The 117 Martyrs of Vietnam
Vietnam's Story of Corruption and Martyrdom
Director of AsiaNews Tells of Tolerance and Violence
ROME, JUNE 13, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Religious freedom is perhaps growing in Vietnam, but it depends on the caprices of the government.
So more than religious freedom, says Father Bernardo Cervellera, we can speak of a certain religious tolerance.
The director of AsiaNews
explained this in an interview with the television program "Where God
Weeps" of the Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN) in
cooperation with Aid to the Church in Need.
Q: Some 10% of the Vietnamese population is Catholic. Things have improved, but is religious freedom possible in Vietnam today?
Father Cervellera: There are some improvements, for example, in the
past few years the seminaries, which before were limited to a fixed
number of candidates, have now been opened and there are more and more
vocations. There is also a certain tolerance of the government toward,
for example, medical care provided by the sisters, education in
kindergartens and so on. I would say tolerance, not permission, [is the
correct term]. In some ways there is more freedom but all these freedoms
depend on the will of the government, which sometimes will allow or
withdraw it.
Q: But there is still violence against Christians?
Father Cervellera: In some areas of Vietnam, for example in the north
and among the hill tribes, there is still violence. In Sung La and
other dioceses, and other smaller cities and villages, Catholics cannot
celebrate Masses for Christmas or Easter and are prohibited from having
catechesis and teaching their children the faith because the local
government does not allow any expression of faith at all. In practical
terms, they want to destroy the Catholic faith.
Q: From where do you get your information?
Father Cervellera: Our information comes from sources inside Vietnam.
It is very dangerous for them to send us this information. Various
dioceses in Vietnam have also been courageous enough to publish on their
Internet sites news and speeches from their bishops, evaluations and
criticism of some violations of religious freedom -- so through these
Internet sites, we are also able to get news.
Q: You write in AsiaNews that anti-Catholic violence is often a consequence of corruption?
Father Cervellera: Most of the violence against the Catholic Church
now in Vietnam happens because of graft and corruption of the Communist
Party cadres. Vietnam is in transition. Prior to this transition there
was a centralized communist economy. Now they are moving toward a
capitalistic economy and because of this, many cadres of the Communist
Party are taking over and becoming owners of buildings, which before
belonged to the churches -- even Buddhist temples or buildings of other
faiths. This is illegal because the law in Vietnam states that all these
buildings or lands that have been expropriated from the Church or
others are to be returned when these properties are no longer used by
the state.
Q: And there we find the problem?
Father Cervellera: Yes, these communist cadres take these properties
to be their own and develop them as resorts or villas to be later sold
in the growing real estate market in Vietnam. The Church however is
trying to claim these properties back. It has happened in Hanoi, Saigon,
Vinh and in many places -- and the Catholics are right in their
request. The response of the communist regime has been violent. They
arrest, or beat these Catholics who have demanded a return of their
lawful properties. A priest was thrown out of the second floor of a
building while another priest was beaten into a coma. There is violence
and it is a way of muzzling the voices and rights of these Catholics.
Q: Vietnamese Catholics need prayer.
Father Cervellera: Every persecuted Church needs support and first of
all through prayer: prayers from the Church around the world because
nobody can withstand the suffering and persecution from a lack of
religious freedom without the strength that prayer gives. There is also
another consideration: the fact that Vietnam now is becoming more and
more a country with many international business relations -- these
business relations should also be an avenue to communicate the
importance of human rights and respect for religious freedom. In this
way business will be better because, if freedom of religion is absent
then all the other aspects of human rights, and also the freedom to
engage in economic endeavors, is in peril.
Q: Is Vietnam's history of martyrdom one reason why the Church is growing rapidly?
Father Cervellera: I think so. Vietnam is, with China, one of the
most persecuted Churches in Asia, at least in the last few centuries. In
the 18th and 19th centuries, there were, perhaps, 200,000 Vietnamese
martyrs. This martyrdom has been the seed for a new life of the Church.
The second aspect that I think makes the life of the church in Vietnam
so strong is its unity.
Q: Where does this unity come from?
Father Cervellera: This unity comes from the education that the
Jesuits gave to them and also from the witnesses in the Church to the
people of Vietnam throughout the history of the Church in Vietnam.
Church personalities today receive more trust than government officials.
Q: One of the great witnesses was Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận. Can you tell us something about his life?
Father Cervellera: He is one of the greatest personalities in
contemporary Vietnam. François Nguyễn Văn Thuận was a priest and he
became bishop some months before the invasion of the North Vietnamese
into the South. He was the auxiliary bishop of Saigon during that
period. Bishop Văn Thuận gave all to the service of the people in the
South: to the poor, to children, for education, for the building of
houses and so on.
Q: Why then was he put in prison?
Father Cervellera: He was imprisoned, first of all, because he was a
relative of the last president of South Vietnam and secondly, because he
was a bishop. He was a passionate advocate for his people and the
people followed him, and this is why he was imprisoned for 13 years of
which nine were spent in solitary confinement. Bishop Văn Thuận -- later
Cardinal Văn Thuận -- wrote a great book, a journal, about his time in
prison in which he says that in times of desperation, prayer was his
sole consolation. He also mentions in this book how he celebrated Mass
in secret and how his relatives sent him so called "medicines," which
was in fact the wine, and how he saved prison bread for the host. It is a
very moving journal, a very moving book. There is also one very moving
element in this book: Many of his prison guards slowly became very
friendly toward him and many converted because of his witness.
Q: What impression did he make on you when you met him?
Father Cervellera: He was very calm. I met him in Rome. If I remember
correctly, the Vatican obtained his release with the stipulation by the
Vietnamese government that he would never go back to Vietnam. I met him
when he was the secretary of [the Pontifical Council for] Justice and
Peace. He was, how can I say, very quiet but very deep in his insight
and was always very committed to Vietnam. He would meet refugees here in
Italy or people would come from all over the world to visit him. He was
always working and always supporting the Church in Vietnam with, what I
would say, was a very placid calmness as if to say: "We know that
Christ will always be victorious. There is no hurry and no anguish."
* * *
This interview was conducted by Marie-Pauline Meyer for "Where God
Weeps," a weekly television and radio show produced by Catholic Radio
and Television Network in conjunction with the international Catholic
charity Aid to the Church in Need.
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On the Net:
Aid to the Church in Need: www.acn-intl.org
Where God Weeps: www.wheregodweeps.org/countries/vietnam
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