HANOI - 29 January 2008 - 270 words
Vietnam:
Archbishop protests at anti-Catholic media bias
The Archbishop of Hanoi, Most Rev Joseph Ngô Quang Ki has
protested over the way Vietnam's state-controlled media has dealt
with recent news about the Catholic Church there.
For weeks, while thousands of Catholic
took part in peaceful prayer vigils in several towns, calling
for the return of confiscated church property, the media was
completely silent, he said. Then on Saturday, the media began
to carry a series of negative reports of protestors who had placed
a cross and a statue in the grounds of a former church property.
Archbishop Joseph said that the state-controlled radio, television
and news papers reported that the archdiocese could not challenge
the ownership of the building because "on 24 November 1961,
Fr Nguyn Tùng Cng, the then Financial Administrator and
Property Manager of the Archdiocese, donated the property to the
government."
The archbishop set the record straight
by pointing out that if Fr Nguyn had given away the property,
he would have had no legal authority to do so, but in fact,
the Archbishop said, Fr Nguyn did not give the property away.
The archbishop's statement, signed by Fr John Lê Trng
Cung, chancellor of the archdiocese, also challenged state controlled
media reports that Hanoi Catholics had destroyed state-owned
properties, occupied state-owned land, gathered and prayed illegally
in public areas, attacked and insulted officials, disturbed public
order, erected illegally the cross in the garden of the site,
and spread distortions about the government on the Internet.
He said: "The government does not have any evidence that
the Church in Vietnam did donate it, nor a decree saying that
it was confiscated. Hence, it is still a property of the archdiocese",
He argued that worshipping on a site belonging to the Church is
one of right "protected by laws". It cannot be interpreted
as "gathering and praying illegally in public areas".
Also, "the cross and statues of the Virgin Mary were there
originally. The faithful just moved them back to where they were".
In response to accusation of spreading distortions about the government
on the Internet, the archbishop said the Church in Hanoi was not
responsible for the reports, but in fact most of these reports
were completely accurate. He pointed out that the local state-controlled
media also had a legal obligation to report the news truthfully
and not distort it.
In conclusion, the prelate asked managers of the radio and the
television of Hanoi, the New Hanoi newspaper, and the Capital
Security newspaper to "investigate thoroughly following legal
procedures" attacks on the Church by their reporters and
publicly reply to Hanoi Catholics.
Source: An Dang
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