This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 HANOI 000998 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KIRF VM RELFREE HUMANR
SUBJECT:  LETTERS FROM FATHER NGUYEN VAN LY 
 
REF:  HANOI 555 
 
¶1.   (U)  During the January visit of Senator Brownback, 
Father Nguyen Van Ly provided his staff with copies of 
letters -- written while in prison, in Vietnamese -- that he 
had written to Parliamentary audiences in Europe and the 
U.S. and to the Catholic hierarchy in Vietnam.  (Reftel 
provides translation of another 2003 letter to the U.S. 
Congress, given to the Codel by the Ministry of Public 
Security.)  The letters are defensive of Vietnam's policies, 
including on religious freedom, and critical of attempts to 
get Vietnam to change its socialist system.  They indicate 
that his mind remains sharp and penetrating, but he appears 
highly conciliatory.  He explicitly noted that he was not 
mistreated in prison and that the thoughts reflected are 
truly his own (i.e., not GVN propaganda).   Embassy informal 
translations in paras 2 and 3. 
 
¶2.  Begin text 
Vietnam, December 8, 2003 
 
To:  The European Parliament and U.S. Congress 
 
Distinguished Parliament Members and Congressmen, 
 
May God bring a fresh, peaceful, happy and lucky Christmas 
and New Year to all people in Europe and the U.S. and your 
families. 
 
From Vietnamese newspapers, I know that you have passed two 
resolutions (H.Res. 427 dated 11/19/2003 of the U.S. 
Congress and a resolution dated 11/20/2003 of the European 
Parliament) on religious freedom in Vietnam. I have not read 
the full texts of these resolutions but with the two 
statements made on November 25 and 27, 2003 of the National 
Assembly of the State of Vietnam (SOV) and the Presidium of 
the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, I can see 
that the view of the SOV and yours on religious freedom are 
very different as the two sides are different from each 
other in terms of their ways of thinking and approaches, and 
both sides are trying delicately not to touch on a very 
sensitive but fundamental issue, and therefore can not yet 
reach a common ground for candid and breakthrough dialogues. 
 
First, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for 
your good-will attention to the religions in Vietnam and 
your intervention for me personally. But as a supporter for 
universal brotherly peace for mankind, I would like to 
suggest that you should approach the issue of religious 
freedom in a comprehensive and objective manner, as follows: 
 
-- Currently in Vietnam, for those citizens that are 
enthusiastic about - [or] at least not doing anything 
against - the socialist construction, there are enough 
religious freedom and other fundamental freedoms within the 
constitution and laws of the SOV, though some narrow-minded 
prejudices remain to be overcome, especially when the 
Resolution of the 7th Plenum of the CPV Central Committee 
adopted on January 21, 2001 (sic) opened a direction toward 
a smooth and satisfactory solution for the six major 
religions in Vietnam. 
 
-- Those citizens or organizations that indicate their doubt 
about or hinder the socialist construction in Vietnam shall 
have some of their freedoms, including religious freedom, 
restricted not because of their beliefs but because of their 
political attitudes, and as a result of these certain 
organizations might not be recognized according to the law 
of Vietnam. 
 
-- As you must have been too familiar with the chronic 
negative practices (such as mechanisms that are prone to 
corruption, formalism, dishonesty, conservatism, extremism, 
cover-up, restriction and repression of freedoms, etc.) of 
classic socialism in most of the former socialist countries, 
you may wish, with your goodwill, to find ways to exert your 
influence so that Vietnam can change faster and shift itself 
completely to the western democratic multi-partisan 
parliamentary system. 
 
-- On the contrary, the SOV has always been trying to 
surmount the mistakes of classic socialism in order to 
successfully build a new peaceful, fair and realistic 
socialism to provide a valuable experience not only for 
Vietnam but also for the world, hoping to bring about a 
planet of fairness, morality, brotherhood with more peace 
and stability than the current world with lots of pains and 
grieves. 
 
