tdvn-1975-1987-vn

April 30, 1975 - at 1:00PM, Brother Lucien called up in urgency for a meeting gathering all the Brothers present on these moments around Saigon.

Following are certain main points concluded from this meeting, starting a change for "a new life-style" in their very own country they belong to.

Brother Lucien Hòang Gia Quảng,
Visitor (1975 - 1987)

* Self-preparing mind and psychology to accepting the fact that we'd NOT continue our Education Mission as "regular teachers" for not to say as "Educator Religious", for "Education monopoly belongs to the Socialist (Communist) Government", thus no more private more over Catholic Schools as before the event of April 30, 1975.
* Our institutions like schools or university or any educational centers... would be socialized by many ways: confiscation and/or forced to be offered to socialist/communist government
* the communist government doesn't "know" who Religious are. They just know about "clergy (priest) and "lay people".
* Our La Salle identity, especially committed to Education Mission, and our life-style as Educator Religious, will be a big challenge to each of us.
* Religious and Community life - particularly transferring from a community to another, will be forbidden or controllably limited by the government. Therefore, right now, any Brother who thinks it necessary can discuss with Brother Visitor to open a community called “Diaspora”. Other Brothers can return to their previous communities. If any one who feels it convenient for himself can discuss with Brother Visitor ot changing the community.
* Happenings since a few months ago in our country would inspire us more and more reflecting and living the meanings of "TOGETHER AND BY ASSOCIATION", and it is an appropriate moment reminding every one of us the meanings of "Brotherhood" we have been living for so many years... Isn't it opportune, in such political and social circumstances of our country, that we show this "Brotherhood" in our actual daily life?
* Finally, the Spirit of our Institute is "Faith and Zeal". By living and meditating like our Saint Founder did, we and each one can say together or personally to God: "It's Your Work - Opus Tuum Domine" so that by the end of our own life, we can join our Founder saying: "I adore the Good Will of God in all things that happened onto my life".

Within the first week of May, 1975, it was really impossible to know "how many Brothers still are in Vietnam and how many have been successfully and/or unsuccessfully escaped from Vietnam? Particularly, are there Brothers who, unfortunately were arrested, or even passed away?"

Ten days after the "Fall of Saigon", May 9, 1975, the Education Department of Ho Chi Minh City - the name of "Saigon Capital" was replaced by "HCM" on April 30 - called up all private/public schools Representatives in the Region of Saigon for "a new philosophy and policy of the new government on education": an education system totally based on the communist ideology of Marx and Lenin:

a. On schools and educational establishments:
- All schools still active before April 30, 1975 - public and private as well - must open, again, and continue the 74-75 school year schedules, starting on May 15 and ending by August 31. This special program is called "complementary summer session".
- The previous faculty and staff of each school - now called "the administration of the school", continue to temporarily run the school as before, on everything concerning students enrollment, schedules and programs of studies, etc... In a short time, there will be orientations and orders about the "administration" from the local Office of Education of each Province or County or District.
- The previous faculty must return to relative schools and continue teaching as before until new orders/orientations from the local Office of Education. Teachers can be transferred from one school to another if necessary by the local Office of Education.
- The private schools can impose "one half of fees and tuitions. The other half would be re-funded by the Revolutionary Government".
b. About all so-called "Organizations, Associations, Groups, etc... of any kind" must apply registration forms to the new government and can be active only after receiving official approval from the Office of Education Cabinet.

Following the above orientations of the Office of Education Cabinet, Brothers "dispirited" from anywhere in the country since the April 30 events returned to the community. Quasi-officially, the numbers of the Brothers still in Vietnam count 194 Brothers, included 44 Brothers of temporary vows and around 40 Brothers aged from 60 - 98, most of these are more or less not as "healthy, physically and mentally" as before.

