EASTER CELEBRATIONS PEACEFUL IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000324

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR DR. GREEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF VM HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: EASTER CELEBRATIONS PEACEFUL IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM


1. (SBU) Our contacts in the recognized Southern Evangelical
Church of Vietnam (SECV) and in the unofficial house church
movement have told us that their Easter celebrations largely were
peaceful throughout southern Vietnam, including the Central
Highlands. Our contacts in the Central Highlands provinces of Gia
Lai and Dak Lak report that all SECV churches were allowed to
operate normally, although one of the four recognized SECV
churches in Dak Lak faced some police harassment in the days
before Easter. A pastor in Gia Lai added that the SECV is
planning to consecrate a new church as well as to launch a
provincial-level Bible training class for new pastors immediately
after Easter under the provisions of Vietnam's new legal framework
on religion. House churches were allowed to operate normally in
Gia Lai Province. In Dak Lak Province, Protestant families were
allowed to celebrate in small groups. A contact reported that one
house church in Kontum Province affiliated with the World United
Evangelical Mission apparently was not allowed to hold Easter
services; its members were directed to other churches.


2. (SBU) Easter celebrations throughout the HCMC area went
smoothly. All house churches operated without incident. Our
contacts told us that police encouraged house churches to restrict
the size of some of their gatherings to a few hundred or less; one
house church apparently was denied permission to hold Easter
services for 1,500 in a local restaurant, although the organizers
acknowledged to us that this could easily have been for public
safety and fire code reasons. According to our house church
contacts, in addition to the one house church in Kontum, another
two house churches, one in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau and
another in the coastal province of Phu Yen, faced police
harassment, although they ultimately were allowed to hold Easter
services. Our contacts say that between six and seven thousand
house churches conduct services throughout Vietnam on any given
Sunday. The majority of these are located in Vietnam's southern
and central regions.

WINNICK