Source: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
http://www.nccbuscc.org/comm/archives/2004/04-081.htm
On April 29, 2004 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a press release that reported, "Despite reported improvements in religious freedom in Vietnam, the 'violent repression' of some Vietnamese Christians and the detention of a Catholic priest are sources of 'grave concern,' according to the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' International Policy Committee. In a letter sent yesterday to Nguyen Tam Chien, Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, of Pensacola-Tallahassee, said he was pleased to hear that the situation of the Catholic Church in Vietnam had improved in recent years and urged the establishment of an official relationship between that country and the Holy See. However, he called the treatment of the Montagnard or Dega people, and particularly 'the violent repression of their Easter observances this month ... especially reprehensible.' Bishop Ricard also requested a full commutation of the prison sentence imposed on Father Nguyen Van Ly, 'whose only known offense was to submit testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom critical of Vietnam's behavior in this area.' Bishop Ricard asked that the ambassador forward the U.S. bishops' concerns to the Vietnamese government."