Roman Catholicism in Vietnam
The Roman Catholic Church in Vietnam is represented in Vietnam since 1925. Before 1964, the Apostolic Delegate was in Indochina representative of the Holy See, then a separate Apostolic Nuncio. Since the official end of the Apostolic Nuncio Henri Lemaître on 19 December 1975 no official representative of the Holy See is stationed in Vietnam.
Overview
The Catholic faith was first used in the 16th century with French, Spanish and Portuguese missionaries into the country. He was spread under pressure from the French colonial rule. After Catholicism was actively fought in the early years of Communist rule, the government is trying now to get a better relationship with the Holy See. Official delegations from the Vatican came in the 1990s to Vietnam to meet government authorities and to visit dioceses. The visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung meets with Pope Benedict XVI. 2007 has strengthened towards greater religious freedom, the hope of a further opening. The Constitution of Vietnam generally provides a Religions-/Glaubensfreiheit. Since religious institutions but always represent a certain competition to the state influence on the population, religions and their institutions are part of the Communist Party of Vietnam are treated with suspicion and regarded as " reactionary."
Vietnam represents - to the Philippines - with six million believers the second largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia. The Catholics represent about seven percent of the total population of Vietnam, with its 83 million inhabitants. Vietnam has it the fourth largest Catholic population in Asia. There are 26 dioceses, including three archdioceses.
The first Vietnamese bishop was John Baptist Nguyễn Bá Tong, who was canonized in 1933. Nguyên Văn Thuan, who was in prison from 1975 to 1988, from 2001 was cardinal. Paul Joseph Cardinal Phạm Đình Tung was from 1963 to 1990 under house arrest, he married Archbishop of Hanoi in 1994.
Beatification
In March 2007, Thaddeus was Nguyễn Văn Lý ( born 1946 ), a Roman Catholic priest and dissident, was sentenced by a court in Hue to eight years in prison. Nguyen, who had spent 14 of the last 24 years in prison, was accused of being one of the founders of the democracy movement Bloc 8406 and a member of the Progressive Party of Vietnam.
On September 16, 2007, being the fifth anniversary of the death of Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận, the Roman Catholic Church began the process for his beatification. Roman Catholics in Vietnam have received the message of the commencement of the process for his beatification positive.
Dioceses
- Archdiocese of Hanoi: Bắc Ninh, Bùi Chu, Haiphong, Hưng Hóa, Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng, Phát diem, Thái Bình, Thanh Hóa, Vinh
- Archdiocese of Hue: Ban Me Thuot, Da Nang, Kontum, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon
- Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City: Ba Ria, Can Tho, Da Lạt, Long Xuyen, My Tho, Phan Thiet, Phu Cường, Vinh Long, Xuan Lộc