VIETNAM COUNTRY PROFILE
SELECTED INCIDENTS NOVEMBER 2023 Father Joseph Nguyễn Văn Hội, head of Hà Nội’s Redemptorist community, appealed for the return of monastic buildings seized after the Communist takeover. The novitiate and study center buildings are currently used by Đống Đa Hospital. Fr. Văn Hội said, “The building was originally built as our monastery and is wholly unsuitable to function as a hospital.” 261 DECEMBER 2023 The Vietnam Full Gospel Church, which has about 11,000 members, was formally recognized as a religious organization. Founded in 1990, it was licensed to operate in 2018. 262 JANUARY 2024 Nay Y Blang, whose house in Phú Yên Province was used as a meeting place for the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ, was sentenced to four years and six months in jail for “gathering forces, dividing the national unity bloc, inciting secession, self-rule, and establishing a separate state for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands” during religious meetings in his home. According to family, he had no defense lawyer at his trial. In a similar case, Rian Thih was jailed in Gia Lai Province. 263 MARCH 2024 Police detained three members of a house church in Ea Khit village, Đắc Lắk Province, Central Highlands, on Thursday the 4 th . Y Qui Bdap, his son, Y Năm Bkrông, and his nephew, Y Kic were released after a week in prison. 264 APRIL 2024 Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International organizations, spent six days in the country, meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. 265
Vietnam has been uneven and inconsistent in its implementation of religious freedom. While steps were taken to facilitate the registration of religious groups (see December 2023), some still experienced difficulties registering. 256 Decree 95 – a set of guidelines for uniformly implementing the 2018 Law on Belief and Religion, which should ease the registration of churches – was criticized for allowing local government to suspend religious activities for unspecified “serious violations” without giving reasons. 257 Ethnic Christian groups in Vietnam’s highlands continued to be persecuted, with incidents including services being disrupted or worse (see March 2024). The push to shut down unregistered groups in the region continues, and in particular, there has been a concerted effort to eradicate the ethnic H’Mong church, founded by Pastor Dương Văn Minh. 258 There also continue to be tensions over religious buildings requisitioned by the state from 1954 onward. Despite more recent directives to return these to religious groups or another competent body where it was not being properly used, some authorities have continued to let third parties exploit religious groups’ property. 259 But the Catholic Church has seen a thawing of relations with the state: a major breakthrough occurred when its work during the COVID-19 epidemic (e.g., distributing food) won respect from authorities. 260 Relations have continued to develop, and in 2024, Archbishop Marek Zalewski became the first resident Papal Representative in the country since 1975. Improved relations have fueled speculation that Pope Francis could be the first pope to visit Vietnam.
38 Persecuted and Forgotten?
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