VIETNAM'S CATHOLIC CO-REDEMPTRIX ORDER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000754 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV AND EAP/PD/JMARTIN DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR DRL/IRF UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 HO CHI 00754 01 OF 02 200231Z STATE ALSO FOR INR/EAP/SEA AND INR/IL/B CINCPAC FOR FPA SECDEF FOR ISA/EA/LSTERN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KIRF PINR VM RELFREE HUMANR SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S CATHOLIC CO-REDEMPTRIX ORDER ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: ON MAY 23, POLOFF VISITED WITH PRIESTS OF THE VIETNAMESE CATHOLIC ORDER OF CO- REDEMPTION IN HCMC. ALTHOUGH ONLY TWO OF ITS MEMBERS ARE CURRENTLY IN PRISON, THE ORDER HAS BEEN AMONG THE MOST PERSECUTED OF VIETNAM'S RELIGIOUS GROUPS SINCE ¶1975. IT STILL OPERATES AN "UNDERGROUND SEMINARY" IN HCMC. UNTIL NOW, INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO POST ABOUT THE ORDER HAD ALL BEEN SECOND-HAND. THE VISIT PROVIDED USEFUL FIRST-HAND BACKGROUND ON THIS RELIGIOUS ORDER'S HISTORY OF PROBLEMS WITH THE GOVERNMENT. END SUMMARY. ORIGINS OF THE CO-REDEMPTRIX ORDER -------------- ¶2. (SBU) POLOFF AND CONGEN INTERPRETER VISITED THE CATHOLIC ORDER OF CO-REDEMPTION ON MAY 23 IN HCMC'S THU DUC DISTRICT. AFTER BEING LED TO AN INNER CHAMBER TO AVOID BEING OVERHEARD BY A PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMAN WHO ENTERED THE COMPOUND WITHIN A MINUTE OF THEIR ARRIVAL, THEY MET WITH AN ELDERLY PRIEST WHO WOULD IDENTIFY HIMSELF ONLY AS "FATHER JOHN." FATHER JOHN, LIKE THE OTHER CO-REDEMPTRIX PRIESTS, WAS BORN IN BUI CHU DIOCESE SOUTHEAST OF HANOI. HE WAS AMONG THE 40 UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 HO CHI 00754 01 OF 02 200231Z PERSONS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY DURING A POLICE RAID ON THE ORDER IN 1987. HE, ALONG WITH FATHER TRAN DINH THU (FOUNDER OF THE ORDER),RECEIVED A 19-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE, BUT LIKE FATHER THU, HE WAS RELEASED IN 1993 AFTER SERVING SIX AND ONE HALF YEARS. ¶3. (U) FATHER TRAN DINH THU, BORN IN NORTHERN VIETNAM IN 1906, FOUNDED THE ORDER OF CO-REDEMPTION IN 1953 IN BUI CHU DIOCESE. FATHER JOHN SAID THAT IN THE EARLY 1950'S "A STATE OF WAR" EXISTED BETWEEN THE COMMUNISTS AND THE CATHOLIC DIOCESES OF BUI CHU AND NEIGHBORING PHAT DIEM. FATHER THU ESTABLISHED THE ORDER NOT TO ENGAGE IN THE ARMED FIGHTING, ACCORDING TO FATHER JOHN, BUT ONLY TO EVANGELIZE AMONG THE NON-CHRISTIANS IN THE NORTH. ¶4. (SBU) FATHER THU, FATHER JOHN AND THE OTHER CO- REDEMPTRIX PRIESTS WERE AMONG THE MORE THAN 600 CATHOLIC PRIESTS WHO JOINED THE EXODUS OF NEARLY ONE MILLION PEOPLE (MOSTLY CATHOLICS) WHO ESCAPED TO THE SOUTH IN 1954 AHEAD OF PARTITION. THEY ESTABLISHED A 15-ACRE HEADQUARTERS AND SEMINARY IN THE THU DUC DISTRICT OF PRESENT-DAY HCMC, AND GRADUALLY EXPANDED THEIR MISSION TO THE MEKONG DELTA AND SOUTH CENTRAL VIETNAM. FATHER JOHN SAID THAT EVEN NOW, ALL OF THE CO- REDEMPTRIX PRIESTS ORIGINALLY ARE FROM THE BUI CHU DIOCESE; POLOFF NOTICED THAT EVERYONE HE HEARD ON THE GROUNDS ON MAY 23 SPOKE WITH A NORTH VIETNAMESE ACCENT. POSTWAR PROBLEMS -------------- UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 HO CHI 00754 01 OF 02 200231Z ¶5. (SBU) AFTER APRIL 30, 1975, SOME 60 MEMBERS OF THE ORDER WERE ARRESTED, INCLUDING THE FOUNDER, FATHER THU. MOST OF THOSE ARRESTED, INCLUDING FATHER THU, WERE RELEASED IN 1977. