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| Driving toward Xa Doai |
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| Walking toward Xa Doai |
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| Protesting police brutality |
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| Listening to their bishop |
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| Protesting at Thai Ha |
At the massive rally in front of the Bishopric of Vinh at Xa Doai, Nghe An on the Assumption Day, described by many as “historic” or “never seen in their life time”, Bishop Paul Maria Cao Dinh Thuyen thanked his flock for their union and communion and their support for the quest for justice of the diocese. He expressed how excited and happy he was to see “half a million of Cao Dinh Thuyen in the diocese of Vinh”, prompting a thunderous applause from the crowd at the gathering.
Days before the event, police in provinces of Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, and Nghe An had been put on high alert in the wake of huge protests joined by half a million of Vinh Catholics. In towns of Huong Khe, Dong Khe, and Ky Anh of Ha Tinh province, police had threatened coach bus drivers with severe punishments should they drive Catholics to Xa Doai. All of them had to cancel contracts already signed with local Catholics. However, the old trick didn't seem to be effective at the determination of these Catholics. Thousands of local Catholics had spent Friday night walking for tens of kilometers on National Highway 1 before they could catch buses to Xa Doai.
At dawn, National Highway 1 en route Xa Doai was packed with tens of thousands of motorbikes carrying Vatican flags. By 7 am local time, hundreds of thousands of Catholics had already gathered at the square in front of the Bishopric of Vinh with banners condemning the brutality of police and demanding the end of government persecutions. Right in front of the enormous altar hung a big banner which read “Praying for Tam Toa”.
Recent developments in Dong Hoi have shown a noticeable escalation in persecution against Tam Toa parishioners.
Police in Quang Binh have photographed local Catholic leaders and parishioners who have actively participated in Tam Toa activities including catechists, then posted flyers showing their photo at street corners and on telephone poles, so that hostile non-Catholics can recognize and attack them with impunity. A Catholic was reportedly terrorized by strangers so severely with his home broken into, his TV and other possessions vandalized, while police stood guard outside his home.
Some Catholics who owned business at the market also encountered interference and incitement by unknown gangsters throwing yard waste and trash at them, disrupting their way of life with such extreme hostility.
On Monday Aug. 10, police raided the house of a parishioner of Tam Toa who has reportedly had knowledge of his parish priest’s hide-out. He was forced to hand deliver a police summoning order to Fr. Peter Le Thanh Hong - his parish priest. Police threatened him with heavy consequences should he fail to comply or Fr. Peter Le would not show up before the deadline ended on Tuesday evening.
Police have charged Fr. Peter Le of “trampling on the laws of the country” and “inciting the faithful into the illegal constructing a house” on a historic site. The diocese of Vinh has serious concern for his safety because thugs have been roaming the streets calling for his death. But being safeguarded by his parishioners' sheer determination, he is still in a safe place as of now, refusing to present himself at Dong Hoi police department for safety reason. He and his parishioners concerned that he could be endangered should he be on his way to the meeting.
In another development, more than 3000 Catholics of Hanoi gathered at a park that local government had built hastily on the land of Hanoi Redemptorist Monastery to end Catholics’ protest that had last for more than a year.
Public protests began in January, 2008, after Thai Ha parishioners discovered that local government officials had secretly sold the land to other private owners. Protests first took place outside a surrounding brick wall, built decades ago, on which protesters have been hanging their icons and crosses, until the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Assumption last year. After days of drenching rain, part of the wall collapsed on that fateful day. Foreseeing that other parts of the wall would soon collapse in a domino fashion, possibly causing injury to participants at the prayer vigils, parishioners removed several feet of the wall and moved the icons and statues to a more secure location.
State media called the action a rebellious act that needed to be punished immediately and severely. Within days, dozens of parishioners were jailed and 8 of them were tried three months later in a criminal court as a result of the rally.
The government bulldozed the wall and surrounding area shortly after the incident that gave rise to the charges, announcing that the area would now be converted into a public park.
Catholic activists revealed that every year, as long as the land has not been returned to them, they will light up the park with a Candlelight vigil on Assumption Night to commemorate the anniversary of the historic event, and to remind their children and all people of conscience the injustice that they are still facing.