A Catholic Community in Vietnam is Still not Recognized by Government

Aid to the Church in Need ^ | 8/31/21

[marshmallow]

THOUSANDS OF CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM have experienced discrimination because of their faith in the country’s northwest province of Dien Bien, where communist forces defeated French troops in 1954. The province is home to three parishes and many mission stations serving some 3,000 Catholics, including Hmong people. They use their own homes as chapels. Authorities refuse to recognize local people’s religious needs. They have only approved Dien Bien parish and allowed just one priest to provide pastoral care for local people.

Mary Nguyen (not her real name) serves as a choir conductor and leads prayers at a mission station that ministers to 20 Catholics. The mother of three spoke to Aid to the Church in Need about the continuing hardships of Catholics in Vietnam:

“I embraced Catholicism and married my Catholic husband in 1996. We had to return to his home parish in Ha Nam Province to attend marriage courses and hold our wedding ceremonies.

“Until recent years, Catholics had to practice our faith secretly since local authorities treated this area as being free of religion. They banned us from gathering for prayers, threatened to fine us, and created serious difficulties for visiting priests.

“Priests from other places paid pastoral visits to Catholics in Muong Nhe District two or three times a year. They were required to ask for government permission and provide a list of participants in the services. The priests were forced to leave the venues right after services. In 2015, a bishop and some priests were forced to leave the district on a rainy windy night after their brief visit.

Mass celebrated in a private home

“We did not dare show our Christian identity or set up altars in our homes, but we quietly recited prayers at night. We feared to be confronted with problems for our businesses.....

[livius]

Probably not recognized by Bergoglio either.