wfn.org | Vietnamese religious leaders visit U.S. church groups

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

May 13, 2002        News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-33-71B{220}

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - A delegation of Vietnamese religious leaders spoke about
religious tolerance in their country and expressed thanks for past
cooperation during meetings with U.S. church leaders.

In a May 9 stop in New York, the Buddhist, Roman Catholic and Protestant
clerics met with National Council of Churches and Church World Service
executives, chatted with representatives of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries and attended a discussion with U.N. representatives of
religious organizations. Also participating was a delegation representing
the Vietnamese government's National Committee for Religious Affairs.

The delegation then moved on to Washington, visiting Foundry United
Methodist Church on May 12 and the offices of the United Methodist Board of
Church and Society on May 13.

Jaydee Hanson, a Church and Society executive, said the Vietnamese had asked
his agency to help arrange the U.S. itinerary because of previous
involvement in issues regarding Vietnam. "They were aware of our having
raised concerns about religious freedom and our support for the
establishment of the State Department Office on Religious Freedom too," he
said.

The chief concern raised by the Vietnamese government representatives during
the visits was what they consider to be a misperception about religious
freedom in their country.

Le Quang Vinh, chairman of the National Committee for Religious Affairs,
pointed to a bill called the Vietnam Human Rights Act, passed by the U.S.
House of Representatives, which he said claims that Vietnam has no religious
freedom.

He refuted the claim, pointing out that hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese
participate in religious festivals and that churches and pagodas can be
found in use throughout Vietnam. The country has six major Catholic
seminaries and three Buddhist institutions, and the religious affairs
committee's publishing house has printed 400 different religious items over
the past two years. "The government is not interfering into religious
affairs," he said.

However, Vinh added, the Vietnamese government will intervene on political
issues, and it considers its problems with the Montagnards, an ethnic group
in Vietnam's Central Highlands, to be political, not religious. The
Montagnards, he explained, want independence from Vietnam.

An April report from Human Rights Watch charged the Vietnamese government
with religious oppression of the Christian Montagnards, including an
incident of a church burning and villagers being forced to renounce their
religion.

The Rev. Lonnie Turnipseed, a United Methodist and retired executive from
Church World Service with longtime experience in Southern Asia, said that
while isolated incidents of religion-related harassment and even persecution
have occurred in some areas, those are not the results of government policy.

"One of the problems is that outsiders continue to stir up problems in
Vietnam and continue to create tensions within the religious communities and
the government," he explained.

"There is clearly freedom of religion in Vietnam," said Turnipseed, who
wrote the mission study on Vietnam used by the 2001 United Methodist Schools
of Christian Mission. "Many churches are flourishing, and you see very
active worship."

The Rev. Pham Xuan Thieu, chairman of the Executive Council of the
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), told his U.S. counterparts it was
time to focus on a better future, not dwell on religious problems and
restrictions of the past. Currently, Vietnam has 80 Protestant churches, he
said, and the number of members who have joined since 1975 is equal to the
entire church membership between 1911 and 1975.

Cooperation exists among the various religious groups, according to the Rev.
Dinh Chau Tran, former superior provincial of the Vietnamese Dominican Order
and a professor at St. Jesus Seminary in Ho Chi Minh City.

At Christmas, for example, Buddhist dignitaries come to midnight mass, and
Catholics have participated in ceremonies marking the birthday of Buddha.
"We have a good dialogue among us," he said.

Dao Nhu, a member of the Vietnam Buddhist Sanha and chairman of the
Association of Khmer Monks of Can Tho Province, pointed out that the Khmer
ethnic minority receives equal treatment in terms of religious training and
participation. "We enjoy the fact that we can live happily together," he
added. 

Members of both the religious and governmental delegations expressed
appreciation for the development work Church World Service has done in
Vietnam since 1954 and hope that the relationship will continue.

In response, the Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist pastor and the
agency's chief executive, said his first impression upon traveling to the
country last year "was a sense that the government of Vietnam clearly
expresses a sense of compassion for its people," along with a desire to help
lift people out of poverty.

He lauded the cooperation between the government and religious communities
in Vietnam, and he said Church World Service will continue to share their
common interest to enable the people of Vietnam to have a better quality of
life.

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*Bloom is news director of United Methodist News Service's New York office.

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United Methodist News Service
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