MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS' SPOKESMAN MR. LE DZUNG
ANSWERS QUESTION ON 28 APRIL 2009

Question: Could you please confirm the information that parishioners of Thai Ha parish in Dong Da District of Hanoi enter a new dispute with the local authorities over a 2-hectare large plot considered by them as belonging to the ownership of their parish and issue a call for mass prayer on Saturday 25th of April, 2009 to demand the return of the plot to them?

Answer:

So far, the Hanoi People’s Committee has only received a complaint dated  18 April, 2009 by Fr Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Thai Ha Church demanding the “suspension of the illegal construction project at the Ba Giang lake area and returning the illegally-seized land back to Thai Ha Diocese of the Hanoi Redemptorist Order”. It, however, does not receive any other complaints from Thai Ha parishioners.

The Hanoi People’s Committee has instructed the People’s Committee of Dong Da District to work out the complaint by Fr Vu Khoi Phung, Superior of Thai Ha Church and respond to it in conformity with the law. Simultaneously, the Hanoi People’s Committee has also requested agencies and households to postpone the construction project in the Ba Giang lake area and urged the authorities of Dong Da District and Quang Trung ward to enhance land management to maintain the status quo, avoid encroachment, and guarantee law and order in the area.

On 25 April, 2009, a Thai Ha Diocese’ announcement by Fr Nguyen Van Khai, spokesman of Thai Ha Diocese of the Hanoi Redemptorist Order  was posted on the Vietnamese Redemptorist website. The announcement contains wrong information unrelated to religious affairs, distorting the truth and slandering the government, thus harming the great unity of the whole nation and inciting parishioners to gather at Thai Ha Church at 6.30 pm on Saturday, 25 April, 2009 for mass prayers and demanding the land-use right to the Ba Giang lake area. The so-called “announcement” went against official and constructive statements by the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam.