US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY324

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