Vietnam: authorities to return confiscated land

school currently on the property

Government authorities in Quang Binh province, Vietnam have decided to return property formerly owned by the Church after decades of petitions submitted by parishioners. Fr Paul Nguyen Chi Thien, a parish priest in Trung Quan in Quang Binh province, said authorities ruled last month to return the land, owned by the Church since 1921.

"We are very happy that provincial authorities have decided to return the former Church-owned plot of land to us, and we plan to build new facilities on it to meet our increasing religious needs."

He added, however, that the decision still requires official documentation.

"We hope the district will complete documents and return the land [officially] next month."

Fr Thien, who joined the parish last year, said the government has been using facilities on the land as a nursery and that the Church plans to build a new school for the local government near the plot of land in December, at an estimated cost of 200 million dong (US$10,000).

Benedict Tran Quang Dam, head of the parish council, said local Catholics whose ancestors converted to Catholicism as early as 1676 built a church and other facilities on the 3,730-square-meter plot of land in 1938. Those facilities were destroyed in 1968 during bombing by US forces during the war in Vietnam.

Dam, 70, said local Catholics set up a chapel in 1969 and used it until 1976, when the government "borrowed" it and then built the present pre-school building. The lay leader said the Church has petitioned the government many times since 1995 to return the land.

Dam said local Catholics have had to attend Mass at private homes because of lack of facilities for more than 10 years. "We want to build a new church to meet people's religious needs since between 30 and 200 people embrace Catholicism each year," he explained.

Source: UCAN