By MICKEY MURRAY

We were sitting in the rotunda of
Thong Nhat (Unification) Hotel

aiting for the rest of our party to
in us. Beside me sat the gracious and
gant Mme. Bui Thi Cam, and we
A about to leave to meet with offi-
als of the Roman Catholic faith. At
ls time we had been in North Viet-
s about a week and had already
& the destroyed Catholic churches
4 Cathedrals. I was in the midst of
sing Bui Thi Cam that I was not
3 ticularly concerned about the Cath-
s in Vietnam because I was con-
ced that they were not unlike any
er group of Vietnamese, when we
mre joined by the rest of our hostess-
$ and the other delegates. We knew
this time that Bui Thi Cam was a
yer by profession and a. member of
! Bs National Assembly (Parliament).
we did not know then that she was
devout practising Catholic.
' fe Were ushered into a large room
* i Walls of which hung the tradi-
pena: Pictures of the Roman Catholic
| sage Priest expressed honor at
* ee an international delegation
a ade us welcome. Tea was served
P Re Were invited to ask questions
a per Ho Thanh Bien and
: a, a leading layman. We
s told that Father Ho Thanh Bien
iy sfemember of the National Assem-
Patriv eaurman of the Committee
.. riotic Catholics for Liaison with
@itlotic Catholics of South Vietnam.
AG see “We come from countries
vill b ere are many Catholics. We
Zs € asked many questions by them
? We return. The type of informa-

tion we have been getting has not been
good—they say that Roman Catholics
are persecuted in Vietnam, (the priest
laughed); They say that many Cath-
olics left for the South—they say there
is no freedom for Catholics to practise
their religion here. We would like to
be able to give our people accurate in-
formation and allay their fears.

Father Ho Thanh Bien replied:

“First I want to say that in North
Vietnam we have one Archbishop and
ten Bishops. Each Bishop is in charge
of his own diocese, and there are one
million Catholics. I cannot give you the
exact number of churches, but there
are plenty— more than 400 of them
have been bombed by the United
States so far. :

“J want to tell you a little about the
history of our people. After the Viet-
namese won their victory over the
French and peace was restored, the
government of North Vietnam helped
to rebuild over 200 churches and cath-
edrals that had been destroyed by the
French. At the same time the govern-
ment helped Roman Catholics to once
more set up some seminaries. When
peace was restored a number of Roman
Catholics were deceived by the French
and the South Vietnamese puppets and
they left for the South and our semin-
aries had to be closed. We have to say
that that was the crime committed
against our people by Cardinal Spell-
man who was responsible for making
our people migrate to the South. Dr.
Dooley, the Irishman, joined with
Spellman to bring Catholics to the
South. But since then, with the assist-
ance of the government, we have been

CIV IFAIFIFTIPSIPPP ALAA A kkk hddkddaddadd.

The seminary at Xa-daoi
in the province of Nghe
as destroyed by American
bombs in 1966.

able to train a number of new priests.

“In North Vietriam. according to our
constitution, our people are free to
practise their religion. Our government
has given much assistance—to our
church especially. During Christmas
season our government suppfties us
with holy wine and pictures, which we
are not able to produce.

_ “Vietnamese Roman Catholics are
equal to all other people here. Viet-

namese Catholics follow the goyern-
ment of ‘North Vietnam in its cultural,
political and scientific policy. But in
religion we can do as we please—there
are no obstacles. Catholics, from the
centre down to the villages, have join-
ed administrative bodies and other or-
ganizations in great numbers. In the
National Assembly there are three

- priests and four laymen.

“Concerning our church — Vietnam-
ese Catholics have relations with the
Vatican. In 1954 when peace was re-
stored there remained no bishops in
our country, but now there are ten
bishops approved by the Vatican.
Formerly all bishops were foreigners,
also the Archbishop. But now the Viet-
namese propose their own people. -

“In the Roman Catholic sense, we
consider the Pope as the common
Father, but concerning social activities
and the people of Vietnam, we think
that the Pope has not acted satisfac-
torily. Pope John launched an appeal
for peace, but the United States in-
vaded our country. Why didn’t the
Pope intervene to stop this? Besides
being Catholic we are also Vietnamese
and as such we are determined to fight
against United States aggression. Con-

We are Catholics . . .
but also Vietnamese

cerning religion we follow the instruc-
tions of the Pope, but concerning our
country—we have the right to defend
ourselves against the aggressor. Four
of our priests have been killed by the
United States. On May 17 of this year
our Bishop was seriously wounded, the
Xadoai Cathedral was completely de-
stroyed. Out of the 10 Cathedrals in
North Vietnam 5 have been bombed,
therefore Catholics here can never be-
lieve in President Johnson. He often
goes to church to pray, but gives or-
ders for his bombers to come here and
destroy our cathedrals.

We asked: “In Canada we have
separate educational system for the
Roman Catholics, how is it here?”

The Father answered: “All Vietnam-
ese go through one educational sys-
tem. The Roman Catholic theory is
studied in churches. The priests g6 to
seminaries, which are part of the coun-
try’s educational system. Our students
study from age 10 to 28 before they
become priests. They study philosophy
for 2 years, theology for 4 years and
do practical work for 2 years.