-- We should analyze some basic aspects to find out 
objective rightness: 
a.  Nearly 200 countries are following the Euro-American 
democratic parliamentary system. Does this model really 
bring about fairness, humaneness, morality and peace to 
mankind?  Which country in the current world is the most 
ideal model for the world?  You have many research 
organizations, scientific institutes and scholars that are 
thousandfold better than the Vietnamese ones but can you 
persuasively address this fundamental issue?  What should be 
done to make mankind trust, love and care for one another 
like brothers and sisters in a family or organs of a body? 
[As] Vietnam sees your country as a country of advanced 
development, wealth, freedom, democracy, openness, etc. but 
also with lots of injustices, instability, weapons, 
assassinations, mafia, terrorism, violence, drugs, 
prostitution, depravation, self-indulgence, etc., Vietnam is 
reluctant to try a different democratic model.  It is fair 
and objective [to say] that you cannot force Vietnam to 
follow your example while you yourselves are currently 
incompetent to deal with your own thorny social problems. 
Have we found any optimal option to deal with the bloody 
conflicts that have been prolonged in many areas worldwide? 
How can terrorism and other international crimes be 
eliminated? 
b.  Why has Vietnam been insisting upon socialist ideology? 
Can Vietnam be successful? 
++ Vietnam has simultaneously achieved four valuable 
successes that many other richer countries have not, i.e. 
independence and unity, not having ethnic or religious 
conflicts (among its 54 ethic groups and 6 major religions), 
not being occupied by foreign military bases, and being one 
of the most secured and stable countries in the world 
(except for abortion, human life is the best ensured here in 
comparison with the world).  These four very difficult goals 
have been very well attained by Vietnam.  Perhaps you and 
certain Vietnamese people wish that Vietnam will soon adopt 
a democratic multi-partisan parliamentary system, but when 
such a multi-partisan system is put in place, will the 
ruling party be able to maintain these four very difficult 
achievements?  Or unrest and disorder will prevail like it 
currently is in tens of countries where the situation is 
very complicated with bloody violence?  There are three 
other goals that are also very difficult but less difficult 
and pressing than the above four goals and will be achieved 
sooner or later, namely: economic development, improvement 
of living standards, and loosening [of control over] 
people's legitimate rights to freedom.  These goals should 
certainly be achieved and the SOV has been trying to 
carefully and gradually deal with them and in fact there 
have been remarkable achievements, especially since 2001. 
++  Though Vietnam is inferior to you in terms of economy 
and many other scientific areas, the extraordinary 
solidarity among the top SOV leaders, their regular and 
faithful family life, their working behaviors and 
confidence, and their desire for a world of solidarity, 
peace, friendship, cooperation, etc. are elements that 
contribute to the security and stability of Vietnam and the 
consistent stance of the SOV, and that the leaderships of 
many other countries in the world can not yet have. 
++  Though certain members of the SOV may try to maintain 
the socialist model to protect the power and interests of 
about 10 million salaried (current and retired) SOV 
officers, the SOV still has reasons to be consistent with 
its stance because it is thanks to these 10 million people 
(this number will be considerably reduced when the security 
and stability of the country are more ensured) that security 
is ensured for the other 50 million Vietnamese to go on with 
their life and 22 million students and schoolchildren to 
study in peace.  Therefore immediate security for people's 
life remains to be the overriding rationale and more 
necessary than any other freedoms. (Certainly a democratic 
state that is truly for its people and belongs to its people 
cannot abuse the rationale of security to impose limits to 
legitimate freedoms in a sophist and authoritarian manner.) 
++  Vietnam is determined to combine the three 
quintessential elements of mankind, namely international 
market economy (fair competition, dynamics, etc.), cultural 
traditions of Vietnam and mankind (honesty, humaneness, 
modesty, faithfulness, tolerance, morality, wholesomeness, 
etc.), and socialist ideology (equality, peace, etc.) in 
order to prevent negative impacts of the international 
market economy while building a new fair, peaceful and 
brotherly Vietnamese socialist society of which the 
prototype has not existed in history.  With the various 
experiences of mankind, Vietnam is confident of its 
successes. 
++  Therefore if you want to force Vietnam to soon 
relinquish its socialism (that you think Vietnam will 
certainly fail), your efforts will be useless and 
detrimental to the currently positive relations between 
Vietnam and Europe and the US, while bringing to certain 
people an illusive impression about the effectiveness of 
your political pressure and they, therefore, pursue 
impracticable and dangerous adventures that can only slow 
down the pace of Vietnam to successes, prolong the poverty 
of the Vietnamese people and be detrimental to the world 
peace because other countries will get too cautious to 
follow the example of Vietnam, but it is still impossible to 
make the SOV alter its choice of socialism. 
++  On the contrary, you should have supported Vietnam to 
effectively integrate itself into the international market 
economy to be faster in achieving successes with its new 
socialist model, helping many countries where the situation 
is very complicated with bloody violence to follow the 
experience of Vietnam, contributing to the stabilization of 
the world peace.  The more Vietnam can be successful, 
stabilize its security, and reduce rapidly negative 
phenomena, abortion cases, traffic accidents, labor 
accidents, drug problems, robbery, etc., the more the entire 
Vietnamese people, including the religions, can be confident 
of the new socialist ideology of Vietnam and therefore have 
more freedoms. 
++  You cannot be adventurous to hand the national destiny 
to a state that delegates the supreme power to a multi- 
partisan parliament, but Vietnam hands its destiny to a 
Party that controls and directs both the National Assembly 
and the State.  Normally single-partisan leadership makes it 
easy to unify strong powers but is likely to become 
authoritarian and radical, and therefore is not viable. Thus 
the core issue is neither multi-partisan model nor single- 
partisan model but whether the whatever party that rules is 
truly for its people, belongs to its people, is trusted and 
loved by the majority of its people, and acts as the 
representative and serves the legitimate interests of the 
majority of its people, especially its poor people. The SOV 
is consolidating itself in order to build such a party and 
must have such a party. We should trust this sincerity and 
help Vietnam achieve rapid and viable successes. 
++  Though the mechanism of a socialist state may make it 
not very easy for Vietnam quickly to eradicate its common 
classical and cyclic-natured negative phenomena, Vietnam 
would rather continue studying the social management 
experience of other countries to further its reform (doi 
moi) process in order to minimize negative phenomena, non- 
openness and dogmatic views that are useless and only spoil 
the team spirit, to improve the democracy right in selecting 
candidates for [Communist] Youth Union or [Communist] Party 
membership so that the selected are genuinely those with 
morality and dedicated to serving the people, to expand 
people's participation in overseeing the work of the State, 
etc. than give up the socialist ideology it has chosen; as 
it is common sense that human beings should help one another 
both to improve themselves and to strive for that viable 
ideal. 
 
