Following is the translation of the Appeal by Father Nguyen Van Ly, who is leading the Nguyet Bieu Parish (part of Hue Diocese) in their struggle for freedom of religion.

WHERE AS :

1. The Vietnamese Communist Government's policies toward religions in general and the Catholic Church in particular since 1954 to this day have simply been a NOOSE AROUND THE NECK OF THE RELIGIONS. (Stated by the late Archbishop Nguyen Kim Dien to the Thua Thien - Hue People's Committee in 1983, and repeated twice by Father Tadeo Nguyen Van Ly at his trial in late 1983 in Hue. The trial was part of the harassment following his leading of a group of Catholics to the La Vang Cathedral Convention in 1981.)
2. During the 261 years of persecution between the reigns of Canh Thinh - Tay Son (1625) and Van Than (1886), many bishops, priests, missionaries, seminary students, lay followers were killed, mistreated, etc. in various forms. However, the most sacred and fundamental rights of the Church such as the selection, ordainment, and assignments of bishops and priest; the selection and training of future priests were not lost, albeit being carried out clandestinely. In contrast, from 1954 to today, those sacred rights have been lost to the Vietnamese Communist Government, who exclusively decide whether to issue the "permits". Most religious orders for priests and nuns now have "secret" clergies in various forms.
3. So much of the properties of the Catholic Church of Vietnam have been usurped, appropriated, taken under forced concession.
4. Believers of the Catholic and other faiths have been severely discriminated against. People in the remote areas, the New-Economic zones, etc. cannot practice their faiths normally.
5. Regarding Article 18 and 19 of the United Nation's December 10, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Article 2, 4, 5, and 13 of the Second Vatican Convention's Proclamation on Freedom of Religion; and Article 6 and 8 of the Second Vatican Convention's Proclamation on Christian Education, the Catholic Church of Vietnam today is completely tied up and cannot carry out the will of God through the Second Vatican Convention.
6. "Wherever Oppression exists, Struggle follows" and "Free man must fight for his own freedom."
7. [The Catholic Church of Vietnam has a long history of resistance to oppression] with more than 130,000 Martyrs, many of whom have been beatified, in the first dark period (1625 - 1886), and a yet-fully-accounted large number of bishops, priests, clergies, and lay-followers, who have suffered and died in numerous prison camps nationwide, in this second dark period (1954 to present).

As a Christian; a Priest, in whom God has entrusted the responsibility of being His messenger just like Moses before the Pharaoh: "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me," Exodus 5:1; and an Advisor to the Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam, formed by overseas Vietnamese and headquartered in Washington, DC,

I respectfully call on:

1. All God's people in Vietnam to face up to the fact that our Church is being persecuted systematically and sophisticatedly. Please do not let the position or the slight privileges anyone might currently have deceive you into accepting the status quo.
2. All God's people in Vietnam, according to their means and the methods revealed to them by God, to pray, explain to others, and do everything possible to bring true freedom of religion to our Church.
3. All God's people abroad, all Vietnamese inside and outside the country, all people of goodwill around the world, and all human rights organizations everywhere to help bring the fundamental human rights to Vietnam and the freedom of religion to all faiths in this country.

4. All people of goodwill to help me spread this appeal.

This appeal is written at the Parish Nguyet Bieu of the Nguyet Bieu District in Hue City, where I am currently detained after various efforts for freedom of religion since 1975. Today is the first Sunday of Advent of the Church Year 2001, the start of the 21st Century and the Third Millennium of Christianity

(Signed)

Tadeo Nguyen Van Ly

Mailing Address: Nha Chung Giao Phan Hue, 37 Phan Dinh Phung Street, Hue, Vietnam

Tel: 054.846429 or 054.881061

Email: nvlgph@dng.vnn.vn or nguyenvanly@dng.vnn.vn