1- Right after the meeting ended at about 2:20PM on April 30, a new "Diaspora Community" was opened, composing of some Brothers who, still living with their own families, are intending to have regular gathering, say at least once a week, at any house of theirs for the Office of the Hours, sharing with each other anything they are concerned of for the vitality the District and their own vocation, etc...
2- An other "Diaspora Community" was created at the house og Brother Lucien's sister on Ly Tran Quan Street - Tan Dinh, and composed of Brothers Bruno, former Visitor, Director of Community, and Philippe Hao, Antoine Dong and John Baptist Nhon.
3- An other form of "Diaspora Community" approved by Brother Visitor is "to live with their/his own family home". That is the case of for Brothers Leonard and Robert, and Brother Alphonse Hoang Xuan Dien in Lai Thieu, and Brother Valentin Nguyen Van Quy in Long Khanh
4- A few weeks later, an other Community was formed at the house of a former Junior's Family on Truong Minh Giang Street - Phu Nhuan, and composed of Brothers Emilien Vuong and Theodore Hung.
5- Community of Phu Son
6. Commuity of Tan Cang
7. Community of La Farrault in Nha Trang
8. Community of Cap Saint Jacques in Vung Tau
9 Community of the Provincialate at 53B Nguyen Du, Saigon ( in a small apartment of Taberd Insitution)

B. Most of the Brothers of the communities around Saigon area before the events returned to their respective community. Despite the member numbers changed a lot, but everyone feels safe and peace of mind among his "Brothers still alive and in good shape of mind and psychology and spirit after so many threatening happenings".
01. Community of Pellerin, Huế
02. Community of Ban Me Thuot
03. Community of Benilde School, Nha Trang
04. Community of Mont La Salle, Nha Trang
05. Community of Lasalle Mossard, Thủ Đức
06. Community of Lasalle Duc Minh, Tan Dinh
07. Community of Lasalle Hiền Vương
08. Community of Lasalle Chánh Hưng
09. Community of Lasalle Thạnh Mỹ
10. Community of Taberd
11. Community of Lasallw Mỹ Tho
12. Community of Lasalle Sóc Trăng
13. Community of Lasalle Cần Thơ

The events of April 30, 1975 brought to both North and South Vietnam what one called "change of life-style". That's a terrible and doubtful challenge for the whole country then united in a way nobody wanted it to happen.

The communist government does not recognize Religious/Consecrated men or women, particularly those totally committed to education of young people. It only knows "clergy and laity" people

"During the first month of the year 1947, the government decided to restrict the autonomy of the cults even more. In order to do so, the Ministry of Cults drew up two laws. The first one modified several articles of the law on the Orthodox Church organization, allowing the government to monitor the diocesan assemblies, which elected the Orthodox Church bishops, metropolitan bishops and the Patriarch. The second one regulated retirement of all members of the religious hierarchies, providing the government the “legal” excuse for removing the bishops and metropolitan bishops reluctant to collaborate. The communist leaders were not shy to admit that the new judicial regulations were politically motivated. At the same time, the government increased its control over private education institutions and compelled them to use Communism-oriented textbooks while the passive opposition of the teaching staff with regard to these changes was severely criticized by the authorities." (Romania vs. Vatican, page 117)

Religious life (for all faiths/beliefs) under the communist regime is "a problem". How "dangerous" is faith of Catholicism which has been considered as "opium/drug for ordinary people". And how "more dangerous" is recruitment those "poor people" to the priesthood! Further more, how "most dangerous" is recruitment to the religious life of so-called Brothers/Sisters who are totally committed - for life - to the service of Education of young people.

Brother Zacharias, Assistant, might be right foreseeing it is inappropriate - for not to say impossible, for the Brothers of the Christian Schools to continue their Consecrated and Apostolic Life in Hanoi (North Vietnam) following the Accord of Geneva in 1954. He made a challenging and dolorous decision that the Brothers be out of North and moved onto South. But following the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, which decision would be made for the destiny of Vietnamese people in general, and for the Lasalle Brothers in particular?

Not counting the number of Brothers who luckily succeeded fleeing overseas on or a few weeks after the April 30, 1975 events and who could continue their vocation as De La Salle Brothers in the so-called free countries, the Brothers who remain in Vietnam at least once in their life would wonder "... if the Lasallian vocation is still worth to be continued and to be committed their whole life as a De La Salle Brother, thus as a consecrated person committed to the 'together and by association' Education Mission, etc. in a 'really dark and unstable future of their own life'?"

