VZCZCXRO4820
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1109/01 1650802
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140802Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5643
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3243
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0023

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF, DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF VM
 
SUBJECT: HANOI ARCHBISHOP PAINTS MIXED PICTURE ON GVN-CATHOLIC 
CHURCH RELATIONS 
 
Ref: A) HANOI 495; B) HANOI 275; C) HANOI 312; D) HANOI 317 
 
HANOI 00001109  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) On June 13, Poloff met Hanoi Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet to 
discuss GVN-Church relations.  Unprompted, the Archbishop began by 
noting the GVN's arrests and trials of scores of political 
activists.  He told Poloff it is hard to describe how his followers 
feel about this matter.  On a positive note, he said Ha Giang Party 
officials had, after months of delay, granted the Church permission 
to establish a congregation in the province.  However, the 
Archbishop said that the Vatican is still working on coming up with 
suitable candidates for the two vacant bishoprics in Thai Binh and 
Vinh dioceses and that a Holy See delegation likely will not visit 
Vietnam before year's end.  While the GVN remains optimistic about 
establishing formal ties with the Holy See, a lot of work -- and 
trust building -- remains before this becomes a reality.  End 
Summary. 
 
The USG's Unique Role 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On June 13, Hanoi Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet began his 
30-minute meeting with Poloff by noting, without prompting, that the 
GVN's arrests and trials of scores of political activists over the 
last several months caught him by surprise, but have "justifiably 
attracted a lot of international attention."  Before Vietnam joined 
the WTO, the situation was "quiet."  However, things changed after 
APEC and WTO entry, and it is difficult to describe his followers' 
emotions about the current political environment, he said.  When 
President Bush attended the ecumenical service last November at the 
Cua Bac Catholic Church, Kiet asked the President to be "aware" not 
only of the USG's unique role in promoting economic development, but 
in pushing for freedom and human rights as well.  He said he wants 
the USG to continue to keep this in mind.  Poloff responded that 
U.S. officials have made clear to the GVN our strong concerns about 
the crackdown on political dissent. 
 
Positive Developments 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Kiet said that over the past six months, the situation in 
Ha Giang Province has moved in a "positive direction."  For one, 
local Party authorities permitted church officials to visit the 
province on important occasions such as Easter.  In addition, on 
June 12, he received an official letter from the Ha Giang provincial 
Committee on Religious Affairs granting the Church permission to 
establish a congregation in the province, the Archbishop relayed. 
Local church officials will now begin building a church, but of 
course completing it will take some time. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On the issue of the pieta in Ninh Binh Province (Ref A), 
Kiet said that he was happy to report that it had been "fully 
restored" and that a suitable place for it had been found. 
Provincial Party officials fired the commune officials who 
participated in the pieta's destruction and made these officials pay 
for its restoration, he relayed. 
 
Recent Setbacks 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On a negative note, however, Kiet expressed frustration 
about the Committee on Religious Affairs' (CRA) rejection of the 
Vatican's candidates for the two vacant bishoprics in the Thai Binh 
and Vinh dioceses.  He said that he and his followers were surprised 
when the CRA did this because, "even when relations between the GVN 
and Vatican were tense, bishops were not rejected."  Moreover, 
Catholic leaders and laymen do not understand the CRA's reasons -- 
the supposed criminal records of some members of the candidates' 
extended families -- for rejecting them, he lamented.  (Note: During 
a separate June 14 meeting with Poloff, CRA officials merely said 
this issue is an "internal matter" (septel).  End Note.)  The Holy 
See is still working on finding suitable replacement candidates for 
these positions, the Archbishop relayed. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Kiet said it was "more than coincidence" that these 
rejections occurred around the time of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan 
Dzung's historic visit to the Vatican (Ref B).  Relations between 
the GVN and Holy See seemed to be getting better, and then the CRA 
rejected the bishops.  The Archbishop alluded to "different 
tendencies" among GVN senior leaders in terms of the political 
crackdown and, more generally, government relations with religious 
groups.  He did not elaborate further.  Kiet said that the Holy See 
sent a delegation to Hanoi one month after PM Dzung visited the 
Vatican, but that it is unlikely that another one will come to Hanoi 
 
HANOI 00001109  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
before year's end. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Sounding another negative note, Kiet relayed that when a 
Hanoi-based priest who had registered with local authorities arrived 
to administer Easter services in the Son La Parish, local 
authorities summoned him to their office.  These authorities did not 
let the priest preside over Easter mass, Kiet said.  The Archbishop 
told Poloff that he knows of no other instances in the last six 
months of local authorities preventing priests from tending to their 
flocks. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The GVN continues to express optimism about establishing 
formal relations with the Holy See.  However, continued delays in 
finding suitable candidates for the vacant bishoprics in the Thai 
Binh and Vinh dioceses and Archbishop Kiet's assertion that the 
Vatican is unlikely to send another delegation to Vietnam before 
2008 clearly indicate that formal ties between the two sides remain 
a long way off.  End Comment. 
 
MARINE