Anti-Catholic drive persists

HANOI, Vietnam -- While at the national level, Vietnam is softening antireligious policies, these changes don't always filter down to the local level. Life for Catholics in Son La province on the extreme northwest border with Laos is a case in point, according to a report by AsiaNews, a news service sponsored by Italy's Pontifical Institute of Missions.

The Son La diocese was founded in 1659 and today Catholics number 6,078 among a general population of 1.15 million. But local government officials and Communist Party officers prevent church members from meeting in homes for prayers and from visiting with families of the sick and dead. Priests are routinely followed and prevented from celebrating Masses.

"The government just talks but does not implement its own polices in matters of religion," the report quotes an unnamed Catholic. "In remote areas believers face many difficulties and much discrimination."

The report said local authorities keep lists of Catholics and try to coerce them to leave their religion with intimidating visits and threats of imprisonment.

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