Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul halt protests

§ Hồng Loan

VietCatholic News (22 Dec 2008 12:17)

Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in Ho Chi Minh City who have been keeping several day and night vigils in front of their home at 32 Bis Nguyen thi Dieu St trying to put a stop to the government's plan to turn it into a night club have just been told to pack up and withdraw from their post at the order of their provincial superior - sister Justina Tran Thi Tuoi.

The order came as a shock and a disappointment to the mild - mannered, soft spoken but determined nuns who have planned to fight to the end of this long overdue process of demanding their home back. They all broke down and cried in resentment when leaving the premise as reported to VietCatholic News.

32 Bis Nguyen Thi Dieu has long been home to the order since 1959 as a gift from the French Red Cross. After 1975 when Vietnam communist took control of South Vietnam, like the rest of the country, this particular home of theirs had been put under management of Bureau of Education in the Third district of Ho Chi Minh city with the promise made by the government on Oct 15,1975to recognize the ownership of the Sisters of Charity on the house, and they would use it just for educational purposes.

Until this day, the promise remains just a promise. An empty one.

Vietnam government has long been criticized for mishandling the land-use right, causing a wave of resentment and social unrests among people from all walks of life from North to South. Many protests have been organized throughout the country to protest government's appropriation of their land, after the owners had exhausted all efforts to resolve the issue with the government in papers. Some protest turned violent such as the events in Nghe An province several months ago or in Kien Giang province on Dec 19 where farmers were driven into a bloody clash with the police. The Catholic Church was no exception in becoming victimized by the patchy and blurry state policy on land use right.

Like the former Hanoi nunciature and Thai Ha incidents, where parishioners and priests have been fed up with waiting all those years in vain for the government to honor its words in returning land and property to them the rightful owners and eventually had no choice but to go on protesting, the Sisters of Charity’s quest for justice also began years ago in a very peaceful, reasonable manner. But what they got in return was lies and empty promises time after time, when the government kept dodging the issue and gave the sisters false leads to keep them at bay while secretly allowing enterprises to run the house as place for adult entertainment business, a total betrayal of the agreement they made to the sisters on Oct 15, 1975.

Each time the nuns flocked to the site to confirm the report on their house being torn down by some service provider with connection to the government, their mistrust for the government grew bigger until Dec 17, 2008 the day they decided that they were left with no other option than to be at the site 24-7 until their property is safely back in their possession. What has driven them to the edge was despite two agreements the government had signed on Dec15, 2007 and Mar 17, 2008, each promised to keep the condition of the building the same until the dispute between the sisters and local government has been resolved. The sisters though tried their best to be calm and nice, they could not constrain from frustration and resentment each time they came to witness the destruction going on inside the building.

But being the nuns they're bound to their vow of "Chastity, Poverty and Obedience" their determination had faced the toughest challenge so far when their present Superior gave in to the demand of the former superior sister Beatrice Nguyen Thi My, known for her role as Vice chairwomen of City's Catholic Committee for Religion Solidarity and ordered her nuns to withdraw from their posts and wait for the Superiors to start negotiating with the city officials. Ironically, Sister Beatrice was the first nun who filed the petition to the city, asking for their house to be returned.

What the pacific nuns did not do was to stay defiant against the direct order from their superior; they just left the premise in tears.

- Nỗi nghẹn ngào của các Nữ Tử Bác Ái Vinh Sơn khi phải rút lui vô điều kiện

Hong Loan

Đọc nhiều nhất Bản in 22.12.2008. 11:52