Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HANOI989
2005-04-28 10:04:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

Tags:  PHUM KIRF VM HUMANR RELFREE 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000989 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF VM HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

Reftels: A) 04 Hanoi 2009, B) Hanoi 580, C) Vatican 454, D)
04 Vatican 1988, E) Vatican 142

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000989

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF VM HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

Reftels: A) 04 Hanoi 2009, B) Hanoi 580, C) Vatican 454, D)
04 Vatican 1988, E) Vatican 142


1. (SBU) Summary: In a meeting with the Ambassador April
25, newly appointed Archbishop of Hanoi Ngo Quang Kiet said
that Vietnam's new Ordinance on Religion and its
implementing decree appear to allow more openness for the
Catholic Church, but that the Church has yet to test this.
The Church wants to expand into more educational and
healthcare activities, but its request to open a charity
clinic in Ho Chi Minh City was turned down. The Catholic
seminary in Hanoi has been allowed to expand and to start
enrolling classes annually as of 2005. Catholics in Vietnam
and the Vatican appreciated gestures by the GVN at the
passing of Pope John Paul II and the naming of Benedict XVI.
The Holy See plans to raise the level of representation in
its annual official visit to Vietnam. The GVN remains
cautions on relations with the church, however. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) Archbishop Kiet had recently returned from Rome,
where he was a member of a Vietnamese delegation led by Ho
Chi Minh City Archbishop Cardinal Man, and also including
the bishops of Thai Binh, Bui Chu, Phat Diem, and My Tho
dioceses. Cardinal Man had stayed on as an elector of the
new pope, while the others had returned after the funeral of
John Paul II. The Chinese were represented in Rome only by
a number of seminary students, Kiet noted. He told the
Ambassador that the Catholic Church is growing in Vietnam,
"especially in urban areas." "Thanks to U.S. and other
international pressure, there is increased religious freedom
in Vietnam." Kiet acknowledged that his own elevation to
Archbishop required approval by the GVN, however.


3. (SBU) Addressing to Vietnam's new Ordinance on Religion
and its implementing Decree (Refs. A and B),the Archbishop
said that opportunities for religious organizations appear
to be "more open," but that the Church has not yet scheduled
any activities that would test the new legal framework. The
Ordinance provides enhanced opportunities for the Church to
conduct charitable activities. In a meeting with Prime
Minister Phan Van Khai shortly after being named Archbishop,
Kiet had "insisted" on the engagement of the Church in

education and healthcare activities. Currently, it is only
allowed to operate kindergartens and small "health
stations." The PM responded that the Church is now approved
to engage in healthcare activities. However, according to
Kiet, Cardinal Man of Ho Chi Minh City had requested
permission to open a charity clinic, but this was refused
two weeks ago. The Ambassador commented, and Archbishop
Kiet agreed, that this appeared to be a case of local
officials moving more slowly than Hanoi. The Ambassador
pledged to raise this matter with the Minister of Health.


4. (SBU) Archbishop Kiet discussed positive developments in
the Church's ability to train seminarians. The Hanoi
Seminary will for the first time begin classes yearly this
September, and has also received permission to physically
expand at a new site near Hanoi. Previously it had been
restricted to new classes every other year. No other
seminaries have been authorized to hold yearly classes,
however. The Hanoi Seminary now has 240 students enrolled
in its seven-year course, and will bring in 50 more this
year. The Church hopes to open two new seminaries: first in
the south, followed by one in the north, but no dates have
been set.


5. (SBU) Despite the improvements, Kiet expressed
frustration about Government controls' creating an imbalance
of priests. The Hanoi Seminary must train students from
eight dioceses, while northern Vietnam's other seminary, in
Vinh, draws from only two. Although the Hanoi Seminary is
larger, the end result is that it can only train seven new
priests per diocese each year, while Vinh can train fifteen.
Obtaining GVN approval for priests to be ordained after
their graduation is now "rather easy," however. The Church
has not yet requested moving priests from the south to the
north, where the shortage is greater. The Ordinance appears
to allow this, and the Church will try to do so "later this
year." Kiet also noted the Church has a number of
outstanding disputes over property seized by the State, but
said these will be "very difficult to resolve."


6. (SBU) Turning to Vietnam's relations with the Vatican,
Archbishop Kiet said that the Holy See "would like to
establish official relations" (Ref C). In the Church's
view, ties appear to be warming. The GVN made positive
gestures by offering condolences upon the death of Pope John
Paul II and congratulations on the appointment of Benedict
XVI. The Vatican's annual delegation to Vietnam has been
delayed by events in Rome, but it may take place in June.
The Church hopes that Cardinal Sepe, Prefect for the
Evangelization of Peoples, will be approved to lead that
delegation. (Note: Previous delegations have been headed by
Vatican Deputy Foreign Minister Pietro Parolin - Ref D. End
Note.) Furthermore, Vietnam's Government Committee for
Religious Affairs intends to send a delegation to Rome for
discussions. Nonetheless, Archbishop Kiet speculated that
the formal establishment of ties would depend on "the
international situation," including U.S.-Vietnam relations
and the situation of the Church in China.


7. (SBU) In a separate meeting on April 19, MFA Western
Europe Deputy Director Ngo Tien Dzung told Poloff that the
GVN has "received warmly" twelve delegations from the
Vatican since the "principles of their interaction" were
defined in a 1990 agreement. The Vatican has "sometimes
respected these principles, and sometimes not," however.
Specifically, in "many cases," the Vatican has not consulted
with the GVN before naming bishops and archbishops. For
example, Pope John Paul II named Archbishop Man of Ho Chi
Minh City to be a Cardinal in 2004 without consulting with
the GVN first. (Note: Archbishop Kiet's appointment was
approved in advance with the GVN, and we know of none other
than Man's that did not receive GVN approval. In the past,
the Vatican and GVN had disputes over some nominations,
however, and many bishoprics have remained leaderless for
years. End Note.) Dzung explained that the GVN has a
"difficult history" with the Vatican, which "was opposed to
our independence." The establishment of formal relations
was not raised during a recent meeting between National
Assembly Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Vu Mao and
Vatican officials in Rome, other GVN sources told Poloff.
(Note: President Tran Duc Luong was quoted in media reports
earlier this year as saying that, "It's only a question of
timing to officially establish diplomatic relations between
Vietnam and the Vatican" - Ref E. End Note.)

MARINE