HANOI (UCAN): Redemptorists in Vietnam have voiced opposition to renovation work on their one-time monastery in Hanoi—now the state-run Dong Da General Hospital—and called on the government to return the property instead.
Father Joseph Nguyen Van Hoi, head of the Hanoi-based Redemptorists, asked city authorities to “take measures to stop the renovation work on our monastery and return it to its original state.”
The parish priest of Thai Ha church, which is next to the hospital, said local Catholics are deeply upset with the renovation going ahead without their permission. The parish council has met with the hospital management who refused to halt the renovation work.
Father Nguyen said that in the past, the hospital management used to seek approval from the Redemptorists before they carried out repairs.
In his November 11 complaint to Tran Sy Thanh, the chairperson of the People’s Committee of Hanoi, and other city agencies, Father Nguyen said the government should punish those “who flagrantly damaged our legitimate religious property.” He called on the government to “return the buildings so that we use them for religious needs.”
The Redemptorists bought the 61,455 square metre plot in 1928 and used as their novitiate and study centre following their arrival in Vietnam in 1925. “We never sold them,” Father Nguyen said, pointing out that Dong Da district authorities illegally forced Redemptorists to hand the monastery to them.
He said that what is happening violates religious freedom and discourages local people from putting their trust in the government as the Vatican and Vietnam are trying to grow diplomatic ties.
Catholics are expecting the government to ease its religious policies and return confiscated Church facilities after the president, Vo Van Thuong, met Pope Francis and signed a landmark pact on July 27 this year.
Father Nguyen said the hospital started the renovation work on November 6 when Redemptorists were attending their annual retreat, away from their monastery in Hanoi. The work is expected to end by December 15.
Redemptorist Father John Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong said that the government also borrowed another building to treat people who were injured in the Vietnam War in 1972.
“They have not returned it,” he said.
The government has returned a few facilities in recent years, but local people want the government to return all seized Church properties.
In recent years, Vietnam’s Redemptorists have focused their attention on human rights, social justice and environmental protection. As a result, six of them have been banned from leaving the country by the government for speaking out against social injustice, violations of religious freedom, and illegal land grabs.