“A seminary belongs to the diocese,
but the government helps with the
maintenance. It provides money, cloth-
ing, paper, food, etc., and also pays
attention to the entertainment of the
students. At present we are experienc-
ing difficulties because our seminaries
have again been destroyed and our
students are dispersed.

“It should be clear to you rniow that
Roman Catholics are not persecuted
here. Four of our Catholics have been
awarded the Hero of Vietnam, two of
them are women. Many Catholics have
brought down U.S. planes and captured
pilots. One of our 19 year old girls
recently brought down an American
plane by herself. prea

We rose to take our leave and were
escorted out into the courtyard. Our
goodbyes were brief and warm. We
entered our cars and as we passed .
through the gate I looked back and
saw the black-robed man, his right
hand raised in a final farewell.

flowed from her mouth. The thug applied to
Fis a’ few artificial respiration movements. She
By, came to. When she had recovered con-
Ciousness, she looked Sau full in the face and
Said quite distinctly:
sees wretch, have you no regard for my
eee as Luc?” the company commander
_ “He Bese
yesterday.” was staying in your home only
i What Luc? I know nobody of that name,”
See. old woman answered.
(Sau! the company commander roared.
Yes, Sir.”

“Go ahead! :
ue ead! Damn the hag, she’s stubborn as
aie thug sat on the old woman’s belly, the
pees of both his hands clutching at her ribs.
Hee under the pain, hiccuped, then

ee S only pretending. Just go full steam
cae company commander’s frenzied shouts
ms CK me like so many blows on the chest. His
x Was red and his voice trembled with rage.
resently Sau stood up. He looked at us and
stammered:

“Well... Sir... She’s dead.”
“What?” the company commander sprang to
s feet, slapped Sau in the face and cursed him:
3 Your mother be damned! You overdid it.
oma her aside. Now, you go out and tell the
of ee not to allow anybody in. I’ll take care
1S In the evening.”
Sau grabbed the old woman’s body by the

fet and d
left. Th ragged her to a corner of the hut, then

hi

at the young woman. “She’s Luc’s wife. She can
wait, I'll give it her this afternoon.”

I followed him out of the hut. “Be careful not
to allow anybody in!” he repeated his orders to
the sentries who stood at attention.

At lunch I could not swallow my food. The
old woman’s death was a weight on my chest.
I went out and walked as far as the entrance to
the village. The soldiers stationed there were
plucking a duck for their meal. The head of the
platoon. came up td greet me. “All these huts
empty?” I asked.

“Yes, Sir.”

I left him and continued my walk to a clump
of coconut-palms on the edge of the fields, won-
dering in my mind where the soldier could have
found a duck.

White clouds were drifting in the blue sky.
Only stubble was left on the harvest fields. The
people would burn it and the ashes would be
ploughed under as fertilizer. I wondered how
people could be killed on such a beautiful day.

Death was so preposterous. The company com-

mander’s curses still rang in my ears and I
breathed with difficulty. The old woman’s face
was so pale! “Sir, she’s dead!” I squatted down
on a mound of earth and vomited. In the distance
where loomed another village, a reconnaissance
plane circled overhead. Then came the thunder
of guns. “In that village yonder, is there another
little wooden sandal?” I asked myself and saw
shells falling. Houses burnt and spewed columns
of smoke. I saw soldiers running to and fro,
hardly visible among the green verdure, On ac-
count of their camouflaged clothing.

After a moment the sounds of the guns
ceased. I stood up and walked towards the com-
pany commander’s hut. The two sentries had
crossed to the other side of the channel flowing
near the house and were sitting on its bank,
chatting. I entered the hut. The company com-
mander’s face was red and the room smelt of

refuse to speak, do you? Look at the old witch;
you know what happened to her for refusing
to speak.”

The young woman ‘was lying on her back,
bound hand and foot. Her eyes were wild with

fear.

“Speak!” the company commander bellowed.

Then he gave a cruel laugh, grabbed the wo-
man’s patched blouse and tore it asunder. She
turned her face sideways and hissed. “You
scoundrel!” He continued to emit a kind of
horselaugh. “Poor woman,” I thought, “does
she have a child for whom she has at some time
bought a pair of wooden sandals?” I looked at
the old woman’s body still lying in a corner of
the hut. I looked at the company commander
tearing up the young woman’s clothes and heard
his devilish chuckle mingled with the sound of
fabric being torn. To my eyes, he looked like a
wild beast about to devour its victim. The whole

* spectacle drove me wild. I whipped out my gun

and holding it by the barrel struck at the back
of his head with its butt until he slumped on
the ground beside the naked woman who stared

- at me distracted with fear and surprise.

I put my gun back in its holster and slowly
walked out. I went as far as the entrance to the
village and walked past the platoon guarding it.
The soldiers did not dare to ask any questions.
I walked in the direction of the village which
had just been shelled. Dead silence prevailed. A
few sparrows were chirping among the stubble.
In yonder village, there must be children who
had lost their sandals, small “shrimp” or “‘auber-
gine” pink little wooden sandals with multi-
colored flowers painted on them, the gifts of
their mothers. )

At last, I crossed the area of the ricefields.
Behind me bursts of machine-gun fire were
heard. I started running. I must live. For in little
huts beside shell craters, there were little
wooden sandals left lonely that had belonged
to you, o dear children of the South! —

—MOOTOOTTIIDOOOOMMOTI IOI OOOO aM,

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