The piece of land at 178 Nguyen Luong Bang, Quang Trung ward, Dong Da precinct, was formerly owned by the Redemptorists in Hanoi. It was handed over to the State in the 1960s by the diocese’ priests. It is now jointly being used by Chien Thang Garments Joint Stock Company, Dong Da Hospital, Cement Transport and Equipment Company and Hanoi Power Company.

Under circular No73 dated July 7, 1962, the Government announced that the ownership of land rented in urban areas was no longer in effect, and that the State would directly manage, allocate and use this type of land, including other property available on it such as trees, ponds, lakes, wells and historical relics.

On November 26, 2003, the 4^th session of the 11^th National Assembly adopted a resolution, saying that the State would not reconsider the implementation of policies on housing and land management, as well as socialist reform policies on housing and land issued before July 1, 1991, nor accept any reclaim for land and houses it had managed and used during the implementation of those policies.

This means the above mentioned companies have the legal right to use the piece of land at 178 Nguyen Luong Bang. However, since late 2007, Thai Ha church, led by priest Trinh Ngoc Hien, has built a chapel, a stone cave and a new house on this piece of land to reclaim the ownership. The Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee, the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and Housing, and the Dong Da Precinct People’s Committee have issued many documents, affirming that the church’s demand is groundless.

In defiance of these legal principles, Thai Ha church has encouraged parishioners to encroach on the ground of Chien Thang Garments Joint Stock Company by placing a statue of the Virgin Mary, a Holy Cross, an incense burner and other things there. Hundreds of parishioners even used hammers and crowbars to break down a brick wall and get into a residential quarter. They erected another statue of the Virgin Mary and Holly Cross and held a big mass there on August 17 with the participation of hundreds of children.

As a gesture of goodwill, the local administration and relevant agencies sent a working mission to Thai Ha church to solve the problem. However, the church refused to receive them.

In a document to the chairman of the Dong Da precinct People’s Committee, priest Vo Khoi Phung insisted that the Thai Ha diocese and monastery had acted in line with legal procedures to reclaim land use rights. In fact, they mobilised some 200 parishioners to put up tents and hold vigils on the ground of Chien Thang Garments Joint Stock Company. When security guards there asked them to remove their things, many parishioners committed provocative acts by hurling insults at them. They went on with the challenge that they would mobilise more Catholics from other provinces to bring more pressure to bear on the local administration if their demand is not met satisfactorily.

In so doing, the church and parishioners have seriously violated Article 140 of the 2003 Land Law, the Ordinance on Religion and Belief and the Government’s Decree 138 outlining measures to maintain public order. Worse still, by assembling Catholics and their children to dance to the tune of double dealer Vo Khoi Phung, Thai Ha church has acted against Jesus Christ’ dogma and teachings. 

Vietnam is a multi-religious nation with approximately 20 million followers practising different religions. Over the past sixty years, the majority of religious followers have stood shoulder to shoulder with the whole nation in the cause of national construction and defence. Therefore, the Vietnamese Party and State have always respected religious freedom and adopted many policies aimed at encouraging religious practices.

However, the Vietnamese State does not allow any religious sects to make use of these policies to do harm to the nation’s interests and people’s peaceful lives. Thai Ha church’s priests and parishioners must realise that religious freedom does not mean they can build places of worship wherever they like off their premises.

Hanoi Moi (New Hanoi) newspaper on August 20 quoted Kieu Van Son, a resident in Hanoi’s Thach That district, as saying “The statue of Jesus Christ would be put up in a solemn and respectable place of worship, not in any plot of land for the purpose of serving political ends.”

Thai Ha church would rather stop wrongful acts to help restore social order and calm in that area.