Catholic Protests Continue in Hanoi

January 27, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: EarthTimes.org/DPA

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/179118,catholic-protests-continue-in-hanoi.html

A government-imposed deadline to end a vigil lasting several weeks by Catholic demonstrators demanding the return of church land in downtown Hanoi passed Sunday with no immediate effort by police to disperse the demonstrators. Hundreds of protestors gathered on the lawn of the former Vatican embassy, in the heart of Hanoi's old quarter, while a group of nuns sat around a five-metre high crucifix on the steps of the colonial- era building, leading the crowd in Vietnamese-language Catholic hymns.

"Even if the police come, the people won't leave," said Dao Van Chinh, a deacon at St Joseph's Cathedral, which stands next to the disputed property. "This land is the church's land, not the government's."

Priests and Catholic lay people began staging vigils at the former Vatican embassy in mid December, after the government failed for three years to respond to requests for the land to be returned, said Father Peter Thanh, a priest from Ho Chi Minh City who has been involved in the conflict.