More protest vigils in the diocese of Vinh. Difficult glimmers of dialogue with the government.
ICC Note:
Please pray for the Catholics in Vietnam as they continue to hold vigils protesting the detainment of three believers and the treatment of the church by government officials. There are also rumors that the government may be gathering "malcontents from the Communist Youth League and army veterans to launch a series of violent raids on Catholics."
8/10/09 Vietnam (AsiaNews) On the evening of August 8 last in all the parishes of Vinh marches and prayer vigils were held. Throughout the 178 parishes, the vigil brought together some 500 thousand faithful. Carrying signs calling for religious freedom, the faithful asked for the return of Church property requisitioned by the government, the property seized from the homes of the faithful, the end of the anti-Catholic propaganda in government media and the release of 3 Catholics, arrested on July 20 last for having built a tent as a place of prayer in front of the ruins of the church of Tam Toa (see 21/07/2009 Beatings and arrests of priests and faithful in the historic church of Tam Toa).
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There are rumours that the local government is gathering malcontents from the Communist Youth League and army veterans to launch a series of violent raids on Catholics. Meanwhile the press continues to accuse the faithful of offenses against the homeland and the disturbance of public order. In Quang Trach food sellers and suppliers have been ordered not to sell their products to the Catholics.
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