Distinguished Parliament Members and Congressmen, 
 
Above are some points that I would like you to consider so 
that you can have a more efficient approach to the problems 
of Vietnam and review the world in a fairer and more correct 
manner, helping one another to build up a family of mankind 
where people increasingly love and care for one another in a 
hearty, efficient, practical and specific manner. 
 
Thank you very much for reading this letter. Please accept 
my respectful compliments. 
 
Please pray for me and I also pray everyday for the American 
people and for you. 
 
 
Sincerely, 
 
(Signed) 
Prisoner Thadaeus Nguyen Van Ly 
(Priest of Hue Diocese, Vietnam) 
end text 
 
¶3.  (U)  Begin text 
 
GLORY TO GOD FOREVER 
 
PETITION TO THE VIETNAM EPISCOPAL COUNCIL 
 
Nam Ha Prison, April 17, 2003 
 
May our Lord Jesus Christ, died and risen, and our Lady of 
La Vang and Great Saint Joseph and all Vietnamese Saints 
always be with you! 
 
I am Thadaeus Nguyen Van Ly.  Before May 17, 2003, I was the 
priest in charge of An Truyen Parish in Hue Diocese. I am 
now serving a 15-year prison term for the charge of "acting 
against an order of probation and sabotaging the national 
unity" in accordance with the current laws of the State of 
Vietnam (SOV) at Nam Ha Prison in Ha Nam Province. 
 
I beg your forgiveness for what I may have made you worried 
and tired in the past.  I may be incapable and short of 
morality but, like you and all other normal priests, I have 
been agonizing for 28 years about: What should be done so 
that the Catholic Church of Vietnam (CCV) can develop freely 
and favorably as hoped for in the Declaration on Religious 
Freedom of the Vatican Council II in 1965? Especially what 
should be done so that the SOV allows the CCV freely to 
select and train enough qualified priests for congregations, 
seminaries, journalism, communications, charity, social 
affairs, overseas study, science, culture, education, new 
economic zones, Ho Chi Minh Trail and Truong Son area, new 
religious development locations, isolated mountainous areas, 
missionary work in other countries, etc. in truly normal 
religious life? 
 
