Catholic World News News Feature

Viet Buddhists claim land promised to Catholics in Hanoi February 22, 2008

Catholics in Hanoi, who earlier this month won a government promise to restore Church control of the building that once housed the apostolic nunciature, now face a serious complication in their quest, as a state-approved Buddhist Church has claimed ownership of the land.

In a letter sent to Vietnam prime minister-- dated February 16 but only published a few days ago-- Thich Trung Hau, a leader of the Vietnam Buddhist Church set up by the Communist government in 1982, stated that all the settlements regarding the former nunciature must be approved by his church, since he claims that the Buddhists are the authentic owners of the land.

The Buddhist leader's letter was written soon after Le Quang Vinh, the Vietnamese government's former religious-affairs chief, suggested that the Buddhist group was the lawful owner of the plot of land on which the archbishop's residence, the city's Catholic cathedral, and St. Joseph seminary are located. The office of the papal nuncio, which was seized by the government in 1959, is on the same property.

Le Quang Vinh argued that the land was seized from the original Buddhist owners by French colonial rules and transferred to the Catholic Church. Hau, the Buddhist official, backed that argument, claiming that on the land in dispute there had been a pagoda named Bao Thien which was built in 1054. In 1883, “The French colonists seized and gave it to Bishop Puginier”, he stated.

Catholic activists in Hanoi, already worried about the willingness of the government to restore the property, fear that the Buddhists' argument was raised at the prompting of religious-affairs officials. They see the claim as a government excuse for reneging on the promise made to Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet on February 1.

In a public statement on February 1, Archbishop Joseph Ngo confirmed reports that the government had agreed to restore the nuncio's offices, after more than a month of public protests by Catholics which drew significant international attention. In return for the government's promise, the Catholic protestors agreed to remove a cross and tents from the land adjacent to the building where they had been conducting regular prayer vigils.

Father Joseph Nguyen from Hanoi reported that “Hanoi Catholics are now facing uphill battles to regain the former nunciature”. However, he was still full of hope: “Except the strong support from the government, Hau has nothing to prove what he said. On the contrary, we do have all legal land titles."