US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY468

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000468 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; DRL 
PLEASE PASS TO CIRF 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, SOCI, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: THE YIN AND YANG OF THE SEA STAR CATHOLIC SEMINARY 
 
REF: 02 Ho Chi Minh City 1304 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  The Ambassador met with Father Tran 
Thanh Phong, director of the Nha Trang Sea Star Seminary 
during a visit to Khanh Hoa province, May 15-17.  During 
the discussion, which took place in a large, well- 
maintained reception hall, Father Phong was careful not to 
explicitly criticize the GVN, but he did comment that it 
might be difficult for Western logic to comprehend "the 
convolutedness" of the Seminary/Catholic Church's 
relationship with the Vietnamese Government.  Father Phong 
painted a picture of a Catholic diocese that has made its 
peace with the GVN, reconciled to enjoying some freedoms 
while operating within certain restrictions.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) Ambassador Raymond F. Burghardt and the Consul 
General met for over an hour with Father Tran Thanh Phong. 
Father Phong described the Sea Star Seminary as responsible 
for training priests for three dioceses: Nha Trang (Khanh 
Hoa province and Phan Rang in Ninh Thuan province); Buon Me 
Thuot (Dak Lak province and part of Binh Phuoc province); 
and Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, and Quang Ngai 
provinces).  Six seminaries Q in Nha Trang, Hue, Hanoi, 
Thanh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho Q are officially 
recognized by the GVN.  Nha Trang was recognized ten years 
ago.  (Prior to 1975, the Sea Star Seminary was a minor 
one.  The major seminaries were those in Dalat and Saigon.) 
 
3.  (SBU) According to Father Phong, Sea Star Seminary 
currently has 84 seminarians who follow a six-year course 
of study.  Every two years, each diocese is permitted to 
select 10 candidates who have graduated from university. 
The "ideal" candidate is about 25 years-old, has a 
bachelor's degree, and gets the stamp of approval from the 
local People's Committee and Ministry of Public Security 
(MPS) for having a "sound mind" (here the priest smilingly 
tapped his head). 
 
4.  (SBU) The six-year training program includes two years 
of philosophy and four years of theology, as well as 
courses on politics and economics Q taught by professors 
assigned by the local authorities.  There is about a ten 
percent drop out rate, but usually not due to a diagnosis 
of wrong-headedness by the MPS.  The Ministry of Public 
Security and the local government make their appearance 
again at graduation, when they "check" the seminarians to 
ensure they are still of "sound mind." 
 
5.  (U) After graduation, the seminarians are usually 
assigned as assistants for a two-year internship to 
ordained priests.  After a successful internship (and by 
that time, over the age of 30, the minimum age to become a 
priest in Vietnam), they are ordained.  The diocese then 
decides which parish to send the newly-ordained priest to - 
as a junior priest, who will eventually take over as the 
full parish priest.  There are currently 120 priests in the 
Nha Trang diocese, according to Father Phong, many of whom 
are old and infirm.  "We need a younger generation," he 
emphasized.  Since the Sea Star Seminary is limited in its 
intake of seminarians, Father Phong was asked whether any 
devout Catholics go overseas to pursue their theological 
studies.  He noted that they could go overseas as regular 
students, but not as seminarians.  Only priests who are 
trained and ordained in Vietnam can serve here. 
 
6.  (SBU) Father Phong said that he and the Seminary get 
along with the provincial government, but are required to 
get permission from the authorities whenever they wanted to 
travel or meet with outsiders Q including priests and 
believers from other towns and diocese.  Local authorities 
must approve the Seminary's training curriculum, the 
professors/priests who will teach the classes, and their 
lesson plans.  There have been no foreign priests as 
teachers; the Seminary has never asked for permission 
because it "knows the request will not be approved." (Post 
Note: Demonstrating that situations are relative and vary 
from province to province, it would appear Khanh Hoa 
province exercises stricter control over the Catholic 
Church than Ho Chi Minh City does.  The Catholic hierarchy 
in HCMC generally travels unimpeded and simply notifies 
local authorities of their plans Q sometimes after the 
fact.  They also meet with ConGenoffs and other "outsiders" 
without asking permission.  End note.) 
 
7.  (U) However, Sea Star Seminary has been able to send 
some faculty members to study in Rome, Paris, and the U.S. 
Right now, bioethics is a sensitive issue, and regional 
priests attended classes led by the Bishop of Can Tho 
earlier this month.  In response to a question from the 
Ambassador, Father Phong indicated that the Seminar 
receives some financial assistance from Rome and its own 
parishioners.  Individual overseas Vietnamese also donate, 
but on a case-by-case basis. 
 
8.  (SBU) During a brief tour of the Seminary, the 
Ambassador stopped by a darkened room with several 
computers.  Father Phong explained that while seminarians 
have access to the Internet, they are forbidden by the 
provincial government to download any files.  (Post Note: 
While we do not know specifically about the Catholic 
seminary in HCMC, in cities like HCMC and Danang, the 
internet cafes and universities can download from any 
website that is not firewalled by the government.  End 
note.)  The Sea Star Seminary itself is built on land 
granted to it in compensation for the old building (now a 
teachers' college) in a different location.  Father Phong 
ruefully chuckled when he related that the local government 
said it was giving the Church a "good deal." 
 
9.  (SBU) Comment:  Father Phong was an informative 
interlocutor who became more animated as the discussion 
progressed.  He acknowledged that Catholic life had been 
difficult after the war, but said things had improved over 
the past 10 years.  His statement that contemporary 
Vietnamese society is deteriorating because people say the 
right things, but do not act on principle or with virtue 
could be interpreted as an oblique criticism of Vietnam's 
current political system.  Although a priest, Father Phong 
seemed to place some faith in the "yin" and "yang" of life, 
and accept that in return for certain freedoms, there would 
be certain restrictions on the Catholic Church in Khanh Hoa 
province.   YAMAUCHI