Letter from The Reverend Phan Van Loi to The Reverend Nguyen Van Ly, in prison, March 25, 2009. Original in Vietnamese, translated into English for VietAm Review by a Faithful Follower on March 30, 2009. Dear Brother Lý, Well, you are heading into the 17th year as a prisoner following the 4th capture! Your fellow defendants Nguyen Phong and Nguyen Binh Thanh, are beginning their third year of imprisonment [after sentencing on March 30 2007]. As for yourself, it marks half your life cycle as a priest. What a “fool” you are! Be wisely silent, or politely reasonable, humbly begging or secretly cooperative. If you were “a good priest” instead of “a political activist”, following the principle of “doing the things right” instead of “doing the right things”, you would have lived an easy life, built numerous works, held various ceremonies, gone abroad countless times to “glorify God, save souls, be a good religious citizen”!?! Contrarily, you have continuously raised your voice to advocate for miserable people. As a consequence, you have repeatedly and continuously been jailed which destroyed your youthful life!!. Some people say that you and your friends together with Father Nguyen Kim Đien have reaped calamity due to your sowing of words! You have shared the same fate with Our Highest Sacred Teacher, John the Baptist, Christ’s Disciples and all the Prophets of God. Should Jesus have not called the wickedly cruel king Herod a fox (Luke 13,32), not called religious leaders such as Pharisees and teachers of law “hypocrites”, “whitewashed tombs”, “blind guides”, “those devour widows’ houses” (Matthew 23,13-27)? Should Jesus have not announced his mission provocatively such as “ The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed...” ( Luke 4, 18), “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness...”(Matthew 5, 10)? .John Baptist called Sadducees a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3,7); reprimanded soldiers: “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely” (Luke,14); warned King Herod of marrying his sister in law: “it’s not lawful for you to have her.” (Matthew 14,4). If those two gentlemen had not criticized authorities who were in power, they would not have been chased, captured and executed. If prophets had not condemned powerful employers who did not pay their employees fairly (Jeremiah 22,13; Malachi 3,5), dishonest traders (Amos 8,5; Hosea 12,8), self-interested judges (Micheas 3,11, Isaiah 1,23), leaders who “marred the faces of the innocents” (Isaiah 3, 15)..., they would have not been persecuted and executed. Those people have sown their words but does the Holy Bible call them “political activists”? You have understood that God’s remark: “My son, you will be named as the prophet of the Almighty” which every priest or clergyman has to say in every morning prayer, is truly compelling and demanding. You are aware that living in a society where the authority, the party leadership covers up reality, tramples on the truth, corrupts, exploits, and persecutes people, requires God’s witnesses, or prophets of truth, to go beyond the peaceful chapel with courage. Anyone who would become the soldier of people’s dignity, people’s right of religious freedom, or simply of righteous lives has to accept hardship and persecution. You are aware that it is poor people who need more mercy and help than any other (it is the duty of the Church and priest as well). It is not material poor but the poor of human rights. Those who are poor in wealth are unhappy only but those who are poor in human rights are both unhappy and dishonored and suffer from many miseries. You are not satisfied with relieving charity (which has got applause from the tyrannical regime), instead proceeding to liberating charity (which is always prohibited by the tyrant), considering it the most important and urgent priority, the grassroots’ solution. You have not secretly sympathized, silently prayed, or unobtrusively supported victims of injustice. Instead, you devoted yourself to the life stream, proudly stood beside your poor brethren, your country mate, the religion, the country and publicly raised your voice. You have denounced the root cause of any unjustifiable misery: the inhumane, dictatorial party and totalitarian regime. Thank you for your straightforward words and courageous acts. You have a profound view of the society, and right strategy for struggle (such as co-founding of Bloc 8406, the Manifesto 2006 on Freedom and Democracy for Vietnam, with peaceful and non-violent method of struggle). In addition, your example of sacrifice in prison is inspiring a great campaign of requiring religious freedom and democracy in our fatherland. Especially, there is an increasing trend of participation of other priests. Most importantly, the issue of human rights has expanded into the issue of the national threat of being invaded, which would result in national loss, house dismantled and religion disappeared! It is the boiling point, when people of both religious and non-religious communities are expecting spiritual leaders to raise their voices. If not, who will listen to them when the country would regain its peace, dismantle communism, or dismiss invaders? It is the bitter experience of spiritual leaders in Eastern Europe who have kept silent or compromised with devils! Thank you for being the enthusiastic pioneer. You have shot the signal gun (particularly by issuing Nine Appeals from Dec 2000 to Feb 2001) for the great venture of reclaiming material and spiritual properties. The campaigns, which have been conducted by both civil and religious communities, are firmly increasing day by day. They are activities of victims of injustice and churches reclaiming their land; workers reclaiming fair treatment, religions reclaiming independence; activists reclaiming human rights, involvement of rights in national issues and patriots reclaiming ancestors’ land. It is due to those inspiring words that you have suffered so much pain and several imprisonments. It is the misery which comes from outside as well as stems from within any pioneer -- isn’t it! Recently, when asked why he was not supporting you, a responsible person has replied (in general) that: “Because Father Ly did not behave properly as a priest in front of the judge. He has kicked the bar with his foot and raised his fist upward shouting “Down with communism”! Such behavior is like that of a believer who is shouting in the church!” My Goodness, such a bar (and previous series of suspect inquiries) is full of unjustice, coercion, out of law, without attorney, without witness, without relative, no self-defense rights. It is the bar where the defendant has been muzzled. It means the bar of pirates. How dare it been compared with a solemn cathedral? I wonder how such behavior could be considered indefensible sins and unable to be supported? Setting aside those surprisingly irresponsible attitudes, most people, both native and abroad, and international communities of democracy are upholding, supporting and following you... The proof is that the books of “The Case of Rev. Nguyen Van Ly and Catholic Conscience” (2007) and “Rev. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, the Life for Religious Freedom and Democratic Human Rights” (2008) have been widely published. The proof is that the picture of you being muzzled by tyrants in the shameful bar on March 30, 2007 has been flying all around the world, printed into millions of copies, presented whenever there are Vietnamese patriots’ demonstrations, exhibitions or seminars... Dozens of billboards of this unique event have been posted up in the USA and Australia. The picture has been given to politicians and media of several countries as well as pressed on the faces of Vietnamese communist officials abroad... It is the symbol of present-day Vietnam. It is the amulet which gives the Vietnam Communist gang a dressing-down. It is the appeal to all countrymen. The proof is that for many years since then, several international bodies (both in Vietnam and abroad) have been continuously demanding freedom for yourself as well as other imprisoned democracy activists... The proof is that the people’s organization and media of which you are a co-founder, Bloc 8406 and “Tu Do Ngon Luan” biweekly magazine, are still firmly existing despite raids and despicable acts of revenge. Dear Brother Ly, Brother Phong, Brother Thanh and distinguished warriors of democracy, prisoners of conscience, National Heroes, set your mind at rest! The sacrifice of yourselves and your families is fueling the flame of struggle and driving the whole nation to shut down and drive away the cruel totalitarian party in a near future! God and the nation are watching over you as beloved sons and daughters! Written in Hue City on the second anniversary of the ignoble bar, Mar 25, 2009! Priest Peter Phan Van Loi.   more »