Cardinal Man Reminds Catholic Media To Report Events Accurately
Jul 20, 2007
Cardinal Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City has reminded Catholic media in Vietnam to report events concerning the Catholic Church "honestly."
BANGKOK (UCAN, 20/07/2007) -- Cardinal Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City has reminded Catholic media in Vietnam to report events concerning the Catholic Church "honestly."
"The function of the Catholic media is to communicate honestly the gospel of truth on God, human beings and life," the cardinal wrote in a July 10 letter to the government-approved Cong Giao va Dan Toc (Catholicism and nation). Also based in Ho Chi Minh City, the government-approved Catholic weekly circulates 15,000 copies.
"I think truth is a key factor in fostering sustainable development in the country and building social relations that will strengthen nation-building," he said in the letter. It was sent to the Cong Giao va Dan Toc office and to other Vietnamese Catholic media centers in the country and abroad.
The cardinal's letter follows reports by local media about Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet's interview with Cable News Network (CNN), which the U.S.-based network televised June 24. The president, who was visiting the United States June 18-23, was quoted by local media as saying that the Vietnam Bishops' Conference and the Holy See "also agreed with us" about the trial of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, currently in prison after being convicted of anti-government propaganda.
However, some Vietnamese Catholic media abroad reported that Triet's claim is not in the English CNN transcript at (transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/24/le.01.html).
Cardinal Man pointed out that such "untrue information" added by state-run newspapers involved the local Catholic Church.
He noted that Bishop Paul Nguyen Van Hoa of Nha Trang, president of the Vietnam Bishops' Conference, "has to be worried and deny the matter, which some people consider serious but others consider a daily occurrence." Bishop Hoa told Triet in a July 7 letter that the president's quoted remark "does not correspond to the truth."
Nhan Dan (people), the daily newspaper of the Vietnamese Communist Party, published the president's alleged remark citing the Vatican and Vietnam Bishops' Conference on July 4. The state-run Tuoi Tre (youth) daily did the same two days later. State-approved Catholic media, such as Cong Giao va Dan Toc, did not report the comments.
Cardinal Man, in his two-page letter, also cited three earlier instances of local media reporting untrue information. He recounted that in 1998 he celebrated Christmas Eve Mass at a rural parish on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, since the parish priest there was elderly and ill. But local media reported that he celebrated the Christmas Eve Mass at the cathedral in front of a large congregation.
Such experiences gradually drive many people to live in doubt and distrust one another. They show that "truth" in contemporary society can be "one-sided ... and unrealistic," he said, warning that this can damage social relations.
"I wish Catholic media never drive the faithful to be skeptical about their God, Church family and compatriots," Cardinal Man said. He urged Catholic media personnel to be aware of and vigilant about their role in nation building and preaching the truth of Christ.
Father Ly, 61, was sentenced to eight years in jail and five years house arrest on March 30 by the Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Court in Hue, where the priest is based, 660 kilometers south of Ha Noi. Father Ly was accused of disseminating material intended to undermine the government and of communicating with anticommunist groups overseas.
Media also reported that he co-founded the "Progress Party" and plotted to merge this with overseas reactionary groups to form a new political federation. The Communist Party of Vietnam is the only political party allowed in Vietnam. It is illegal to establish another.
Cardinal Man Reminds Catholic Media To Report Events Accurately