US embassy cable - 04HANOI712

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000712 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: GVN CONFIRMS CENTRAL HIGHLANDS DECREE ON CHURCHES 
 
REF: HCMC 147 
 
1. (U) Summary: The Government Committee on Religious 
Affairs (CRA) envisions its December 2003 decree on 
relations with the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam 
(SECV) as reestablishing a "normal" situation for the 
Protestants in the Central Highlands.  The CRA sees the 
approval of ten new congregations and pastors since its 
release as evidence of the decree's rapid impact.  A school 
for training still-unofficial SECV preachers likely will 
open this year.  The CRA remains concerned about security 
concerns in the area, however, and does not plan to relax 
rules requiring government certification of both church 
buildings and pastors. End Summary 
 
2. (U) In a March 4 meeting, Nguyen Thanh Xuan, CRA Vice 
Chairman and Director of its Department for Protestant 
Affairs, described to poloff what he called the "gradual 
return to normal operations" for the SECV in the Central 
Highlands, and said that the December 4 decree was the 
"official document to guide" this process (reftel).  He 
claimed that the CRA was actively involved in "helping local 
officials understand the points" in the decree.  Xuan said 
that it is "impossible" to determine the exact number of 
Protestants in the Central Highlands, but noted that there 
were 26 congregations and 33 pastors officially registered 
already, as well as 335 SECV preachers.  (Note: These 
"preachers" are mostly leaders of house churches who have 
not been officially trained at a recognized Vietnamese 
seminary and do not have, or have not sought, GVN approval 
to lead an official congregation. End Note.)  Xuan also 
pointed out that eight of the 50 students currently studying 
in the SECV's seminary in Ho Chi Minh City are from the 
Central Highlands, a number he said was determined by the 
SECV itself.  (Note: The local CRA offices still screen the 
seminary nominees from each province, however. End Note) 
 
3. (U) The first point of the December 4 decree encourages 
all officially recognized congregations to apply for 
construction permits for worshipping places.  Xuan suggested 
that GVN concerns are largely in regard to building codes. 
He added, however, that if a congregation could not afford 
to construct a new church, using a private house for worship 
is "acceptable" -- so long as local authorities agree. 
 
4. (U) The decree's second point encourages churches 
participating in "normal" religious practice -- and not 
involved in the Dega separatist movement -- to begin to 
register with local authorities even in advance of meeting 
all criteria for official recognition.  Xuan admitted the 
problems in the past when unregistered Protestant groups 
could not legalize their situation without having a church 
and a pastor, but could not obtain a meeting space or 
official pastor without being officially recognized in the 
first place.  He said this problem now would not be 
"overwhelming," but cautioned that all congregations were 
still subject to security laws, and required approval from 
local authorities.  Since the issuance of the decree, ten 
new congregations had been recognized, Xuan claimed.  Noting 
the shortage of officially recognized pastors, he suggested 
that the SECV might set up some large congregations with 
several "sub-congregations" and church buildings under the 
authority of a single pastor.  He noted that some pastors 
were already traveling to minister to different 
congregations within the Central Highlands without 
restriction. 
 
5. (U) The third point of the decree invites the SECV to 
begin preparations to open Bible courses for preachers in 
the Central Highlands.  Xuan said that this was intended to 
be something far short of a full seminary program that would 
allow preachers currently operating in the highlands to 
obtain sufficient training to become pastors and take over 
an officially registered congregation.  He noted that, 
subsequent to the decree, the SECV had submitted a formal 
proposal to open such a Bible school, but said that the SECV 
had not "fully thought through" the requirements of 
buildings, materials, and lecturers needed to open such a 
facility.  Xuan added that the CRA had concerns about 
preachers with less than a secondary school diploma 
attending such a course, as they "couldn't benefit" from the 
instruction.  Nonetheless, Xuan predicted the school would 
be opened "in the middle of this year." 
 
6. (U) Xuan did not offer much elaboration on the fourth and 
final point of the decree -- that "other activities such as 
the reinstatement, ordination, or appointment of pastors . . 
. should be carried out normally in accordance with the law" 
-- other than to say that the naming of new pastors should 
be a "normal" practice.  He declared it was up to the SECV 
to determine what background and experience were required 
for an individual to be named as a preacher, but added that 
the certification by the CRA would still be required.  Xuan 
noted that ten new pastors had been recognized since the 
decree was issued.  These ten were exceptional cases; all of 
them had studied at -- or graduated from -- seminaries in 
South Vietnam before 1975, and had been serving as preachers 
ever since. 
 
7. (U) Comment: Xuan tempered many of his promises of 
improved conditions by qualifications that "normal 
practices" would have to be followed, that security was a 
concern, and that government oversight would not disappear. 
Nonetheless, it appears that the CRA wants to "legalize" the 
highlands churches, giving them a more transparent structure 
-- and also providing more opportunities for official 
oversight.  It is now up to the Protestants in the region to 
determine whether the embrace of the state-sanctioned church 
is preferable to their current unofficial status.  Some are 
clearly eager to take advantage of the new opportunity; the 
number of ten new congregations and pastors registered in 
the last three months has been confirmed to the Mission 
through other sources.  A number of house church leaders 
have dismissed the decree, however, saying it is a "hollow 
promise" meant to satisfy the international community.  This 
likely portends continuing divisions between recognized and 
unrecognized Protestant communities and between the 
Protestants and the GVN. 
BURGHARDT