End religious violence in Nghe An: Christian Groups

July 12, 2012 : An international network of Vietnamese Catholic media is trying to raise awareness on recent violent episodes in Nghe An province, in Vinh diocese.

The Federation of Vietnamese Catholic Mass Media published an appeal last week to “sternly condemn and denounce before the international community the persecutions against our fellow Catholic priests and faithful at Con Cuong missionary post.”

Ucanews.com reported on July 3 that a chapel in Nghe An province has been the target in recent weeks of repeated attacks and intimidation, while the local priest, Father John Baptist Nguyen Dinh Thuc, was barred access to it and beaten by security officials.

The Federation’s appeal was signed by Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Nguyen Van Long of Melbourne, Australia, by Monsignor Peter Nguyen Van Tai, director of Radio Veritas Asia, as well as by the director of the US-based VietCatholic News Agency and the editors of the People of God magazines that serve Vietnamese-Catholic communities in the US, Europe and Australia.

The appeal calls on the Vietnamese government to “stop immediately its brutal acts of repression against Catholic priests and faithful” and to end its “repression against the Catholic Church and other religions in Vietnam.”

It also asked Vietnam to respect its own laws and “return all properties it has appropriated from the Catholic Church and other religions in Vietnam.”