viet nam after the war. they are very dear to my heart. they were not Catholics, but they were very nice, warm people and i love them very much. they are very sad the communist government is still in power in viet nam. they love their country very much although i understand now, they can go visit.

i will definitely pray for the Catholics in viet nam, as well as india, and iraq, and all the other countries they are being persecuted.

pleae keep us updated on what happens. this archbishop is very brave.
i don’t understand why he would be arrested.
 
deborahaz said:
i do not know what the history of Catholicism is in viet nam. when the french were in viet nam, i think there were many. however, since the war, and the return of communism, i am not sure how many Catholics are there.

viet nam is a beautiful country now and although it is communist, i am not sure what the freedom of religion is like there. the government is still communist, so if they are bringing out government officals to pose as priests, this is very dangerous.
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The history of the Faith in Vietnam goes back at least to the 1600s, that’s longer than the faith has been in the United States. Catholics are still a significant minority in an country that is predominantly Buddhist, comprising about 10% of the total population. However, as one can see with these protests, they are a very vocal minority!

In 1989 Pope John Paul II canonized 117 martyrs representing the thousands of Christian saints who died for their faith throughout the centuries of persecution. The 117 are composed of European missionaries as well as Vietnamese. This is what gives life to the Catholics of Vietnam and to the Church. The blood of martyrs nourishes the seeds of faith. This is why these Catholics today are not afraid of persecution and ready to give their lives for the Gospel.
 
i did not know that the Catholic faith went that far back in history in viet nam. that is a testiment to the vietnamese Catholics.

i know that my neighbors were Buddhist, but they did not go to the temple that much. and i know that buddhism is probably the majority religion there in viet nam.

we cannot forget those faithful catholics and martyrs who have suffered for the Church in viet nam.
 
VietCatholic, thank you for joining this thread. We often do not hear much about the troubles of Catholics in other parts of the World. I think we would all very much appreciate it if you could periodically post about what is happening.

Meanwhile, continue to pray to Our Lady of Lavang.

Our Lady of Lavang, please pray for all those suffering persecution in Vietnam. :gopray2:

For those unfamiliar with Our Lady’s visitation to the people of Vietnam, please look here. Clearly Vietnam is very important to Our Lady.
 
thanks for starting the thread rpp. i had no idea this was going on in viet nam.

i have never heard of our lady of lavang until now either.

there definitely is a history of persecution of Catholics over there.
 
deborahaz said:
thanks for starting the thread rpp. i had no idea this was going on in viet nam.

i have never heard of our lady of lavang until now either.

there definitely is a history of persecution of Catholics over there.
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You are welcome. 🙂
 
Vietnam shares the same martyrdom history with Korea and Japan. Thousands and thousands of Christians were persecuted and killed in the Far East. The Virgin Mary also appeared in Japan and Korea to comfort the persecuted Christians. Our Ladies of Akita and Nuja. By the way, Korea has the biggest population of Christians in the Far East. Currently, Korea has the 4th largest number of saints in the Catholic world.
 
deborahaz said:
this archbishop is very brave.
i don’t understand why he would be arrested.
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Archbishop Kiet, Abp. of Hanoi is, as with the rest of the people, innocent, but the authorities need someone to blame and as Archbishop, he is ready to take the fall for his flock. Like I said earlier, he just got back from a trip to the United States and was so willing to re-enter into the drama going on over in his Archdiocese. The communist government hates religion, but especially the Church. They will do anything to slander and denigrate the faith.

The Holy See (which has no formal relations with Viet Nam since the communists took power) sent an delegation to help negotiate with the Hanoi government regarding land use issues with what was the Apostolic Nunciature (embassy) adjacent to St. Joseph’s Cathedral. When the communists took control, they left the cathedral to the faithful but took all the surrounding land and buildings, which was historically belonged to the Church. The city decided that they wanted to build a shopping complex on the land and a nightclub. Upon hearing this the faithful began their peacefull prayer vigils at the site, demanding the just return of their land. As with all communist governments, private ownership of property is, in theory, non existent because all land is owned by the state. therefore they are accusing Catholics of disturbing civil order and breaking laws.

In actuality, the government prohibits freedom of speech and expression and hates challenges to their authority (as is with the case here). They hate the Church and they hate our Blessed Lord. JPII stated, the Church and Communist ideology cannot coexist. I am hopeful that this is the beginning of a new “revolution” for Vietnam, one that brings justice and peace to all. It is re-affirming to see this change being led by Christians who witness to the Gospel of Jesus in the midst of tremendous persecution
 
maybe the archbishop also wanted to return because he did not want to abandon his flock and leave them vulnerable to the “wolves”, he is a good shepherd and wants to protect his flock.

i am surprised that the communist government has even allowed the Catholic church to exist. perhaps, they hoped that would alleviate further problems by allowing them to practice their faith.

it does seem like they are peacefully trying to protest, but that must be an embarrassment to the communist government.

so ordinary people can’t own their houses even? i am not that familiar with how the communist government operates.

i know that many people travel back and forth now to viet nam - vietnamese who fled there in the 70’s, ex-soldiers who fought there, and general public who just want to see viet nam. i love the vietnamese people. i wish i had my vietnamese neighbors back because they were always so friendly and happy and offered me vietnamese food. the grandmother has flown back to vietnam a couple of times.

i thought i read something else in the news just today about viet nam and the catholics.

i will continue to pray for the Catholic church in viet nam and the faithful over there.

i know that korea has a large christian population. i wasn’t sure about japan.
i think in china christians are persecuted sometimes.
 
i just saw a short video clip of a prayer vigil in viet nam and an ap reporter was escorted away by security because he was taking pictures and he was allegedly beaten up.

i don’t know if anyone else saw this. don’t know if i found the link on the drudgereport or worldnetdaily. it looked like a very peaceful prayer vigil.

i did see a lot of police or security around, but, evidently they did not want this reporter snapping pictures in case something happened or they just don’t want any publicity that there is a protest of any type.
 
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