Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc illegally preached in Con Cuong

(Baonghean) -A witness recounted: 'I asked Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc why the parishioners beat us so brutally, but the priest and dignitaries continued to preach'.

Since the end of 2011, an illegal worship area has been established at Mr. Pham The Tran's private home in Trung Huong village, Yen Khe commune, Con Cuong district. Every Sunday afternoon, believers mainly from Quan Lang parish, Anh Son district have followed Father Pham Ngoc Quang, Father Ngo Van Hau (who has replaced Father Pham Ngoc Quang for the past two months) and Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc to organize illegal proselytizing.

Although the Yen Khe commune government and the district working group have mobilized, not only have the priests of Quan Lang Parish not complied, but they have also deliberately violated the law... On the afternoon of July 1, the priests lured nearly 700 parishioners from Quan Lang Parish and other places to cause disorder and assault the people of Yen Khe commune.

The incident in which a number of dignitaries, mainly priests of Quan Lang Parish, drew nearly 700 parishioners from Quan Lang Parish and many other places to gather to cause trouble and assault people in Yen Khe Commune, Con Cuong District on July 1 can be summarized as follows:

From October 2010 to now, in Con Cuong district, there has been an unusual phenomenon that has caused great indignation among the people. That is, a number of Catholic dignitaries, mainly the parish priests of Quan Lang (in Tuong Son commune, Anh Son district) have organized illegal preaching and proselytizing. These dignitaries have brought a large number of parishioners from other districts to attend the ceremonies, most of whom are parishioners from districts such as Anh Son, Do Luong, Yen Thanh and Ha Tinh province, while the local parishioners are only about 20 people.

At first (late 2010), the venue was at Mrs. Minh's house in block 6, Con Cuong town and later (late 2011) at Mr. Pham The Tran's house in Trung Huong village, Yen Khe commune, about five kilometers away... Officially from the end of 2011 until now, priests and dignitaries at Quan Lang parish have used Mr. Tran's private house to organize "new house blessing" and then announced this as a "Catholic activity site".

The priests of Quan Lang parish (in Tuong Son commune, Anh Son district) have defied religious laws and local regulations by using parishioners' houses - which are not places of worship and have not been permitted by the authorities - to hold ceremonies, preach, and spread religion. This action has caused serious discontent among the people of Yen Khe commune in particular and Con Cuong district in general.

Faced with the law-breaking behavior of the priests and followers of Quan Lang Parish, recently, the authorities at all levels in Con Cuong have taken measures to persistently mobilize and meet to find a reasonable solution. The People's Committee of Con Cuong District has issued 7 notices requesting the priests and parishioners to end the above situation. However, the former Priest Pham Ngoc Quang and the current Priest Ngo Van Hau and a number of dignitaries in Quan Lang Parish have lacked goodwill to cooperate... Like many other times before, at 1:00 p.m. on July 1, the working group of Con Cuong District, Yen Khe Commune came to work at Mr. Tran's house, requesting him not to allow parishioners to come to his private home to hold mass, because this is not a legal place of worship.

Many extremists from other places attacked local people.

Using rocks from Mr. Tran's house to attack local people.

By 1:30 p.m., about 700 parishioners from other places (of which only about 30 parishioners lived in Con Cuong district) gathered at Mr. Tran's house to hold the ceremony. Outraged by the large number of people from other places gathering, causing disorder and noise in the residential area without the consent of the local authorities; the commune authorities organized an inspection, and people from the surrounding villages and hamlets protested against the parishioners holding the ceremony here and clashes broke out...

At 2:00 p.m., Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc drove from Quan Lang Parish to Mr. Tran's house to hold the ceremony. The commune government and the working group requested permission to work, but Father Thuc did not comply. Faced with the determination of the commune government and the strong opposition of the local people, the majority of parishioners from other places who came to perform the ceremony illegally threw stones at people, used many weapons such as sticks to assault and push the representatives of the commune, village, and hamlet government and many other people out of Mr. Tran's house, then locked the gate.

The remaining 43 people from Yen Khe commune, mainly the elderly and women with poor health (including the district working group, commune, village and hamlet officials and Trung Huong village people; with about 15 women, 1 pregnant woman) were pushed into Mr. Tran's house, which the Quan Lang parish priests called a chapel, and were held hostage (these 43 people were detained for 12 hours. During the detention, all of these hostages were controlled by about 6-7 young men, who confiscated all their cell phones and beat them every hour with pith helmets, helmets, sticks, clubs, and hands and feet).

At 10 p.m. the same day, the People's Committee of Con Cuong district sent Mr. Vi Van Kim, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the district, and Mr. Hoang Van Tan, Chief of the District Police to work with the priest, but the priest and parishioners surrounded and controlled Mr. Kim and Mr. Tan. They forced these two men to write a record according to the request of the priest and the parishioners to apologize for opposing their illegal proselytizing as well as to allow Mr. Tran's house to become a place of worship and religious activities...

Also on the night of July 1, the provincial working group was established and present in Yen Khe commune to direct the settlement of the incident. In the face of public opinion and local people being extremely indignant, angry, and protesting against the priests and hundreds of parishioners of Quan Lang Parish who came to preach illegally; causing disturbances and assaulting people in Yen Khe commune; the provincial working group directed the district and commune authorities to reassure the people, deploy plans to protect local people and parishioners to return home safely.

A beaten local resident is being treated.

