The Order to Disband


Along with the unrest in Thai Binh province, the Catholic Diocese
of Xuan Loc, covering provinces Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau in
southern Vietnam, has become a hot spot in late August when the
Vietnamese Communist Party suddenly decided to further tighten
its grip on religions, and Vietnamese Catholics in particular.

In early 1997, Le Tu Huyen, the Chairman of the Fatherland
Front's provincial Religious Committee, under order from Hanoi,
coordinated the new wave of restriction on local religious
organizations. In early April, Directive 1216/UBT was announced
to the Bishop Office of the Xuan Loc diocese and its parishes
that all religious groups, except for the musical, must be
disbanded immediately.

According to Bishop Nguyen Minh Nhat, the 71 year-old patriarch
of the diocese, the order was met with "very strong opposition
and all Fathers protested". All religious groups within the
diocese have been declared to the government and openly held
religious activities since March 01, 1993. Nevertheless, they
were branded "illegal" overnight as the political mood changed in
Hanoi.

To temporarily avoid another potential unrest to take place
simultaneously with that in Thai Binh, the Politburo of the
Vietnamese Communist Party sent Pham The Duyet, member of the
Politburo and Head of the Central Masses Mobilization Committee,
to meet with Bishop Nguyen Minh Nhat, his assistant, Bishop
Nguyen Van Tram, and the diocese general director, Father Nguyen
Chu Trinh in mid-August. Both sides agreed to maintain the status
quo which existed before the issuance of Directive 1216.

In a phone interview with Vietnamese overseas reporters, Bishop
Nguyen Minh Nhat expressed his gladness and thanks for the
solidarity from the overseas Vietnamese communities and Catholics
around the world. Expecting troubles to resume once the
current public attention subsides, Bishop Nhat pleaded to the
outside world "Please continue your encouragement and support for
us !".


Following is the translation of Directive 1216/UBT
___________________

People's Committee of Dong Nai Province
No. 1216/UBT

April 01, 1997

Subject: Decision on the Xuan Loc Bishop Office's creation of
illegal groups.

To:  Chairmen of districts and cities People's Committees.

On March 01, 1993, the Bishop Office of the Xuan Loc Diocese gave
[the authority] to print, distribute and implement the document
"Guide for Religious Ministry" in the whole diocese.

That guide was distributed and implemented without the State's
permission; and the content of that document includes a number of
violations of the State's current regulations.

The printing and distribution [of documents] without permission
violates articles 3, and 4 of the Publication Laws of July 07,
1993, and article 14 of Directive 69/ND/HDBT of March 21, 1991 by
the government to regulate the publication of religious
materials.

The Guide from the Archbishop's Office, dated March 01, 1993,
allowed the formation of groups, organized group leaders into
another group, and expanded the Religious Ministry. These acts
are against article 1 of Decree 01CT/HDBT of January 05, 1989 by
the Ministerial Council, known as the Government today, to
regulate the formation of associations; and article 20 of
Directive 69 of March 21, 1991 by the Government to regulate the
structure and operation of religions. [These acts] were not
compatible with the Parish bylaw, issued by the late Bishop
Nguyen Van Lang in 1981 and approved by the Fatherland Front
Committee.

The above "Guide for Religious Ministry" violated [not only] the
State's current regulations [but also] the joint-letter by the
Vietnamese Bishops Council in 1980, and Bishop Nguyen Minh Nhat's
promises to the State in the past. Consequently, in parishes of
the Xuan Loc Diocese, albeit not uniformly, many illegal groups
have been revived, such as the Sacred Heart Group, the Dominican
Brothers Group, the Legio Maria Group, the Holy Mother Group, the
Heads of Families Group, the Repentant Families Group, the
Catholic Mothers Group, the Holy Communion Youth, etc.  In many
places, [these groups] were modified according to ranges of age,
such as the adults, the young men, the young women, the children;
and the practice of multi-family prayer saying, etc. Each group
and each range of age have their own leading council filled by
priests or other clergies. Heads of the leading councils are
members of the Religious Ministry of the Diocese. Activities of
these organizations no longer lie within the boundary of normal
religious activities.

Facing the above condition, the People's Committee of the Dong
Nai Province now directs the followings:

1. The provincial People's Committee only recognizes the Parish
Council, up to 9 people and without a standing committee, in each
parish to assist the pastors. Each parish is only allowed to have
activities that accompany religious rituals, such as bands of
horns and drums; and the non-periodic, non-organized activity
for old men and women above 65 to hold group praying for the sick
and the dead in the parish. All remaining groups, age groups, and
other forms of association are illegal and must disband themselves.

2. The Xuan Loc Bishop Office, which led the formation of illegal
organizations, now has the responsibility to disband the
organizations and other illegal groups currently existing in
parishes across the diocese and report in writing to the
provincial People's Committee.

3. The provincial People's Committee recommends the Fatherland
Front Committee and [State's] organizations of the province,
districts, and cities combine effort with the governmental
offices to educate the population and make it clear to the
religious leaders that they must vigorously carry out this
directing document.

4. We assign the Chairmen of People's Committees of the districts
and city of Bien Hoa the responsibilities to monitor the
compliance of the Bishop Office, the priests, and the Parish
Councils in their jurisdictions.

The Religious Committee of the provincial government only has the
responsibility to explain this directing document to the Xuan Loc
Bishop's Office, and collaborate with the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province
to ensure the compliance in the whole Diocese, and report the
result to the provincial People's Committee.

On behalf of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Nai
Province Vice Chairman

(Signed and sealed)

Nguyen Trung Phuong



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