After nearly two years of praying in peace and thinking 
things over with only me and our Lord in my tiny mind, 
thoroughly agonizing about the relations between the World 
Catholic Church and the international socialism, and between 
the CCV and the socialism of Vietnam, now I beg your 
permission to disturb you possibly for the last time to bare 
all my heart to you before I quietly settle down alone in 
our Lord as a hermit.  I have not been subjected to any 
torture, corporal punishment, interrogation, pressure, 
request, [or] suggestion.  The SOV authorities and I have 
been completely silent until I feel that our Lord is guiding 
me to write this petition.  As I am not afraid of anything 
or misled by secular pleasures or occupied with worldly fame 
or shame or my too small personal concerns when I think 
about our very important issues, i.e. national sovereignty, 
people's national unity, honor of the SOV, and practical 
interests of the CCV, I have condensed [my points] into this 
brief but hopefully adequate petition as my final testimony 
to submit it respectfully to you. 
 
¶I. Real substance of the issue of religious freedom in 
Vietnam nowadays. 
¶1.  Three current uncompromising principles of the SOV 
towards religions: 
a.  Homeland sovereignty is above all and is the human right 
of the whole country, higher than the human right of any 
organization.  The more secure the homeland is, the more 
freedom the people can be.  If the State restricts the 
freedom of the people in an unfair manner, the State will be 
at fault.  Religions must help the homeland to be more 
secure so that there can be more freedom. 
b.  The five objectives, namely people's prosperity, 
national strong power, equality, democracy and civilization, 
constitute a common denominator for the entire people, not a 
propaganda cliche; though socialism is not mentioned, the 
specific target for people's national unity to achieve is to 
build a new socialism of Vietnam. The religions should not 
be so indifferent [to this target] that they only want to 
have "purely religious" activities to make their people to 
follow in a sluggish and stupid manner, because to build 
this new socialism is [the representation of] people's 
overall noble morality.  The more enthusiastically the 
religions are [taking part in] building this new socialism, 
the more needed freedoms there can be. 
c.  It is impossible to stand at the same level with the 
State to demand freedoms; there will be enough freedoms if 
the religions go at the same pace with the people. 
¶2.  Though [the religions operate] in accordance with the 
Constitution and [Vietnamese] Law and over 99% of Catholic 
voters cast their ballots in National Assembly and People's 
Councils elections, the Religious Letters of 1980 and 2001, 
which were regarded by the SOV as the most positive, still 
did not mention the socialism of Vietnam, can be applied for 
all times.  Having taken that elastic, flexible, wise but 
strained approach for the past 28 years, the Vietnam 
Episcopal Council (VEC) hopes at least to maintain the 
invaluable and extremely necessary unity, and has been 
simply patiently waiting for the SOV to loosen its 
restrictions on religions, especially to ease the training 
of priests. [For its part,] the SOV has also been waiting 
for the VEC to be more positive and specific with the 
socialism of Vietnam to be sure that the VEC is not 
dangerous to the regime.  All difficulties that have 
occurred are due to this uncompromising and deadlocked 
situation. 
¶3.  Best solutions for current issues: 
a.  The SOV should not force religions to support socialism 
when it includes illusions and lots of negative phenomena. 
But religions also should not stay out of the course to let 
the State struggle by itself when the socialism of Vietnam 
has been reformed, basically successful, really prospering, 
and especially becoming an ism of equality, humaneness, 
happiness and popularity (IEHHP).  The State does expect 
that the religions consider the SOV and IEHHP, however good 
or bad it is, to be theirs and share efforts to consolidate 
it, especially the current process of international economic 
market integration.  If that socialist model of Vietnam can 
not be successful in the end, it is people's common sense 
and knowledge, not others, that collectively make it 
successful;  there should not be circumstances where some 
try to build while others try to destroy, or illusive 
expectations for [social] disturbances that are very 
dangerous as seen in the painful experience of many other 
countries, because this homeland really belongs to the 
entire people.  Each Vietnamese should be a person that 
seeks no personal interests but happiness for the entire 
people and mankind. 
b.  The Resolution of the 7th Plenum of the Communist Party 
of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee adopted on January 21, 
2001 (sic), stated that religions have been and shall be co- 
existing with the nation in the course of socialist 
construction in Vietnam; opened a direction toward a very 
fundamental and positive solution for the six official 
religions in Vietnam, especially with regard to their 
personnel, operation and facilities. [Issues about] land 
[use] and facilities of the religions shall be adequately 
dealt with in accordance with the law, except for the land 
[areas] and facilities that have been donated in writing to 
the State.  For the Catholic Church, dioceses from now can 
select from other dioceses excellent young people blessed to 
be trained into priests, i.e. the most burning and 
fundamental issue has been given a direction toward a 
definite and smooth solution.  Other less important issues 
shall be dealt with in harmony with the steady development 
of the entire people. 
 
