VZCZCXRO9475
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #1461/01 2261632
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141632Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6102
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3533
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0025

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF, DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KIRF VM
 
SUBJECT:  HANOI ARCHBISHOP DISCUSSES CHURCH ISSUES WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: Hanoi 1109 
 
HANOI 00001461  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) In an August 13 farewell call by the Ambassador, Hanoi 
Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet praised the Ambassador's contribution to 
international religious freedom, noting in particular recent 
progress in northern Ha Giang Province.  The Archbishop agreed with 
the Ambassador's assessment that much progress had been made but 
that there was still work to do, noting that the Catholic Church 
faces significant challenges overcoming the limitations GVN 
authorities place on education and healthcare work.  The Archbishop 
sees GVN-Vatican relations progressing slowly.  The Ambassador 
stressed that the Catholic Bishop's Council could play an important 
role as a "collective voice" in dealing with the GVN.  The Church 
will shortly submit two new names to the GVN for vacant bishoprics 
in Thai Binh and Vinh dioceses.  The Archdiocese remains interested 
in training religious workers in the United States, and the Embassy 
will work to enhance cooperation and communication on these kinds of 
cases.  End Summary. 
 
 
PROGRESS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BUT STILL AREAS FOR WORK 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Marine told Hanoi Catholic Archbishop Kiet in an 
August 13 farewell call at the Archbishop's office that he was 
pleased with the work they had done together during his term to 
promote religious freedom in Vietnam.  He recalled the Archdiocese's 
historic cooperation with the Evangelical Church of Vietnam North 
(ECVN) in November 2006 in hosting an ecumenical service at Hanoi's 
Cua Bac Church on the occasion of President Bush's first visit to 
Vietnam during the APEC Leader's Summit.  The Ambassador also noted 
his recent calls on Cardinal Man and Protestant house church leaders 
in HCMC as well as GVN President Nguyen Minh Triet's visit to 
Washington, in which he discussed religious freedom issues with 
President Bush. 
 
¶3. (SBU) While much progress has been made, the Ambassador said 
there was still much work to be done, including problems with 
implementation of the legal framework on religion in the Northwest 
Highlands; reported abuses of H'Mong Christians in the North; and 
GVN limitations on the role of religious organizations in education 
and social work, throughout the country.  The Ambassador noted that 
while his recent media roundtables tended to focus more on political 
issues, he had discussed religious freedom and humanitarian issues 
in his farewell calls on senior leaders and in a widely-publicized 
VietnamNet web chat the previous week.  It was important to make 
certain that the GVN understands the USG will remain focused on the 
issue of religious freedom. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador asked the Archbishop whether his generally 
favorable assessment of the current status of religious freedom in 
Vietnam was overly optimistic.  The Archbishop responded that he had 
read the Ambassador's web chat as well as comments from his recent 
media roundtables in HCMC and Hanoi, and he was satisfied with the 
Ambassador's analysis of the status of religious freedom in Vietnam. 
 The Archbishop said the Ambassador had contributed significantly to 
the advancement of human and political rights and religious freedom 
in Vietnam. 
 
 
PROGRESS IN NORTHERN HA GIANG PROVINCE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Archbishop thanked the Ambassador and the U.S. Embassy 
staff for their support to the Church in Ha Giang Province (Note: 
Both the Ambassador and Embassy Political Section have taken trips 
within the past year to Ha Giang Province to press local authorities 
on religious freedom issues.  End Note.).  The Archbishop said there 
had been significant progress there in the last six months, with 
more Catholic congregations getting registered and priests facing no 
further impediments in conducting religious services.  Recently, the 
Provincial People's Committee granted the Catholic congregation in 
Ha Giang Town a piece of land on which to build a church, a 
previously long-unanswered request. 
 
 
GVN NEEDS TO COME UP TO SPEED ON SOCIAL WORK 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Archbishop said the GVN needs to improve its handling 
of religious education and training and relax the ongoing 
 
HANOI 00001461  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
restrictions on the Church's ability to perform social and 
charitable work, particularly in health care.  Kiet said the Church 
still faced many limits in these areas and needed to press the 
authorities for progress. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador agreed that the GVN needed to do much more 
in providing quality education to its young people in this rapidly 
developing economy.  He suggested that the Catholic Bishop's Council 
(due to meet in session in October) may want to approach the GVN 
with a "collective voice" and a specific proposal on how the GVN 
could better respond to the country's educational needs and the 
positive role the Church could play. 
 
¶8. (SBU) On the social work and healthcare front, the Ambassador 
said GVN authorities regularly tell him they want religious 
organizations involved, a view President Nguyen Minh Triet had 
expressed to a group of Catholic bishops back in January 2007.  The 
Ambassador suggested that this was also an area where the best 
strategy may be for the Bishop's Council to develop a concrete 
proposal and speak in a collective voice, and that this is one area 
where consistent pressure on the GVN is needed. 
 
 
GVN-VATICAN RELATIONS:  SOME PROGRESS 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Ambassador raised the issue of GVN-Vatican relations, 
including the refusal by the GVN of two Vatican-nominated candidates 
for two vacant bishoprics in Vinh and Thai Binh dioceses, and asked 
whether possible internal tensions, within the Catholic Church, may 
have had something to do with their rejection. The Archbishop said 
the Church was now working on two new names for the vacant 
bishoprics and would submit those names to the GVN soon.  The 
Archbishop did not deny that internal Church concerns about "too 
many southern Bishops" may have been a factor, but concluded that 
there are no disagreements or complaints about this within the 
Church. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Archbishop told the Ambassador that overall he thought 
there was some progress toward establishing official GVN-Vatican 
relations and noted the GVN decision to establish a working 
committee as a necessary step in this direction. 
 
 
TRAINING RELIGIOUS WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Ambassador raised the issue of recent Vietnamese 
seminarians who failed to get student visas to undertake religious 
study and training in the United States.  The Ambassador explained 
to the Archbishop USG visa application policies and procedures in 
this regard and suggested that it would be helpful for our consular 
section to receive documentation in advance - specifically, detailed 
information about the training program and a letter of support from 
the sponsoring institution in the United States.  He told the 
Archbishop he was hopeful that we could work together to minimize 
future difficulties. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Kiet thanked the Ambassador for the information, and said 
both his Archdiocese and the Catholic Church in Vietnam remained 
very interested in sending seminarians to the United States for 
training. 
 
 
PLEASED WITH STATEMENTS BY INCOMING AMBASSADOR MICHALAK 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that incoming Ambassador Michael 
Michalak would arrive in Vietnam soon, and it would be useful for 
the Archbishop to meet with him.  The Archbishop agreed and noted 
that he had read Ambassador's Michalak's confirmation hearing 
statements on religious freedom and was very pleased with them.  The 
Archbishop again warmly thanked the Ambassador for his contributions 
to religious freedom and political rights in Vietnam. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) The Archbishop clearly would like the U.S. Mission to 
continue using its influence with the GVN to encourage resolution of 
problems preventing a greater role for the church in education and 
social work - a message that we have heard consistently.  The 
 
HANOI 00001461  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Archdiocese also sees the United States as a place to help train 
future generations of Vietnamese Catholic clergy. 
 
MARINE