1. Brother Pio Dong contacted Bishop Nguyễn Văn Hòa of the diocese of Nha Trang and was welcomed to be ordained priest.
2. Brother Archange Minh changed onto the Abbey of Phuoc Son in Thu Duc
3. There were a few Brothers who had thought on the priesthood issue for their own. Some other argued "Why we cannot become priest while keeping our Lasallian ID'?" But later, they abandoned this idea.
Brother Lucien Hoang Gia Quang, Visitor, wishes to open door to the priesthood for some other Brothers if they want to by sending to the Mother House in Rome the below request.

4. Several Brothers, in the sixties or so, returned home (quit the Congregation)
5. Most of the Brothers vowed to be faithful to their vocation as Brothers of the Christian Schools
6. Some Juniors, before the April 30 events , more than 20 of them returned - despite of the severe control of the new government using their "family booklet policies", and accepted the hard life-style to be with the Brothers and to pursue their vocations at the Junioriate of Thu Duc. On January 3,1978, all members of the Lasalle Mossard Community were arrested and put in jail and the property confiscated, they were "together and by association" in prison with the Brothers. After being released from prison on December 22, 1980, some of them have been attaching and persevering in God's Call and become Brothers in the nineties.
7. Some Postulants at Mont La Salle, Nha Trang before 1975 (who if there were no 1975 events would become Brothers of the Group 100) continued their vocations at Taberd.

Perhaps because the invasion toward South of the communist North Vietnam government is succeeded that un-expectedly fast - so fast and too fast, "the winner party", i.e. the communists from North Vietnam, had not been prepared both psychologies and minds in terms of as the whole governmental system and appropriate personnel to administer the South part of the country just been invaded and taken over by force. More over, life-style of people in South has been much higher and more stable than that of people in North. In fact, people from North who have their relatives in South before or moved into South after the Geneva Accord in 1954 and who eagerly went to South bringing any food and any kind of cooking utensils for coming to the assistance and help those "poor people in South lacking and deprived of everything by the South government and by the American new colonialists" must bitterly confess that "you should liberate us (Vietnamese people in North) rather than we have to liberate you (Vietnamese people in South)!" No wonder why people from South recognize how lacking of self-esteem and even embarrassed the officials and officers of the new government are when for the first time they had to confront them through the so-called "brain-wash lessons."

As for the Brothers of the Christian Schools, their community life is by and through and for their education mission. Therefore right after the events of April 30, 1975, when the new government called up all "former teachers" (i.e. the teachers who have been "in duty" before the events) to return to their schools and to continue their "education mission", the Brothers of the Christian Schools [who are still in Vietnam] joyfully returned to their communities, ready to continue living their community life and their education mission.

Although there are lots of changes in life-style - change dowered in terms of economy and daily facilities for sure, and their education mission did not last long, their community life spirit has not been deteriorated.

b. "The whole country finally unified (North and South Vietnam) endowers as fast as possible onto socialist then communist system"

The marking point, at least for the Religious Congregations and/or Institutions totally committed to the education of young people, is on the moment when owners of private/religious schools and/or institutions or centers were obliged by any means to "offer their properties to the people of the socialist/communist system"

After more than a year and a haft i.e. from May 1975 to December 1976, the communist government who has been getting more self-confident - at least on the field of running schools by their own members, started promulgating a decree ordering that "priests must exclusively return to their parishes, religious men and women to their convents. Render the schools and/or educational establishments to the socialist society."

Except a few Brothers, precisely four of them, who could continue their education mission in the "socialist schools", all other Brothers must "return to their convents". And what would be their jobs? How to survive - personally and as communities?

The "new" school year of 1975-1976 in September just began, every community was urged to "re-mapping" the property, i.e. clearly showing what's belonging to "school" and what's belonging to the so-called "religious convent."

One can imagine the difference in properties proportionality "school" v/s "convent".

C'est fini! - It's finished for the fate of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and their Education Mission in Vietnam - at least temporarily!