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Hue Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The has slammed the response of city authorities to Catholics who were trying to prevent the construction of a wall around a former Church-run school building.
On Sept. 22, Archbishop Nguyen and four priests met four officials from Thua Thien-Hue province’s bureau for religious affairs at their headquarters in Hue, UCA News reports.
One of the priests was Fr Paul Ngo Thanh Son, pastor of Loan Ly church located near the Lang Co elementary school, the building at the heart of the conflict.
Archbishop The, 73, reportedly “expressed the great concern of local Catholics” for actions taken by provincial authorities to resolve a government-Church dispute over the building.
On Sept. 14, workers, under orders from government authorities, started building a brick wall around the school. When some 400 parishioners tried to stop the construction, police and security officers hit them severely and dragged them out of the school compound.
On that day and the next, police also blocked the road outside the church and other paths leading to the school.
The communist government had confiscated the building in 1975 and used it as an elementary school on weekdays. However, it allowed the parish to continue teaching catechism there to children on Sundays.
On Sept. 9 and 12, local officials asked the parish to stop catechism classes. They prevented children from attending classes on Sept. 13, when the parish started a new catechism course.
In the report on the archdiocesan website, Archbishop The noted that the Church had for years tried to “engage in dialogue with local authorities to resolve religious issues.”
He condemned government authorities for “not having any dialogue with the local Church and using brute force on parishioners.” Such violence “seriously damages religious sentiments and local Catholics’ belief in the government,” he charged.
During his one-hour meeting with officials, Archbishop The said such action by local authorities “shows that the government is changing its policy on religions, especially Catholicism.” Duong Viet Hong, head of the bureau, promised to report Archbishop The’s concerns.
Loan Ly pastor, Fr Son, told UCA News that that his parishioners are still traumatized by the incident. Fifty people, mostly women and children, were severely hurt, he said.
SOURCE
Archbishop slams government’s violent actions against Catholics (UCA News)
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