VZCZCXRO3579
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #1490 3600842
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260842Z DEC 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1920
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1407
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2079

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001490 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: THE BEST CHRISTMAS YET IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Key contacts in the Catholic and Protestant 
communities told ConGen on December 26 that they were very 
pleased with how the 2006 Christmas season unfolded.  The 
Secretary General of the GVN-recognized Southern 
 
SIPDIS 
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) -- Vietnam's largest 
Protestant organization -- told us that he had not received 
any reports of incidents.  In separate phone conversations, 
SECV representatives in the Central Highlands provinces of 
Gia Lai and Dak Lak added that Christmas celebrations were 
more relaxed this year than in the past.  They 
characterized local Central Highlands officials as "more 
open" and "more sincere" and less prone to lecture them 
about the importance of "maintaining social order." 
 
¶2. (SBU) Leaders of key registered and unregistered house 
church groups indicated that this was their easiest 
Christmas in Vietnam since 1975.  Pastor Pham Dinh Nhan of 
the United Gospel Outreach Church told us that he was able 
to rent the auditorium of the HCMC chapter of the 
Fatherland Front's Union of Friendship Organizations to 
hold services for his group.  The UGOC had another 
gathering for 1,500 worshipers in Can Tho, in the Mekong 
Delta.  Pastor Samuel Lam, head of the Assembly of God 
(AOG), told us that he was able to hold services for 1,800 
persons in a rented theater in HCMC.  Another AOG 
congregation of 300 in suburban HCMC was able to gather as 
one large group for the first time ever.  Pastor Nguyen 
Toi, head of the Danang-based United World Mission Church 
(UWMC) told us that, with the exception of one congregation 
in rural Quang Ngai province, all 20,000 members of his 
church -- many in the Central Highlands province of Kontum 
-- were able to celebrate without interference.  Two large 
Baptist groups also were able to hold large gatherings in 
HCMC, Hanoi and the Central Highlands. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Our contacts reported a few incidents in which 
local officials attempted to ban Christmas gatherings. 
However, this year, church leaders generally were able to 
get quick redress from central- and provincial-level 
officials.  For example, in the case of the UWMC 
congregation in Quang Ngai, Pastor Toi worked with the 
central-level Committee for Religious Affairs to overturn 
the local edict.  In another case, HCMC CRA and Department 
of Culture and Information officials worked late into the 
evening on December 23 to help organize the Christmas 
celebrations of the Assembly of God in a public theater in 
HCMC.  Pastor Nguyen Ngoc Hien of the Vietnam Baptist 
Fellowship reported that one congregation was unable to 
gain permission from local Hanoi authorities to hold 
services in a hotel; the group was forced to use an 
alternative location in a neighboring province, where they 
celebrated without incident.  Local police in Thieu Vien 
commune in the northern province of Thanh Hoa sought to 
halt a service of a UGOC-affiliated house church.  Pastor 
Nhan explained that this village in notorious for its 
efforts to suppress Protestant house churches. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment:  In the run-up to Christmas, provincial 
CRA officials emphasized to us that they were under strict 
instruction to ensure a successful holiday season.  For 
example, HCMC authorities instructed all localities to 
facilitate house church celebrations.  Although incidents 
at the local level -- especially in remote rural areas 
continue to occur -- they are significantly fewer in number 
less severe than in the past.  Perhaps the most encouraging 
aspect of this Christmas season is that house church 
leaders and central and provincial government CRA officials 
are beginning to work together to resolve problems at local 
levels.  End Comment. 
 
WINNICK