Vietnamese Communists toward “The Common with the Line Nation” and “The Committee of Vietnamese Catholic Solidarity”

Abstract

The Vietnamese Committee of Catholic Solidarity is one among members in the Front of the Vietnam National Front. In the commemoration of the 50th year of its foundation, (March 1955 – March 2005), the author has presented a few viewpoints of Vietnamese Communists on the Catholic problem. Ho Chi Minh had laid the foundation for the right political viewpoint of the state to solve “the Catholic Problem". His thought has influenced on his comrades. According to Ho Chi Minh, the common national line can only be completely and most effectively achieved under the “Democratic Republic Regime", and then in the socialist environment. However, its practical application is never an easy matter. In the national revolution as well as in the socialist revolution in Vietnam, the solution of this problem not only depends on the will, aspiration of missionaries, believers, it not only depends on the desire of the state and the party in power. It also partly depends on the conception of the Church, on historical characteristics of Vietnamese Catholicism and to a no small degree on impediments from the Catholic Church. But, on the whole, the solution of this problem has however, very basic advantages. The author reserves a part to deal with the problem of the Committee of Vietnamese Catholic Solidarity and comes to the conclusion that in the formation and development of this organization in the past half century, Vietnamese Communists have played an important role. Full text in Vietnamese Religious Studies 2005/1 pp.41-51