LEADING JESUIT ASSESSES CHURCH/STATE RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002951 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL 12/11/2012 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF VM HUMANR RELFREE SUBJECT: LEADING JESUIT ASSESSES CHURCH/STATE RELATIONS REF: HCMC 963 ¶1. (U) CLASSIFIED BY CG EMI YAMAUCHI; REASON 1.5(D). ¶2. (C) SUMMARY. CONSUL GENERAL AND POLOFF RECENTLY MET CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 HANOI 02951 01 OF 02 120440Z WITH FATHER TOAN, FATHER SUPERIOR OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, TO DISCUSS HIS VIEWS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN VIETNAM. HIS COMMENTS ON COOPERATION WITH THE GVN CONFIRMED WHAT POST HAS UNDERSTOOD FOR SOME TIME: THAT A DELIBERATE, NON-CONFRONTATIONAL APPROACH HAS LED TO GREATER FREEDOMS FOR THE CHURCH AND ITS FOLLOWERS. AT THE SAME TIME, HE DID NOT DISCOUNT THE SERIOUS CHALLENGES REMAINING. HIS THOUGHTFUL OBSERVATIONS ON FATHER LY CONFIRMED THAT A LESS THAN EXEMPLARY PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL RECORD AS A PRIEST HAD MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR THE CATHOLIC LEADERSHIP TO SUPPORT HIS CAUSE. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (C) FATHER TOAN -- WHO SPEAKS EXCELLENT ENGLISH - WAS THE ONLY OTHER CHURCH OFFICIAL PRESENT DURING A COURTESY CALL ON HO CHI MINH CITY (HCMC) ARCHBISHOP MAN IN OCTOBER. A SMALL DINNER ORGANIZED BY A LOCAL BUSINESSMAN WAS THE OCCASION FOR A MORE INFORMAL DISCUSSION ON MATTERS RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR. FATHER TOAN IS A SELF-DESCRIBED "B- 54", A NORTHERN CATHOLIC WHO CAME SOUTH DURING THE 1954 PARTITION OF VIETNAM. AS FATHER SUPERIOR, HE IS NOT ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTERING THE JESUIT ORDER, BUT ALSO PERSONALLY DRAFTS MUCH OF THE ARCHBISHOP'S PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. HOWEVER, HE WOULD ONLY GO SO FAR AS TO CONFIRM THAT HE "UNDERSTOOD" THERE HAD BEEN A LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS TO THE GVN REGARDING HARSH TREATMENT OF UNREGISTERED PROTESTANT HOUSE CHURCHES IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND NORTHWEST VIETNAM. HE WOULD NOT BE DRAWN IN TO A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER IT WAS BETTER TO REGISTER WITH THE GVN OR NOT, BUT NOTED THAT THE PROTESTANTS WERE HAVING A MORE DIFFICULT TIME IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS THAN THE CATHOLICS. CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 HANOI 02951 01 OF 02 120440Z ¶4. (C) FATHER TOAN HIMSELF SPENT NINE YEARS IN PRISON DURING THE 1980S AND EARLY 1990S FOR ACTIVITIES THE GVN VIEWED AS ASSERTING THE INDEPENDENCE AND SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN VIETNAM. WHILE HIS TREATMENT ALTERNATED BETWEEN HUMANE AND HARSH, HE BELIEVED HE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT GVN "PSYCHOLOGY" DURING THE 
INTERROGATIONS. IN FATHER TOAN'S OPINION, HIS GUARDS SPOKE MORE CANDIDLY WITH HIM IN PRISON. IN FACT, HE SAID THAT ONE GUARD, WHO HAD OFTEN ASKED HIM FOR PERSONAL ADVICE, YEARS LATER WROTE HIM A LETTER FROM HIS DEATHBED. THE PERSON TO WHOM THE LETTER WAS ENTRUSTED SUBSEQUENTLY DESTROYED THE LETTER WITHOUT DELIVERING IT TO FATHER TOAN. THIS SECOND INDIVIDUAL LATER CONTACTED FATHER TOAN TO APOLOGIZE, BUT SAID HE WAS AFRAID OF WHAT THE LETTER CONTAINED. WHILE HE WOULD/COULD NOT TELL HIM ITS CONTENTS. FATHER TOAN BELIEVED THE LETTER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE GUARD HIMSELF HAD BEEN A SILENT BELIEVER ALL THOSE YEARS AND WANTED FORGIVENESS IN THE END. ¶5. (C) FATHER TOAN NOTED THAT HE CAME TO SAIGON FROM NHA TRANG SHORTLY BEFORE THE CITY FELL TO COMMUNIST FORCES IN APRIL 1975, JUST IN TIME TO WORK AS AN ASSISTANT TO THE RECENTLY DECEASED CARDINAL THUAN (SEE REFTEL). WHEN ASKED ABOUT ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL MASS HELD ON SEPTEMBER 20 IN NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL IN CENTRAL HCMC, HE CONFIRMED THAT THE LARGE CROWD HAD ASSEMBLED SIMPLY BY WORD OF MOUTH AND BY THE BANNER HANGING OVER THE CHURCH'S ARCHWAY. HE FURTHER RELATED THAT THE ARCHBISHOP HAD BEEN IN CONTACT WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES ABOUT A PUBLIC MEMORIAL SERVICE LONG BEFORE THE CARDINAL'S