Hanoi, Vietnam, Sep 28, 2009 / 17:45 pm
Amid a continuing smear campaign against Catholics, local Vietnamese officials have confiscated a Catholic school while other church land has been appropriated for private investors. Catholics have protested the action and are facing down bulldozers in defense of a large statue of the Virgin Mary.
The school adjacent to the parish church of Loan Ly in the town of Lang Co (Hue province) was built by parishioners in 1956, Fr. J.B. An Dang told CNA. It was used as a Catholic elementary and high school until the local government seized it after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975.
Since the seizure, Sunday catechism classes have been allowed under the condition they are conducted under a large picture of Communist leader Ho Chi Minh instead of under a cross.
Local authorities have repeatedly attempted to convert the school into a hotel since 1999. Their efforts were previously stopped because of parishioners’ public protests.