VZCZCXRO2299
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0589/01 2391050
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271050Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6008
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 3908
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0009
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 6244
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000589 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM PREL VM
SUBJECT: TWO NEWLY-APPOINTED CATHOLIC BISHOPS DISCUSS GROWTH AND 
OPPORTUNITY 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000589  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Two of the three new Vietnamese bishops named 
by the Vatican earlier in the summer recently met with the 
Consulate to share their positive experiences in overseeing 
Catholic communities in the southern part of the country.  One 
of the two, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Nang, will be heading north to 
Phat Diem diocese in Ninh Binh province and will be replaced by 
Father Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, who is coming directly from the 
Vatican.  The second bishop, Vu Duy Thong, will remain in the 
south, where he will take over Phan Thiet diocese in coastal 
Binh Thuan province. In their meetings with the Consulate, both 
bishops focused on taking care of their growing flocks and 
expanding social work activities while tactfully choosing to 
eschew discussion of recent land disputes in the North.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
 
A Northern Homecoming for Father Nang 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) For Joseph Nguyen Nang, becoming Bishop of Phat Diem 
diocese in Ninh Binh province will be a sort of homecoming.  His 
family, like many others, left Ninh Binh in 1954 after the 
country was partitioned and Catholics were encouraged to move 
south by former Republic of Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem. 
Bishop Nang acknowledged that moving to Phat Diem diocese, which 
has approximately 152,000 followers, will be a major change from 
Xuan Loc, which is home to around 846,000 Catholics. Bishop Nang 
said living standards in Phat Diem are still relatively low for 
most residents, so a major part of his mission will be to try 
and "improve socio-economic conditions" there.  He also 
acknowledged that northern Catholics "continue to struggle," but 
steered clear of commenting on recent troubles in Vinh diocese. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The opulence of the Xuan Loc Bishop's headquarters in 
Dong Ngai province where Bishop Nang received PolOff was a clear 
indication of the Catholic community's growth and prosperity in 
what became Vietnam's most Catholic region following the 1954 
partition.  The expansive complex was recently completed in 2008 
and includes a seminary, a palatial residence and a pastoral 
center set amidst well-manicured gardens and marble statuary. 
Bishop Nang has been the rector of the seminary since 2006.  The 
seminary currently has around 250 students engaged in a six-year 
course of study, with approximately 45 new seminarians and 45 
graduates annually. 
 
 
 
 
 
Expanding Social Work Through Caritas 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to describing his role at the seminary, 
Bishop Nang discussed the diocese's expansion of social services 
for disaster relief victims, people living with HIV/AIDS, 
orphans, the homeless and the elderly.  He proudly displayed a 
group photograph from a recent visit by international 
representatives of Caritas, the Catholic charity that 
re-established its presence in Vietnam in October 2008.  Bishop 
Nang said he enlisted the Vatican's support to help build the 
new Caritas office in Ho Chi Minh City (scheduled to open this 
Fall) during his visit to the Vatican with Cardinal Man and 
fellow Bishops in June.  Bishop Nang also said his appointment 
process went smoothly, having been completed in the relatively 
short time period of roughly four months.  Once Bishop Nang 
moves to his new diocese in Ninh Binh on August 31, he will be 
replaced at the seminary by Father Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, who will 
be coming directly from the Vatican. 
 
 
 
Bishop Thong Tends the Faithful in Phan Thiet 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) In HCMC, PolOff met with newly appointed Bishop Vu Duy 
Thong, who has worked for over fifteen years as a professor of 
theology at the Catholic seminary here.  Like its counterpart in 
Dong Nai, the HCMC seminary is set in a sylvan oasis in the 
heart of the city and has been recently refurbished with modern 
facilities, a large cultural center and a host of programs for 
parishioners.  On the day of our meeting, the center was 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000589  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
bustling with activity as over 1,000 altar boys from across the 
diocese participated in a day camp program. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Bishop Thong cheerfully anticipated his August 31 
transfer to coastal Binh Thuan province, where he will take up 
his new appointment as the Bishop of Phan Thiet diocese, a small 
but thriving Catholic community of approximately 155,000 
parishioners, 59 parishes, 39 sub-parishes and 90 priests.  Phan 
Thiet, which was founded in 1974, is the youngest diocese in 
southern Vietnam. Like Xuan Loc, many of Phan Thiet's 
parishioners are migrants from the North who arrived after 1954. 
 (Note: Because the region was one of the areas to which many 
families with connections to the former government of South 
Vietnam were relocated after being expelled from HCMC following 
the war, a number of Catholics in the region probably arrived 
from 1974 to 1980.  End Note.) 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Bishop Thong showed Poloff a photo album commemorating 
several special events in Phan Thiet, including the gathering of 
approximately 2000 Catholics on the 13th of each month to 
commemorate Our Lady of Fatima.  (Note: The name is a reference 
to the reported appearance of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd 
children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917, a celebrated Catholic 
miracle where the sun appeared to have "danced across the sky." 
End Note.)  Bishop Thong said he would continue several 
charitable programs set up by retiring Bishop Nguyen Thanh Hoan, 
including a micro-credit program for poor residents to buy stock 
for animal husbandry and scholarships for poor but gifted 
children to attend school. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  While these Southern Catholic leaders are 
cautiously optimistic about the Church's continued expansion 
under Vietnam's legal framework on religion, senior HCMC church 
leaders continue to cite property issues and difficulties in 
expanding social work initiatives as ongoing issues, though they 
do appear to have more leeway than their northern brethren when 
it comes to pushing the envelope.  Lest you think southern 
Catholics less fiesty, you only need to turn to the nuns from 
the Congregation of the Lovers of the Thu Thiem Holy Cross, who 
recently refused to budge when the HCMC officials tried to move 
them to build a "multipurpose commercial area" on their land. 
Thus far, the authorities are respecting their stance. 
FAIRFAX