DEATH. FATHER TOAN ATTRIBUTED THE CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 HANOI 02951 01 OF 02 120440Z CHURCH'S ABILITY TO HOST AN OPENLY EMOTIONAL MASS FOR A CONTROVERSIAL PRIEST WHO HAD NEVER RETURNED TO VIETNAM AFTER LEAVING THE COUNTRY IN 1991, TO ITS COOPERATIVE, "NO SURPRISES" APPROACH TO THE GVN. ¶6. (C) FATHER TOAN REMEMBERED RELATIONS BETWEEN THE GVN AND THE CHURCH IN THE YEARS IMMEDIATELY AFTER REUNIFICATION AS INITIALLY CORDIAL. THOSE RELATIONS DRAMATICALLY WORSENED IN THE EARLY 1980S, WHEN THE GVN BEGAN TO FEAR ROME'S INFLUENCE -- PARTICULARLY THAT OF THE JESUITS. THEN CAME FATHER TOAN'S NINE YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT. EMERGING FROM PRISON IN THE EARLY 1990S, HE RESUMED HIS DUTIES WITH THE ORDER, ALTHOUGH IN A MUCH LESS VISIBLE MANNER. HE HAD TO WORK HIS WAY UP THE RANKS AGAIN. AFFIRMING WHAT OTHER CHURCH LEADERS HAVE SAID BEFORE, FATHER TOAN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT LOW-KEY, COOPERATIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE GVN HAD BEEN MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN CONFRONTATION. HE GENERALLY FOUND PARTY LEADERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LESS STRIDENT WHEN HE CALLED ON THEM AT HOME, RATHER THAN IN THEIR OFFICES. HE BELIEVED THEY WERE WILLING TO MAKE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS, AS LONG AS THE CHURCH DID NOT PUBLICLY BOAST OF THEM. ¶7. (C) IN THIS WAY, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAD BEEN ABLE TO CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PTQ8516 PAGE 01 HANOI 02951 02 OF 02 120440Z ACTION EAP-00 INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AID-00 AMAD-00 CIAE-00 SRPP-00 DS-00 EB-00 OIGO-00 FBIE-00 VC-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 LAB-01 L-00 VCE-00 AC-01 NSAE-00 NSCE-00 OIC-02 OMB-01 OPIC-01 PA-00 PM-00 PRS-00 ACE-00 P-00 SP-00 STR-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 DSCC-00 PRM-00 DRL-02 G-00 NFAT-00 SAS-00 /009W -------------- 166C73 120440Z /38 R 120402Z DEC 02 FM AMEMBASSY HANOI TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8322 INFO ASEAN COLLECTIVE SECDEF WASHDC USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 HANOI 002951 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL MAKE NOTICEABLE STRIDES OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS. ONE MAJOR CHANGE WAS THE ABILITY OF PRIESTS TO TRAVEL FREELY OUTSIDE VIETNAM. INSTEAD OF ASKING FOR PERMISSION, AS WAS REQUIRED IN THE PAST, PRIESTS TODAY ONLY NEEDED TO NOTIFY THE GOVERNMENT OF THEIR TRAVEL PLANS. FATHER TOAN HAS TRAVELED CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 HANOI 02951 02 OF 02 120440Z EXTENSIVELY IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA SINCE HIS RELEASE. HE ALSO NOTED THE GOVERNMENT'S WILLINGNESS TO TURN A BLIND EYE TO THE TRAINING AND ASSIGNMENT OF NUNS. ALTHOUGH HE DID NOT USE THE WORD "SEXIST," HE ACKNOWLEDGED THIS WAS BECAUSE THE GVN FOUND "WOMEN LESS THREATENING THAN MEN IN TERMS OF HAVING A POLITICAL AGENDA OR STRENGTH." ¶8. (C) DESPITE THE PROGRESS MADE SO FAR, FATHER TOAN NOTED SERIOUS LIMITATIONS ON THE CHURCH'S ABILITY TO TRAIN ADEQUATE NUMBERS OF SEMINARIANS AND ORDAIN THEM AS PRIESTS. HE EXPRESSED DOUBT THAT THE LONG-AWAITED SEVENTH SEMINARY - - TO BE LOCATED IN NEIGHBORING DONG NAI PROVINCE -- WOULD BE ALLOWED TO OPEN IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. HE BELIEVED THE GREATEST CHALLENGE STILL FACING THE CHURCH WAS THE GOVERNMENT'S CONTINUING FEAR OF A SPIRITUAL RIVAL TO THE COMMUNIST PARTY. ¶9. (C) ASKED FOR HIS OPINION OF FATHER NGUYEN VAN LY, SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES, FATHER TOAN AGAIN CONFIRMED WHAT OTHER SOURCES HAVE SAID BEFORE. WHILE HE INITIALLY HEDGED HIS ANSWER BY NOTING THAT HE SPENT LITTLE TIME IN HUE AND HAD NOT COME INTO CONTACT WITH HIM OFTEN, HE EVENTUALLY ADMITTED THAT FATHER LY WAS NOT WELL RESPECTED BY OTHERS IN THE CHURCH. FATHER TOAN ALSO CRITICIZED FATHER LY FOR GETTING INVOLVED IN CONTROVERSIAL ACTIVITIES WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS BISHOP. THIS, HE BELIEVED, WAS THE MAJOR REASON THE CHURCH HAD NOT UNITED MORE FORCEFULLY BEHIND HIM. BURGHARDT CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 HANOI 02951 02 OF 02 120440Z CONFIDENTIAL