US embassy cable - 04HANOI2430

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002430 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF, AND H 
 
H PLEASE PASS TO FRANK JANUZZI IN OFFICE OF SENATOR BIDEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PGOV, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: STAFFDEL JANUZZI MEETINGS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
 
Reftels: A) HCMC 622;  B) Hanoi 712;  C) Hanoi 1987 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: During meetings with Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee staff member Frank Januzzi in Hanoi on 
September 1, a Catholic Church leader and a GVN Committee 
for Religious Affairs (CRA) official depicted a steadily 
improving situation for religious believers in Vietnam.  Of 
note, the Catholic Church is increasing the number of 
seminarians studying in Hanoi this year, and hopes to expand 
charitable activities when the new Ordinance on Religion 
comes into effect on November 15.  The CRA official said 
that the process of opening new churches in the Central 
Highlands was continuing without interruption, and that 
seven new Protestant churches would be recognized by the end 
of 2004.  Mr. Januzzi's other meetings in Hanoi and visit to 
Gia Lai province will be reported septel.  End Summary 
 
2. (SBU) Bishop Ngo Quang Kiet, Apostolic Administrator of 
the Hanoi Archdiocese and Bishop of Lang Son diocese, told 
Mr. Januzzi that religious freedom is "evolving" in Vietnam, 
and noted "ten years ago we couldn't have had this meeting." 
Similarly, he explained that a decade ago, ordaining new 
Catholic bishops in Vietnam was "very difficult," but now 
all dioceses had bishops.  Bishop Kiet said that more 
Catholic churches were being built in both northern and 
southern Vietnam, and that Church activities were 
"diversifying."  For example, he cited that 5000 young 
Catholics had participated in a church retreat in Hanoi just 
two weeks before.  He also pointed out that Catholic bishops 
now had no difficulty traveling to the Vatican.  In fact, 
the entire Vietnam Bishops Council had visited Rome two 
years ago, and Bishop Kiet would leave for his fourth trip 
to Rome in five years this weekend.  Bishop Kiet credited 
these changes to "improved policies" by the GVN. 
Nonetheless, Kiet noted that "religious activities are 
easier to carry out in the south than in the north, in urban 
areas rather than in rural areas, and are still difficult in 
the mountains." 
 
3. (SBU) Bishop Kiet particularly stressed that the Church 
had recently been allowed to recruit more seminarians to 
study in Hanoi.  In the past, he said, the Hanoi seminary 
had only been allowed 45-50 students entering once every two 
years.  In this fall's new class, however, there would be 90 
new students.  [Note: Restrictions on the number of 
seminarians has been a point of particular frustration for 
the Catholic Church in Vietnam.  In addition to numerical 
caps, seminarians must be approved by relevant GVN agencies 
before they begin their studies, and again before they are 
ordained.  End note] 
 
4. (SBU) Bishop Kiet also discussed the Church's charitable 
activities.  Until now, he said, such activities had been 
done through Church participation in state-run programs, 
through independent activities that had explicit approval by 
authorities, or through "secretive activities."  For 
example, he noted that last year in HCMC, when the GVN found 
itself unable to cope with the number of new HIV positive 
patients "in their final stages," it called upon the 
Catholic Church for assistance.  The Church provided 150 
religious workers to assist. (ref. A)  "We have long 
proposed that the government allow us to conduct more 
activities in educational and social affairs," Kiet 
explained, adding that the Church was generally restricted 
only to supporting kindergartens.  He said that the Church 
thought "it is our responsibility to society" to operate 
charitable schools and health care centers, and wanted "the 
independence to do so."  Bishop Kiet acknowledged that 
Vietnam's new Ordinance on Religion - which would take 
effect November 15 - made mention of charitable activities 
by religious groups, but said "we are not sure" if the 
ordinance would allow the Church the freedom of activity it 
sought. 
 
5. (U) Nguyen Thanh Xuan, Deputy Chairman of the GVN's 
Committee for Religious Affairs, focused largely on religion 
in the Central Highlands, in advance of Mr. Januzzi's trip 
to the region the following day (septel).  Xuan said that 
Protestantism had first come to the Highlands in the 1930's, 
that there were 60,000 Protestant believers there in 1975, 
and over 100,000 today.  [Note: Mission figures put the 
number at 350,000. End note.]  He said that the 
"normalization" of the situation for Protestants in the 
Central Highlands began with the recognition of the Southern 
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) in 2001, and pointed 
out that four highlands ministers now sat on the SECV's 
board and students from the region were enrolled at the 
SECV's seminary in HCMC.  This process continued with the 
decree on normalization of relations with the SECV, issued 
in November 2003 (ref. B), and was aimed at putting SECV 
activities in the Central Highlands on the same basis as in 
all other parts of Vietnam.  "The Central Highlands," he 
said, "have been given high priority" and the process of 
normalization continued unabated.  [Note: This differs with 
comments of CRA Chairman Thi, who told Ambassador Hanford in 
June that the normalization process has been suspended as a 
result of unrest in the Central Highlands in April.  End 
note.] 
 
6. (U) Specifically, Xuan said that seven new Protestant 
churches would be officially recognized in Gia Lai province 
before the end of 2004.  He did not comment on possible new 
churches in other highlands provinces.  Xuan noted that 
there was still a shortage of pastors in the region, but 
said that the CRA was planning to help the SECV's seminary 
in HCMC "increase its capacity" and was continuing with 
plans to carry out "on site training" in the Central 
Highlands next year.  This would involve uncertified 
religious leaders receiving instruction from teachers from 
HCMC.  He added that the CRA had suggested to the SECV that 
it send students to study abroad.  In the meanwhile, Xuan 
said that Protestant villages should register the number of 
Protestant believers, the name of their church leaders, and 
the schedule and location of their religious activities. 
Those village congregations that did not meet all the 
criteria for recognition could operate as "satellites" of 
larger, officially recognized congregations, he said.  "When 
a village has its own pastor, it can separate and establish 
an independent congregation," he added. 
 
7. (U) Mr. Januzzi brought up the new Ordinance on Religion, 
and noted that many in Washington were disappointed that it 
did not contain specific language banning forced 
renunciations (ref C).  Xuan replied that the ordinance was 
a "framework," and that it still remained for the GVN to 
draft "implementing documents," which would be more 
specific.  "We understand that (forced renunciations) exist 
in some areas, but they are the result of individual 
actions," he said.  He described forced renunciations as a 
"psychological matter," the reaction when people with long- 
held traditional beliefs were suddenly confronted with "new 
phenomena."  Nonetheless, "the new ordinance will overwhelm 
such actions," Xuan promised.  He added that the creation of 
a single code to govern religion would have "significant 
legal effect and significant unifying effect" and would make 
the practice of religion "equal for all of Vietnam." 
 
8. (SBU) Comment:  Xuan's comments were some of the most 
positive news we have heard on religion in Vietnam in some 
time.  So positive, in fact, that we fear he may have been 
just telling his Congressional visitor what he wanted to 
hear.  Mission will monitor the situation in the highlands 
to see if the "normalization process" for the SECV has 
indeed resumed, and if new churches will open as promised. 
End comment. 
 
9. (U) Mr. Januzzi has not cleared this cable. 
BURGHARDT