The letter, published on VietCatholic News on May 20,
was issued after the prelate had convened representatives of all
dioceses in the Ecclesiastical Province of Saigon to a conference on the
draft bill a week earlier.
“Essentially,” the prelate went on, “the proposed amendments of
the decree reflect the desire of the government to re-establish the
mechanism of Asking and Granting in religious activities. The Asking and
Granting process turns the legitimate rights of citizens into
privileges in the hands of government officials who would grant or
withheld them to people through bureaucratic procedures.”
“The mechanism of Asking and Granting, hence, does not only
eliminate the freedom rights of people, but also turns a ‘government of
people by people and for people’ in to a ‘Master of the country’ who
holds in his hands all the rights, and grants or withholds them to
people at his random mood swings,” he warned.
Bishops in Vietnam have repeatedly voiced their concerns that
the uncompromised nature of religious freedom in Vietnam is still very
far from reality due to a ‘jungle of law’ full of ambiguities and
contradictions which serves mainly for intents of regulating,
circumscribing, and hence controlling religious communities.
Indeed, Article 70 of the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam provides that “the citizen shall enjoy freedom of
belief and religion; he can follow any religion or follow none. All
religions are equal before the law. The places of worship of all faiths
and religions are protected by the law. No one can violate freedom of
belief and of religion, nor can anyone misuse beliefs and religions to
contravene the law, and State policies.”
The phrase ‘misuse of beliefs and religions’ is indeterminate
and susceptible of many interpretations. In fact, ordinary religious
functions, such as the Catholic engagement in social justice and
advocacy for human rights, have had every chance to be regarded as a
‘misuse of beliefs and religions’ under the Article.
“Certainly, the Article provides no criteria as to what is
considered a ‘misuse’, nor does it state who is to be the arbiter of
whether a particular activity falls within the definition,” said
Melbourne based Fr. Peter Hansen, “Arguably, it was the constitutional
drafters’ intent that the determinative power rest with the Vietnamese
state, with the Church itself having no role to play. This potentially
grants to the state the effective capacity to circumscribe what
constitutes legitimate religious activity, and axiomatically, to place
outside the bounds of legitimacy whatever it finds displeasing,” the
lecturer on history of the Church in Asia of Australian Catholic
Theological College warned.
Moreover, quasi-legislative provisions found
in a series of ordinances, and decrees on Beliefs and Religions,
typically the Government Decree 22/2005 promulgated on March 1, 2005,
Government Decree 26/1999, issued on 19 April 1999 which is based on a
directive of the Communist Party (No.37 CT/TW), circulated on 2 July
1998, have further ramifications for the practice of religion and
citizens’ religious rights. Many of these provisions have drawn
criticism as constituting a de facto impediment to true religious
freedom.
Fundamentally, these quasi-legislative provisions state that
all religions and religious denominations must seek the recognition of
the central government in order to operate legally.
But, “the state only recognises the existence of religions not
their legal status and their clergy’s legal rights. Religious clergy,
therefore, are neither entitled to citizen’s rights as others nor able
to legally represent their religion. Religious organisations are not
entitled to a legal status as other social groups according to the
Constitution and the law... Instead of being able to enjoy their
legitimate rights, they have to beg for permissions to held religious
ceremonies, to preach their beliefs, to carry out formation and
ordination,” lamented the Cardinal.
Indeed, the attached minute of the conference, signed by Fr.
Joseph Maria Le Quoc Thanh, the president of the newly born Archdiocesan
Justice and Peace Commission, showed the forum participants’
frustration that religious activities including liturgies, prayers
services, sermons, catechetical teachings must be licensed annually or
given specific permission per event whilst admission into monastic life
must conform to the stipulations of the State Religious Affairs
Committee. Retreats and ‘similar religious activities’ must be in
accordance with government regulations; religious conferences must have
state approval. The printing, publication, and the importation of
publications, especially ‘religious cultural articles’, are regulated by
the state.
Given its particular connection to the Vatican and the
universal Catholic Church in general, the provisions regulating foreign
religious involvement are of particular importance to the Vietnamese
Catholic Church. Vietnam government requires that the bestowal of
religious titles (bishop, cardinal, in particular) must have its
approval, thus providing a de facto government veto over episcopal
appointments. It has on many occasions in the past exercised that veto
in rejecting candidates proposed by the Vatican.
The draft bill maintains that religious organisations’
international activities must comply with state policies and precepts,
and such organisations must advise the Religious Affairs Committee of
any instructions received from ‘foreign religious organisations’, and
then comply with any instructions issued by the committee. Invitations
to ‘foreign religious organisations and individuals’ must be approved by
the Committee for Religious Affairs. Foreigners wishing to undertake
religious activities in Vietnam must register with local People’s
Committees, and any aid received from foreign religious organisations
must be approved by the State Religious Affairs Committee.
The Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions promulgated on June 18,
2004 states that “legitimate properties of all faiths and religions are
protected by the law”.
However, “in reality, there has been no single
legal document stipulating clearly how they are protected and how the
ownership rights of religious communities are protected,” the prelate
challenged.
“That’s why a series of premises and land has been unjustly
seized,” he added. Echoing the viewpoints of Vietnamese bishops in their
statement on Sep. 25, 2008, the Cardinal stated that the land and
property laws are out-dated and inconsistent, they ought to be revised.
Vietnamese government needs to take the right to own private property
into consideration as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in
association with others.” and “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of
his property.”
In brief, the fifth draft amendments for the Government Decree
22/2005, as criticised by Cardinal Jean Baptise Pham, whilst maintaining
all harsh previous restrictions on religious freedom, requires more
administrative procedures of ‘request for permission’.
The Cardinal concluded his letter by asserting that the
Vietnamese Catholic community "earnestly want to see the construction of
a legal system that is progressing for the advancement of the people,
by the people in order for the country to develop with stability"
He
cautiously reminded Vietnam government that "By the same token, for the
law to be respected, it requires one's courage to change their mind-set,
to respect the objective truth, and change from the fundamentals of the
rule of law, rather than just the regulations or the decrees".