Vietnam: Protestants have grown five-fold

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VIETNAM: Protestants have grown five-fold under pressure

"25 years after the end of the Vietnam war, which ended with Saigon's fall on 30 April 1975, there is still no sign of the religious freedom guaranteed in the nation's constitution," reports Bob Harvey in the newspaper 'Ottawa Citizen'. Over 20 Protestant Christians are currently in jail for such crimes as 'illegal prayer' or 'resisting state authority', the official expression for their being present often enough when police violently disbanded prayer meetings. Nevertheless, according to local church leaders, the Protestant minority has grown five-fold since the end of the war, from around 150,000 in 1975 to 800,000 now. There are only 300 legal Protestant churches remaining; it was not possible to register new churches. The 3,500 underground churches form the majority, meeting in houses or illegal chapels. Many Protestants are under extreme pressure to recant their faith. The few that gave in to the pressure were forced to drink the blood of animals sacrificed in traditional religious ceremonies. A correspondent who recent met the leaders of the Protestant movement in secret reports "Most of the leaders have been in prison, but they say 'We're used to it. It is simply part of our work.'" "The Communists look at Eastern Europe, and recognise the role played by the church in the fall of Communism there. They are afraid that the same thing could happen here," says a leading member of the Protestant movement.

Source: Bob Harvey, http://www.ottawacitizen.com

via Dawn Fridayfax

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