Opinion of Mr. Nguyen Van Bong - Long Thanh commune - Yen Thanh)

(Baonghean) - In recent months, through public opinion and the media reporting on the illegal construction of works on public land and the responsibility of the parish priest, I am very concerned about the fact that Priest Tran Van Phuc went beyond the limit and violated the law.

I used to be a teacher in the land of fire Lach Quen (Quynh Luu) - where there are Manh Son Parish (Tien Thuy) and Tan An (An Hoa). In 1967 - 1969, when the enemy bombed from the 20th parallel, then the 19th parallel, I was transferred to be a teacher at Cong Thanh Secondary School. Here, there is Cao Bridge on Highway 7, which was fiercely attacked by the enemy. Ngoc Long Parish Church was hit by bullets and cracked. Parish priest Dominico Nguyen The Lang, one of the founders of the Catholic Presidium of Nghe An Province to fight against the Americans to save the country (later the Catholic Patriotic Emulation Council and now the Catholic Solidarity Committee), had to exclaim: "Even if you have to die, you still protect your homeland, still stand tall at the gunpoint and you must go on the mission to protect your homeland and country". I and the students visited the priest in the chapel basement. The pastor advised the parishioners to be grateful to the government and the Front and to enthusiastically go to war to save the country. Thanks to that, it actively contributed to encouraging the parishioners in general and Ngoc Long Parish in particular to actively participate in filling bomb craters, including Dong Cay Dua. In the parish alone, Mr. Nguyen Cai had 5 children who joined the army; Mr. Le Chan had 3 sons who all joined the army, including 2 martyrs and 1 sick soldier; Mr. Tran Khac Toan had 5 sons and daughters who joined the war to save the country; Mr. Nguyen Tan had 3 sons who all joined the war, including 1 martyr. Almost all families in Ngoc Long Parish had children who joined the war, serving in the war to protect the peace of the homeland, parish and nation.

Later, as a religious officer of Yen Thanh district, I admired Father Peter Nguyen Huy Loi, who was in charge of Bao Nham and Ngoc Long parish, and then Father Sao-Le Nguyen Van Khoi, who was in charge of Ru Dat and Ngoc Long parish. He was very excited when the church grounds and parish churches, which were damaged by American bombs, were supported and rebuilt according to the design by authorities at all levels. They also told the parishioners: "You must humble yourself to be lifted up."

However, Father Tran Van Phuc, parish priest of Ngoc Long, has words and actions that disregard the discipline of the law, contrary to his feelings before entering Vinh Thanh Major Seminary, course VI: "...if I become a priest in the future, the first thing I must do is become a good citizen, fulfill all the obligations of a citizen, not violate the policies and guidelines of the Party, the Constitution of the State... I will try not to make the mistakes that my predecessors made, causing a lot of trouble for the government and the parishioners...". Let's ask whether Father Tran Van Phuc has fulfilled his promise or not, and more than that: were all the predecessors like priests? More than that: the predecessors had many priests who were true monks all their lives, very patriotic and recognized by the Church.

Tien Long -(Take note)