II. Current situation and near future of Vietnam. 
¶1.  Whether to have more freedom or difficulties, for the 
past two thousand years, "the Catholic Church has not 
sponsored any philosophic system of mankind" (Letter to 
Dionheto in 1st century), therefore certainly the CCV never 
compromises with any political system [and takes it] as its 
ideology because all philosophies of mankind and all 
political systems are incomplete and abnormal, sometimes 
even suggesting isolation, accusation and overthrowing if 
necessary.  But what about Vietnamese socialism, which is 
the latest to come into existence in the history of the 
world?   If it means the combination of the quintessence of 
mankind [and/or] the IEHHP and its future is determined by 
the people regardless however good or bad it may be, should 
the CCV consider it its cause too? 
¶2.  The occupation of Iraq starting on March 20, 2003 by the 
US and UK helps us understand that, in order to defeat the 
French colonialists more than 70 years ago, the Vietnamese 
communists did not rely on the US (if they had done, the US 
troops would have been still stationed on Vietnamese land 
like in Japan, South Korea, etc.) because they could see 
through the US better than many other Vietnamese who due to 
either their close relations with the Nguyen dynasty or 
their close relations with the French or their dislike of 
the communists even now may be still too confused to see it 
clearly.  Though the Honorable Mahatma Gandhi took a 
moderate and non-violent approach, India could only gain its 
independence without a social revolution and therefore its 
social foundation is not viable and stable and prone to 
ethnic conflicts and religious conflicts. 
¶3.  Overcoming the difficulties and radical weaknesses of 
the classical socialism, that initially the genuine 
communists themselves might not have anticipated and that 
did occur due to various reasons though they were unwanted 
(and however numerous they are, the Vietnamese who support 
or obey the CPV are more massive and stronger than those 
that fear, hesitate about, run away from or oppose [the 
CPV]; the countries that support the Vietnamese revolution 
are also more numerous than the countries that are 
indifferent to or acting against it; negative phenomena and 
restrictions on certain freedoms, though they do exist, also 
become too small and easily understandable in comparison 
with greater and more pressing tasks such as gaining 
national independence or how to maintain the victory in a 
viable manner, etc.), nowadays Vietnam has simultaneously 
achieved four essential successes that many countries (such 
as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.) have not, i.e. 
independence and unity, social justice for every of its 54 
ethic groups to have opportunities to advance together, not 
being enslaved by or dependent on foreign power, and being 
one of the most secured and stable countries in the world. 
These are four very difficult goals that Vietnam has worked 
and will work well with. Carrying out reforms for 
international economic market integration, i.e. to make use 
of the strength of the international economy for its 
socialist construction to develop its economy and loosen 
[its control over] people's legitimate freedoms are two 
goals that are easier and will certainly be achieved and 
realized, how soon these can be achieved is subject to 
people's confidence and actual conditions.  For example, 
though freedom of speech must be on the three bases, namely 
morality, culture and socialist ideology, currently in 
Vietnam there are nearly 600 newspapers increasingly making 
their critical remarks and comments on various issues. 
¶4.  Among the 40 countries that followed/have followed the 
classical socialist model of Lenin for at least one year (26 
countries, i.e. 9 in Europe, 8 in Asia, 7 in Africa and 2 in 
Central America, took the federal state model), 15 countries 
did that for over 28 years (9 in Europe, 5 in Asia and 1 in 
Central America) and 6 countries, i.e. Vietnam, China, North 
Korea, Cuba, Laos, Mongolia, remain doing so.  Thanks to 
their East-West relation experience, China and Vietnam are 
now carrying steady reforms and want to dedicate to mankind 
a very special experience of socialism that is the first 
ever experienced on this planet (China has 60 million 
[communist] party members and Vietnam has more than 4 
million [communist] party members, with an annual growth 
