Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan 28, 2008 / 10:48 am
Over the weekend, members of the Vietnamese government issued a statement about the recent Catholic protests in the capital city of Hanoi. In a response dated January 28, Archbishop Joseph Ngô of Hanoi disproved every accusation leveled against his flock by the government.
The statement comes after the city's governing body issued an order on January 26 giving the protestors until 5 p.m. Sunday to leave the premises and to remove statues of the Virgin Mary and the cross that they had erected on Friday, but none of the instructions were followed.
Instead, 3,000 Catholics showed up to sing, pray and demand the return of the Church’s property. “We are not afraid of death”, said Huong Nguyen, 34, one among hundreds who stayed all night to protect the statues and cross that Catholics have placed in front of the former Vatican embassy.
State-controlled radio, television and newspapers reported that the archdiocese in no way can challenge the ownership of the building because “on 24 November 1961, Fr. Nguyễn Tùng Cương, the then Financial Administrator and Property Manager of the Archdiocese, donated the property to the government.”