US embassy cable - 04HANOI729

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000729 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: NORTHERN CATHOLICS RELY ON TIES SOUTH, ABROAD 
 
REF: A: 02 Hanoi 2152   B.  02 Hanoi 1556 
 
     C: Hanoi 608      D.  HCMC 255 
 
This is a joint Embassy/ConGen cable. 
 
1. (SBU)  Summary: The Catholic Church remains strong in the 
northern provinces of Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh, the historic 
heartland of Catholicism in Vietnam.  With government 
acceptance, the Church is expanding the number of clergy, 
renovating colonial-era churches, and planning new 
charitable programs.  Frustrations remain, however, at 
restrictions on the numbers of students sent to seminary. 
Much of the financial underwriting for the Church in the 
region comes from Vietnamese-Americans who trace their roots 
to the area.  While ties with Catholics who fled south 
during Vietnam's partition in 1954 appear to be fading over 
time, traces remain. End Summary. 
 
2. (U)  During a joint Embassy/ConGen reporting visit, 
poloffs met on February 23 and 24 with Catholic Bishops 
Nguyen Van Yen of Phat Diem diocese (which includes most of 
Ninh Binh province) and Hoang Van Tiem of Bui Chu diocese 
(most of Nam Dinh province), as well as priests and leaders 
of local parish committees and representatives of the 
Committees on Religious Affairs (CRA) for the two provinces. 
(Ref a recounts a similar visit by Pol/C in 2002.) 
 
Catholicism Thriving 
-------------------- 
 
3.  (U) According to official statistics, in Nam Dinh 
province 21% of the population -- or 412,000 people -- is 
Catholic.  The province has 71 priests (28 of them recently 
appointed), and 635 nuns in 5 different convents.  (Note: 
Technically, the nuns are not officially recognized as 
religious workers or under the official supervision of the 
provincial or central Committees on Religious Affairs. 
There are no officially sanctioned training or study 
programs for female Catholics. End note)  Fifty male 
students from Nam Dinh are currently enrolled at the Hanoi 
Catholic seminary (ref b), while another six are studying in 
Paris and Rome.  Ninh Binh province has 144,000 Catholics in 
65 parishes, served by 25 officially recognized priests and 
another 14 who have finished seminary but are completing an 
apprenticeship before being assigned to their own parishes. 
 
4.  (U)  In Quan Lieu Church in Nam Dinh -- a parish founded 
in 1792 -- there are 4500 faithful, and the local priest 
conducts mass daily as well as weekly Bible study classes 
and marriage preparation classes.  In Ninh Binh city, the 
Catholic parish is building a huge new church, with seating 
for 4000, which should give it ample space to expand from 
the current membership of 1500. 
 
Expanding into Charitable Work 
------------------------------ 
 
5. (U)  Officials from Nam Dinh's Committee on Religion 
noted that the Catholic Church had been operating a center 
for the disabled since 1930, entirely run and funded by 
Church funds.  Bishop Tiem of Bui Chu diocese recalled that 
when he had attempted several years ago to found a house for 
delinquent children, local authorities blocked the project. 
Noting that the Church had opened technical schools in 
southern Vietnam, he said in the near future he hoped to 
found a training school for the poor, and predicted he would 
receive permission.  In Nam Dinh's Quan Phuong parish, the 
local priest said the Church is building a vocational 
training center for the blind, although it plans to 
"present" the center to local authorities after completion. 
In both provinces, the churches operate a number of 
kindergartens, according to various sources.  Religious NGOs 
from other countries also have a presence -- a Korean 
Christian group built a hospital in Nam Dinh and an American 
organization is planning a vocational training center -- but 
are strictly prohibited from proselytizing, officials 
stated. 
 