rate of 150,000 new party members, more than 4 million 
[communist] youth union members, 7 million salaried 
government employees, the strength of its police and 
soldiers, who are very qualified, regular, observing 
strictly their disciplines, highly enthusiastic, ready to 
make sacrifices and experience hardship, and are helping to 
control virtually all people and remote areas to ensure the 
security, and tens of millions of non-salaried people that 
are mass organization members, para-militants, veterans, 
etc. therefore, except for corrupted or conservative party 
members that may cause their failure, there is no force that 
may possibly compete with this new socialist model of 
Vietnam and China.) that is to use the international market 
economy (i.e. to develop people's living style that is 
almost as open as that of capitalism) for building their new 
socialist model (i.e. to use the socialist ideology to 
prevent the injustices and dangerous unruliness of 
capitalism).  For Vietnam, that is to combine the three 
quintessences of the nation and the two systems, i.e. to 
combine the traditional and national culture with the 
socialist morality (equality, honesty, humaneness, 
diligence, creativeness, sacrifice, heroism, tolerance, 
faithfulness, etc.) in the strength of capitalism. This 
special model will certainly be successful if the entire 
people can understand it clearly, firmly confident of it, 
unite together and consider it as the cause of every 
Vietnamese. In this new socialist model, there will surely 
be adequate religious freedoms and the most fundamental 
human rights will be more fairly ensured than in any other 
social model, because this model was designed to bring 
overall happiness to people, and not designed only for the 
Party.  Religions are entitled to contribute to further 
improvement of this model. 
¶5.  China has been setting a goal to achieve in the next 
tens of years, i.e. a Xiao-Kang society which was described 
by Confucius in his Book of Songs as a society in which 
people live in prosperity, happiness, morality and harmony, 
and where people have not reached self-awareness, altruism, 
classlessness, chivalry or saintliness, but they live in 
peace, happiness, benevolence, righteousness and nobility. 
Vietnam is also targeting this very attractive Xiao-Kang 
goal.  While mankind is more spirit-oriented in the 21st 
century, many people think that the development of England 
resulted in the development of Europe in the 19th century, 
the wealth and power of the US in the 20th century resulted 
in its close allies, and China will prosper in the 21st 
century and will result in prosperity the countries of which 
the conditions are similar to that of China, and of which 
the closest to China is Vietnam.  This is a goal that is 
within reach and not imaginary or vague, provided that the 
entire people share efforts and mind to achieve. 
¶6.  To make my points brief, I will not compare the good and 
bad points of the Vietnam-styled centralized democracy with 
the three independent rights of the parliamentary democracy, 
and I only present briefly that the CPV is very much aware 
of what conditions are needed to make the centralized 
democracy successful and understands very well that all 
authoritarian regimes, however well they can cover up and 
justify themselves with clever tricks, will be removed by 
the people, and therefore the CPV has been trying its best 
to make the SOV a State that really belongs to the people, 
is determined by the people and works for the people, not 
just as a demagogic slogan.  It is religions that are 
responsible for making that State become theirs, not just 
waiting for the natural evolution of history, though in the 
short term they may still find many things unsatisfactory 
[with that State]. Parliamentary democracy can be truly 
stable and fair only when the majority of the poor working 
people can control the Parliament, a very difficult fact 
that few countries have achieved and hopefully some 
countries may achieve it in the 21st century.  It would be 
very superficial to measure the internal nature of a society 
with its wealthy economy. The fact that the American and 
British peoples and their Parliament and Congress failed to 
stop the US-UK attack and occupation in Iraq is a concrete 
example. Therefore the religions in Vietnam should join 
their efforts for the stability and development of Vietnam, 
and should not vaguely wait for disturbances that are very 
dangerous. 
 