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE GOVERNMENT CONFISCATED THE ORDER'S PROPERTIES IN THE SOUTH OF VIETNAM - SCHOOLS, ORPHANAGES, RELIGIOUS TRAINING CENTERS - EXCEPT FOR THE 15-ACRE SITE AT THU DUC. ¶6. (SBU) ON MAY 15, 1987, VIETNAMESE SECURITY FORCES SURROUNDED THE ORDER'S 15-ACRE COMPLEX AND ARRESTED 40 PRIESTS AND LAYPERSONS, INCLUDING FATHER THU AND FATHER JOHN. THEY CLOSED THE MONASTERY AT THE SITE AND CONFISCATED THE PROPERTY. FATHER THU AND FATHER JOHN RECEIVED 19-YEAR PRISON SENTENCES, BUT WERE RELEASED IN 1993 AFTER SERVING SIX AND ONE HALF YEARS. ALL BUT TWO OF THE OTHERS ARRESTED IN 1987 ALSO HAVE SINCE BEEN RELEASED. THE TWO WHO REMAIN IN PRISON ARE FATHER PHAM MINH TRI AND LAYPERSON NGUYEN THIEN PHUNG INCARCERATED AT Z30A PRISON AT XUAN LOC IN DONG NAI PROVINCE. FATHER JOHN SAID SIXTY-YEAR OLD FATHER TRI HAS BEEN SUFFERING NERVOUS/MENTAL PROBLEMS FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS AS A RESULT OF HIS IMPRISONMENT. ¶7. (SBU) THE ORDER'S SCHOOL BUILDINGS AT THE 15-ACRE SITE HAVE NOW BEEN TURNED INTO A GOVERNMENT SCHOOL. SOME OF THE OTHER BUILDINGS ON THE SITE HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO A TEXTILE FACTORY. THIRTEEN PRIESTS AND 30 LAYPERSONS NOW LIVE AT THE SITE NEAR THE OLD HEADQUARTERS ON PROPERTY DONATED TO THEM BY A CATHOLIC LAYMAN. FATHER JOHN SAID THERE WERE 300 TO 400 OTHER "UNOFFICIAL RESIDENTS" AT THIS SITE. THEN HE WHISPERED IN ENGLISH THAT THE ORDER STILL OPERATES AN "UNDERGROUND SEMINARY" THERE. ¶8. (SBU) FATHER JOHN SAID POLICE USED TO COME INTO THE COMPOUND THREE OR FOUR TIMES A MONTH TO "HARASS THE RESIDENTS." BUT BEGINNING ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO, AFTER THE INVESTITURE OF FATHER PHAM MINH MAN AS ARCHBISHOP OF HCMC ARCHDIOCESE, THEY HAVE EASED UP AND NOW ENTER ONLY OCCASIONALLY. FATHER JOHN NOTED, HOWEVER, THAT THE DISTRICT POLICE STATION IS "CONVENIENTLY LOCATED" JUST DOWN THE STREET FROM THE ENTRANCE TO THE COMPOUND. FATHER THU AND CARTHAGE, MISSOURI -------------- UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 HO CHI 00754 02 OF 02 200231Z ¶9. (SBU) POLOFF HAD REQUESTED TO MEET WITH THE ORDER'S 95-YEAR-OLD FOUNDER, FATHER TRAN DINH THU, BUT WAS TOLD ON ARRIVAL THAT FATHER THU WAS "TOO TIRED" TO MEET. ON DEPARTURE, HOWEVER, FATHER JOHN BROUGHT POLOFF INTO ANOTHER ROOM WHERE FATHER THU WAS TALKING WITH SEVERAL PRIESTS AND NUNS. ALTHOUGH HE APPEARED EXTREMELY FRAIL, FATHER THU DID NOT SEEM ALL THAT TIRED. IN THEIR TWO-MINUTE CONVERSATION, FATHER THU NOTED THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HE HAD EVER HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO WELCOME A WESTERN VISITOR TO HIS CHAMBERS. ¶10. (SBU) BUT THE CO-REDEMPTRIX ORDER DOES HAVE WESTERN CONNECTIONS. FATHER JOHN STATED THAT THE ORDER HAD ESTABLISHED A RELATIONSHIP WITH A CATHOLIC PARISH IN CARTHAGE, MISSOURI. DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST EVERY YEAR, THE CHURCH IN CARTHAGE WELCOMES THOUSANDS OF VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN CATHOLICS WHO COME THERE TO PRAY IN FRONT OF A STATUE OF MARY THAT WAS FASHIONED IN AND IMPORTED FROM FATIMA IN PORTUGAL. (NOTE: VIETNAMESE CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM MAKE A SIMILAR PILGRIMAGE IN THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST TO A CHURCH IN LA VANG IN CENTRAL VIETNAM AT THE SITE WHERE MARY IS SAID TO HAVE APPEARED 200 YEARS AGO. END NOTE.) COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (U) WITH ONLY A FOUR-YEAR DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE IN HCMC AFTER A MORE THAN 20-YEAR ABSENCE, CONGEN PERSONNEL STILL HAVE MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT VIETNAM'S UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 HO CHI 00754 02 OF 02 200231Z POSTWAR YEARS. POST CONTINUES TO SEEK OUT AND MEET HISTORICAL FIGURES SINCE THE PAST IN VIETNAM CONTINUES TO HAUNT EVERY ASPECT OF THE PRESENT, AND THE HISTORICAL LEGACIES OFTEN HOLD KEYS TO BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MORE CURRENT ISSUES. RAY UNCLASSIFIED