HANOI (UCAN): The Redemptorists in Hanoi, Vietnam, objected to the construction of a new building on their former properties, which city authorities borrowed over half a century ago.
“We strongly oppose the construction on our land,” said the Redemptorist-run Thai Ha Parish in an April 26 statement about the construction of a new hospital next to the state-run Dong Da General Hospital.
The hospital was a Redemptorist monastery that the government “borrowed” in 1959 and 1973. For decades, local Catholics have demanded its return. The authorities never officially confiscated it. Therefore, “we are the legal owners of the properties,” the statement said.
The new project, estimated to cost 265 billion dong [US$10 million] was approved by the People’s Committee of Hanoi City last year. Construction will start this year and will be completed in two years.
According to the Redemptorists, they bought the 61,455 square metre plot in 1928 and built several facilities there after arriving in Vietnam in 1925.
They are planning to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their arrival in May 2025.
On April 27, Redemptorist Father Joseph Nguyen Van Hoi, the parish priest of Thai Ha, urged the city authorities to relocate Dong Da Hospital to a new location as part of plans to move infectious hospitals from the city centre to the suburbs.
It is unreasonable for a hospital with infectious disease departments to be built in a densely populated area and next to a church where large numbers of people attend daily Mass
Father Joseph Nguyen Van Hoi
“It is unreasonable for a hospital with infectious disease departments to be built in a densely populated area and next to a church where large numbers of people attend daily Mass,” he said.
Father Nguyen also called on people to pray for the authorities to care about their spiritual needs and return their historically important properties. Local Catholics will pray a novena starting on May 1.
One parishioner, Joseph Nguyen, said they plan to petition local authorities to stop the project on the former church properties and return all facilities as a “clear way to hold local Christians in respect when Vietnam tries to improve bilateral relations with the Holy See.”
Pope Francis has been invited to visit, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, paid a pastoral visit to from April 9 to 14.
Nguyen also reminded authorities that “actions speak louder than words.”
He said, “We try our best to protect the church properties. Even if we fail, other people know that the government grabs them illegally.”
He said people expect Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the first pontifical resident representative to Vietnam, to “do something” to help the situation.
Last November, Father Nguyen, head of the Hanoi-based Redemptorists, asked city authorities to “stop the renovation work on our monastery” and punish those “who flagrantly damaged our legitimate religious property” [Sunday Examiner, 26 November 2023].
In 2008, local Catholics went on protest marches demanding city authorities return the parish’s 13,000-square-metre former plot next to the monastery after they planned to sell it to individuals. As a result, the government had to use it as a public park.