At 4 a.m. on July 2, 43 people in Yen Khe commune who were imprisoned were released one by one. At 6 a.m., the local people and all the parishioners dispersed and left safely. A total of 58 people, members of the district and commune working groups, were injured and taken to Con Cuong District General Hospital for emergency treatment. Among them, the most seriously injured were Mr. Tang Ngoc Son, head of Lang Pha village, Yen Khe commune (broken arm and 3 ribs), and Mr. Vi Van Van, deputy head of Trung Chinh village (severe head injury).

Witnessing the disturbance, assault and illegal detention of the dignitaries, the priest of Quan Lang parish and this group of parishioners from the beginning, we can see their unpredictable ferocity. In Mr. Tran's house, hundreds of parishioners held various types of sticks, stones and even helmets, chasing and beating the people; outside on the street, hundreds of other parishioners parked their vehicles, obstructing the forces from entering to rescue the detainees.

Every now and then, a series of "hails" in Mr. Tran's garden were thrown out by parishioners, aimed directly at the working team and the people of Yen Khe commune who were outside. The casualties would not have stopped if the Con Cuong district police force had not arrested two young parishioners riding a motorbike carrying two sacks full of weapons such as swords, knives, and spears to smuggle into the group of parishioners in Mr. Tran's house. Inside Mr. Tran's house - the place that the priests of Quan Lang Parish and parishioners called a chapel - every now and then, screams and cries of pain from the people of Yen Khe commune who were being tortured could be heard...

Present at Con Cuong District General Hospital at 10:00 a.m. on July 2, the number of people here was very large. Some were seriously injured people, some were relatives of injured people, and some were people from Con Cuong district who gathered to visit and express their indignation at the wrongful acts and actions of priests and parishioners in the case of assault and illegal detention at Mr. Tran's house. On the faces of those taken hostage, the horror and fear were still not over...

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Vi, 65 years old, a resident of Yen Khe commune who was detained and assaulted, lying on a hospital bed said: “Every hour, groups of about 5-6 young and middle-aged men took turns opening the door and dragging us out to beat us with sticks, hands, and helmets. The priest came in but did not intervene. Some people were beaten until their whole house bled and cried for help, but the priest did not pay any attention.

They beat us and forced us to tell them who hired us and how much money we paid to protest this illegal proselytizing. If we didn’t say anything, we would be slapped and beaten brutally, not even the elderly or women. The longer we were detained, the more they put pressure on us. Not just one hour, but every 5-10 minutes, another group would jump in and beat us brutally and without reason.

I asked Father Nguyen Dinh Thuc why the parishioners beat us so brutally - The priest and the clergy continued to preach. All 43 people were beaten, even the pregnant woman was beaten, 3 people were seriously injured...

Mr. Luu Van Cuu, 52 years old, was one of the 43 people detained and beaten, lying unconscious with white bandages wrapped around his head, adding: “When I was first detained, I asked those parishioners to work and not to threaten the lives of the brothers here, there were women. Hearing my tone, they thought I was the leader, had a role, so they focused on beating me. They beat me until 3 motorcycle helmets broke, causing a lot of blood to flow from my head. They did not stop, they also punched and kicked me many times in the face, stomach and other places.

During the detention, some parishioners said that the monks could just lie down and rest without anyone doing anything – but some people were hit with sticks as soon as they lay down on the floor. Even when I was released, I was hit with a stick and continued to be chased and beaten by a group of people… Through this incident, I saw that: Although the priest preached about respecting God, loving the country, loving fellow human beings, and not doing evil, allowing some parishioners to curse and treat us like that was not as the priest said.”

Arrested 2 subjects moving weapons into Mr. Tran's house.

Mr. Lo Hong Van, a police officer in Trung Chinh village, was in a coma from yesterday until this morning when he woke up, although still very dizzy, recounted: Yesterday when the collision happened, according to the commune's assignment, I went to Mr. Tran's house. As soon as I arrived, many people standing inside Mr. Tran's house threw rocks. A lot of rocks were thrown out, it seemed like they had prepared a truck of rocks in advance. Many people who were protesting against illegal proselytizing outside had to run away. Unfortunately, I was hit in the temple by a rock, fell down, and bled. Seeing some people inside Mr. Tran's house about to jump out and pull me in, some people risked their lives to grab me. I fainted and was taken to the emergency room by everyone. Those people who threw the rocks were all strangers from somewhere, not parishioners in this commune"...

As for Ms. Luong Thi Nam, a pregnant woman in Yen Khe commune who was detained and is still terrified, she said: “They locked us up, causing everyone to panic and run around the house looking for a place to hide. They confiscated all personal documents such as ID cards, motorbike licenses and even phones, did not allow us to call home and forced us to write the declaration form according to their wishes. Those who wrote slowly or had bad handwriting were slapped and kicked in the back.

At around 6-7pm, they started beating us. When I was released, one young man hit me on the head with a helmet and another young man stabbed me in the leg with an iron rod, causing it to bleed. They knew I was 5 months pregnant but still beat and tortured me. I am very worried now because the doctors said we still need to monitor the health of the fetus…”

A female victim in the same room as Ms. Luong Thi Nam said anxiously: I can’t sleep; after dozing off for a bit, the image of the assault comes back to me. Priests and parishioners have come here from somewhere, Yen Khe is not peaceful… Perhaps never before have the people of this countryside witnessed such chaos, horror, and blatant evil.

(To be continued)

PV Group