To: TimF who wrote (101335 ) 6/14/2003 4:19:11 PM From: Hawkmoon Respond to And the Vietnamese set themselves on fire as a protest and sent kids with grenades to try and kill Americans. VOA Editorialall religious organizations in Vietnam are required to obtain government permission to hold training seminars and conventions, to build or remodel places of worship, to engage in charitable activities or operate religious schools, and to ordain, promote, or transfer clergy. Religious groups continue to face difficulty in obtaining teaching materials, expanding training facilities, and publishing religious materials. Several American citizens are among those who have been charged and detained for disseminating religious materials in recent years. The Vietnamese government requires all Buddhist monks to work under the Communist Party-controlled Buddhist umbrella organization. The government has also sought to control the Catholic Church hierarchy, in part by requiring that all clergy belong to the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association. It has also insisted on approving Vatican appointments. Some Catholic priests and Buddhist monks remain in prison for preaching outside the government-approved organizations. The only government-approved Protestant organization is the Christian Missionary Alliance of Vietnam. And the government restricts exit permits for Muslims seeking to make the Hajj. Despite all the restrictions, attendance at religious observances has continued to grow. fva.org n Vietnam today, the traditional Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UVBC) is banned, its pagodas are confiscated and its network of educational, social and cultural institutions are closed down. Monks, nuns and lay-Buddhists have suffered torture, detention and intimidation, and today virtually all the UBCV leadership is in prison or under house arrest. Moreover, repression against the "Buddhist Youth Movement" has reached such a pitch that 200 leaders of this 300,000-strong educational movement are preparing to immolate themselves in protest. buddhanetz.org The Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam, Madam Speaker, the largest religious denomination in Viet Nam, has been declared illegal by the government, and over the last 25 years its clergy have often been imprisoned and subjected to other forms of persecution. usembassy.it