III. What specifically should the CCV do for the country to 
be more stable and have more religious freedoms? 
 
If only the CCV understood that though the Vietnamese 
communists do not yet believe in our Lord, with their 
actions they are promoting a Poor-Fair-Humane-Peaceful Lord, 
and [the CCV] tried its best to support the SOV, the CCV 
would have more beneficial freedoms and the proof that our 
Lord died and has really risen with mankind today.  And if 
you see that my general analyses, though they are too brief, 
are moderate, mature, objective and well-founded, I 
respectfully beg that you write a new Religious Letter, 
which will be respected by the SOV, specifically 
highlighting the new special socialist ideology of Vietnam 
with the following main points, [with these] the issue of 
religious freedom will certainly be smoothly addressed in 
every respect: 
a.  To call on the CCV confidently, positively and 
enthusiastically to live an evangelical life within the 
nation and mingle [itself] with the cultural tradition of 
the nation, the noble new special socialist ideology and the 
ongoing international economic market integration as a 
harmonized combination of people's equality, humaneness, 
happiness, [and] reality where the future [of Vietnam], 
including [the future of] the CCV, is determined by the 
people. 
b.  Our fellow believers in the South should rid themselves 
of their heavy and painful complexes related to the former 
Saigon regime, and confidently respond to the SOV's motto 
"put aside the past, remove any discrimination or prejudice, 
share mutual trust and together look toward to the future." 
c.  To call on the overseas Vietnamese actively to share 
efforts to strengthen the homeland of Vietnam and help 
Vietnam successfully integrate itself into the international 
economic market as soon as possible. 
d.  To call on countries, international organizations [and] 
the Vatican to trust and support Vietnam in all respects, 
especially regarding charity, health care, education, 
culture and particularly support to help Vietnam integrate 
itself into the international economic market with favorable 
treatments granted. 
 
IV. Direct and indirect positive effects: 
¶A.  To help unifying six or seven different lines of ideas 
in the CCV and putting an end to the situation where they 
have been uncompromising with one another for the past 28 
years. 
¶1.  To help the Vatican soon establish diplomatic relations 
with the SOV when the SOV understands better that the world 
Catholic Church always supports moderate pro-left-wing or 
pro-right-wing states and condemns ultra-left or ultra-right 
ones. 
¶2.  To help direct the cold war between the SOV and a number 
of overseas Vietnamese in exile toward a more positive 
common goal for the homeland; to encourage such overseas 
Vietnamese wisely to realize that, instead of making rampant 
criticism that only makes the SOV warier [of them], they 
should prepare scrupulous and accurate scientific projects 
to help Vietnam have [more] peace, morality [and] prosperity 
like some group did; to help the entire Vietnamese people in 
Vietnam and overseas realize that the new socialism of 
Vietnam is the fastest and most efficient way to social 
democratization, liberalization, peace, [and] stability; 
[and by doing these] the international community will be 
more confident to help and invest more in Vietnam. 
¶3.  To help making the US Congress repeal the H.Res. 2833 on 
human rights in Vietnam and the Resolution on religious 
freedom in Vietnam, which are resolutions that no Parliament 
would inconsiderately pass to its people [to make judgments] 
on another country in that manner, and that are motivated by 
hidden unhealthy motives, and it would have been much more 
effective if diplomatic dialogues had been used to deal with 
issues of mutual concerns. 
 
¶V. Though the said Religious Letter has not been produced, 
you should be confident to make known your essential and 
legitimate requests because currently the SOV is paying 
special attention to the religions, [such requests may 
include requests for] a minor seminary in appropriate size 
for each diocese to improve the training of priests, 
facilitation for priests to live with poor people in remote 
areas in order to develop new religious spots, [permission 
for] the CCV to have more periodicals, more facilities, etc. 
 
Monsignors, 
 
If this five-A4-size-page Petition, of which all paragraph 
are separated with a blank line (except for items b, c, d, 
2, 3 and 4 in page 5), can reach you, you can consider it as 
an indication of our Lord's blessing to my little but 
extremely difficult work for your discretion.  I signed at 
the end of each page.  Pages [and/or] paragraphs that are 
unconnected are invalid. I always pray day and night for 
mankind, our homeland, the religions and you Monsignors.  I 
respectfully beg your forgiveness and your prayers for this 
follower, who is very little and always dutiful in his 
special hermit's life. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
(Signed) 
Prisoner Thadaeus Nguyen Van Ly 
(Priest of Hue Diocese) 
End text 
BURGHARDT