Vinh Long, Vietnam, Jan 6, 2009 / 20:14 pm
A group of religious sisters who responded to an invitation to meet with the local Vietnamese government last month were very surprised and dismayed when the so-called meeting became a press conference announcing that the government would seize their monastery to convert it into a public square.
At the start of December, the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres received a letter from the People's Committee of Vinh Long inviting them to a meeting to discuss the requisition of their home.
“For a long time, they had never seen such a polite letter from the local government,” Fr. J.B. An Dang told CNA. “However, on arriving to the meeting on Dec. 12, they soon found out they were in fact the victims of a cheap trick played by the government officials.”
According to Fr. An Dang, the sisters entered the meeting with goodwill, trusting their government would do the right thing.