Never Enough Priests 
-------------------- 
 
6.  (U)  Shortages of priests continue to frustrate the 
church, Catholics noted.  The seven churches in Ninh Binh's 
Mieu Giap parish share a single priest with two other 
parishes, and most of the churches are only open for mass on 
their patron saints' days and the Tet lunar holiday.  In Nam 
Dinh's Quan Phuong parish, the resident priest ministers to 
9200 faithful in three parishes, with only the help of an as- 
yet unordained seminary graduate.  Both bishops expressed 
frustrations about continued GVN limitations on the number 
of seminary students.  Bishop Yen of Phat Diem noted that, 
in 1954 there had been 155 priests in this diocese, but that 
by 1988 the number had dropped to ten, six of whom were too 
ill or old to remain active.  Bishop Tiem noted that Bui Chu 
diocese currently had 63 priests, compared to 150 priests in 
1954.  He pointed out, however, that there were 22 
seminarians from his diocese currently studying in Hanoi, 
all of whom would return after finishing their studies.  He 
would like to send even more -- he has 120 candidates for 
the seven places he is allocated in each entering class -- 
but is unable to obtain permission.  The bishop also 
explained that a previous bishop had "secretly" ordained 20 
priests without government approval, "common" in the past 
when GVN authorities were unlikely to approve ordinations 
directly.  These 20 were now attending a special two-year 
program in the seminary in Nha Trang (ref c), after which 
the GVN agreed to recognize their positions. 
 
North-South Relations 
--------------------- 
 
7. (U)  In 1954, hundreds of thousands of Catholics fled 
from north to south, in some case transplanting entire 
communities and building new churches named for those they 
had left behind.  Echoes of that migration are found today 
in the thriving Catholic communities of Ho Chi Minh City, 
Dong Nai (which today likely contains the highest proportion 
of Catholics in the country), Lam Dong, Vung Tau, and Can 
Tho -- communities that are far more prosperous today than 
their northern counterparts.  Only with reunification in 
1975 did communication between the northern and southern 
communities begin to resume (albeit hampered by the 
political situation and restrictions on travel of the period 
before "doi moi"). 
 
8. (U)  Asked to describe the connections that still exist, 
the parish priest of Quan Phung told poloffs that he still 
travels to HCMC every year to visit "sister communities" 
established by former parishioners.  He cited an association 
of believers from the south whose members return to the 
north for a meeting in his province every five years.  The 
church council in Mieu Giap parish is now constructing a 
church guesthouse to be used by visitors returning to their 
"Que Huong" (hometown).  On the governmental side, members 
of the Ninh Binh's CRA said they also travel to HCMC and 
other southern provinces on a fairly regular basis to meet 
with their counterparts.  HCMC's CRA confirmed and welcomed 
these contacts and noted that ties between the northern and 
southern Catholic communities were "important." 
 
9.  (U)  Vietnamese Catholic communities overseas are also 
helpful supporters, according to various contacts. 
According to Bishop Yen, his diocese would be "unable to 
support itself" without contributions from abroad.  He noted 
that there were many Phat Diem Diocese associations outside 
the province (the majority of them in the US), which sent 
financial contributions to help rebuild and maintain 
churches.  At the front of the Phat Diem Cathedral is a 
plaque listing approximately 100 donors (and their 
nationalities) who had contributed to its recent 
reconstruction completed in 2000/2001; all but two were 
Americans. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (SBU) Contrasts between the north and south remain 
striking.  Southern Catholic churches, at least in those 
areas with a high concentration of Catholics, are generally 
vibrant centers of community life, with often large or even 
huge facilities, and usually in good physical condition. 
Many were only built after 1954, and a large number have 
been rebuilt and/or expanded in the over the past decade as 
Vietnam's relations with the outside world -- in particular 
the US -- have become normalized.  The churches in the north 
often appear to be museum relics.  While much reconstruction 
has taken place -- notably the spectacular Phat Diem 
Cathedral -- many others appear to be little-used and 
sometimes decaying reminders of the colonial era.  The 
shortage of priests also appears to be more of a problem in 
the north, perhaps because of financial limitations of 
various dioceses to sponsor students (as well as due to 
government restrictions on numbers).  Southern Catholic 
seminarians appear to have far greater access to 
scholarships to study overseas, certainly for studies in the 
U.S.  The southern churches also tend to have greater 
financial resources that enable them to undertake more 
charitable activities, which allow them to assist the 
disadvantaged in their own communities but may limit their 
abilities simultaneously to provide much funding to their 
northern relatives.  Nonetheless, the renewed and growing 
ties between northern and southern Catholic churches, as 
well as between Vietnamese Catholic congregations in Vietnam 
and overseas, are welcome signs of progress toward 
reconciliation, a process that is likely to continue to 
flourish. 
BURGHARDT