Cardinal François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan
Vietnamese archbishop imprisoned by the Communists
Scarcely could François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan have dreamed during his
13
years' imprisonment by the Vietnamese Communist regime that he would one
day
return to Rome – where he had studied as a young priest – and reach the
highest echelons of the Roman Curia.
When that came to pass, he was less than enthusiastic, describing
himself as
"less fortunate" than his fellow Catholic bishops who had remained to
serve
their flock in Vietnam, despite government obstacles.
As a constant reminder of his imprisonment he wore ever after as his
pectoral cross one he had fashioned out of wood and metal in prison with
the
help of a sympathetic guard. "It is not beautiful, but it is for me a
symbol, a reminder always to love and forgive and reconcile."
His presence as a Vietnamese in the Vatican was a recognition of the
strong
Church in the country – Vietnam has the largest Catholic community in
Asia
after the Philippines and, thanks to the boat people, a large diaspora
around the world – and a reminder of the internationalisation of the
Curia
under Pope John Paul II. But in many ways he had adopted the Roman
manners
of curial officials, although visibly burdened by the deep impression of
his
suffering.
Although Nguyen Van Thuan failed to leave an enduring mark as a Vatican
bureaucrat (he was too mild and self- effacing), he had gained an
impressive
following around the world for his simple testimonies of his time in
prison,
which were translated into a dozen languages. He was a powerful speaker
who
moved congregations and audiences alike.
Nguyen Van Thuan was born into a Catholic family in the central
Vietnamese
city of Hue and decided early on that he wanted to be a priest. After
studies in philosophy and theology he was ordained in June 1953. Marked
out
as a high-flyer, he pursued advanced studies in Rome from 1953 to 1959,
receiving a doctorate in Canon Law from the Gregorian University.
On returning to Vietnam he became a professor and then rector of the
major
seminary of Nha Trang in central Vietnam. Chosen by Pope Paul VI as a
bishop
in April 1967, he led the diocese of Nha Trang for the next eight years.
He
was a dynamic bishop, increasing the number of seminarians from 42 to
147,
promoting lay movements and youth groups, building schools and
encouraging
parish councils.
Suddenly named Coadjutor Bishop of Saigon (with the personal rank of
archbishop) on 24 April 1975, just days before the South Vietnamese
capital
fell to the Communist North, Nguyen Van Thuan was taken aback. He wept
as he
had no time to take his leave of his diocesan colleagues.
His new role lasted just a few months as the Communist authorities
imposed
their new order on what became Ho Chi Minh City. Nguyen Van Thuan was
known
as anti- Communist and was under suspicion for his family ties to the
old
regime (Ngo Dinh Diem, the assassinated South Vietnamese president, had
been
his uncle). "On 15 August 1975, on the Feast of the Assumption of Our
Lady,
I was invited to the Palace of Independence, the President's Palace in
Saigon, only to be arrested," he later recalled:
The motive was that Pope Paul VI had transferred me from my diocese in
Nha
Trang to Saigon, to become Archbishop Coadjutor. For the Communist
government this transfer, made one week before their arrival in Saigon,
was
proof of a conspiracy between the Vatican and the Imperialists.
He was driven north to his former diocese and imprisoned within earshot
of
the sea and the bells of his former cathedral. He was later shipped
further
north with 1,500 other hungry, desperate prisoners in the hull of a ship
to
begin work in a re-education camp.
Nguyen Van Thuan had already begun what would become a series of prison
meditations, some of which were smuggled out of prison on pages torn
from a
diary. Some were later brought out of the country by boat people. "I
spent
nine years in solitary confinement and during that time I said Mass
every
day at three o'clock, the hour of Jesus' death on the cross," he
remembered:
I was all alone and could sing and chant whatever I wished, in Latin, in
French and Vietnamese. They were the most beautiful Masses of my life.
He fashioned a tiny Bible out of scraps of paper.
Despite his strong faith, he found solitary confinement, which he
described
as the "agonising pain of isolation and abandonment", hard to bear. When
his
release from prison in Hanoi eventually came in November 1988 it was
sudden.
Taken to meet the Minister of Police, he was asked if he had any
requests.
"Yes, Mr Minister, I wish to be let free – today!" he boldly declared:
You see, Mr Minister, I have been in prison for three pontificates: Paul
VI,
John Paul I, John Paul II. I have been here during the offices of four
Secretary Generals of the Communist Party, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko
and
Gorbachev.
As he later recalled,
The minister feigned surprise but I knew the day had come. It was the
Feast
of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple and she was answering my
prayer.
He was transferred to house arrest and was, to his surprise, soon able
to
meet visiting Catholic leaders, including the bishops Bernard Law and
Roger
Mahony from the United States.
In 1991, the Vietnamese authorities – anxious to prevent him from
becoming
full archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City – granted Nguyen Van Thuan an exit
visa
with no right of return. After a stay in Australia with relatives he
went to
Rome and began his work in the Roman Curia in the Pontifical Council for
Justice and Peace.
Vice-President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from
1994, he
succeeded the French Basque Roger Etchegaray as President in 1998. He
handled issues such as Third World debt and ordered the compilation of
an
official compendium of Catholic social teaching. In 2000, the Jubilee
Year,
Pope John Paul chose Nguyen Van Thuan to preach the customary course of
spiritual exercises for himself and the Curia at the Vatican. His talks,
published as Testimony of Hope, addressed the need for hope at the
beginning
of the Third Christian Millennium.
Nguyen Van Thuan's nomination as a cardinal in February 2001 brought joy
to
the Vietnamese Catholic community, but the Vietnamese government was not
impressed. Hanoi said that the cardinal would be treated as any
Vietnamese
living abroad if he returned to visit his homeland, despite their
repeated
denials of permission for him to revisit Vietnam.
"In our country there is a saying: 'A day in prison is worth a thousand
autumns of freedom.' I myself experienced this," he wrote in his book
The
Road of Hope: thoughts of light from a prison cell (1997):
While in prison, everyone waits for freedom, every day, every minute. We
must live each day, each minute of our life as though it is the last.
François Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, priest: born Hue, Vietnam 17 April
1928,
ordained priest 1953; Bishop of Nha Trang 1967-75; Coadjutor Bishop of
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) 1975-94; Vice- President, Pontifical Council
for
Justice and Peace 1994-98, President 1998- 2002; named a Cardinal 2001;
died
Rome 16 September 2002.
By Felix Corley - The Independent - September 18, 2002
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