News in Brief

Jesuits in China' and the fundamental human right to Radio Vatican reports that there are believe in God. Today, foreign religious still 123 members of the Society of Jesus ch'cles, which keep a close watch on (Jesuits) in the People's Republic of Albania, report that underground reli­ China. The Jesuits started missionary gious movements of various denomina­ work in China as early as the 16th cen­ tions still survive. (The Financial Times, tury. The source of the information was 17 March 1976, p. 6) a Chinese Jesuit living in exile. (Idea, 2 February 1976, p. 3) "Religious Survivals" in Albania

Albania and Athei,sm References to the survival of religion in Albania "recognizes no religion and sup- . Albania were made in an article by ports and develops atheist propaganda Petro Dhimitri which appeared in Tir­ for the purpose of implanting the scien­ ana Bashkimi, the main Albanian Party tffic materialist world outlook" . This is newspaper, on 30 October 1975. In the one of the clauses at present being "Partizani" district of Vlora a small drafted for the Albanian Constitution. "temple" was uncovered, in which The Constitution appears to confirm some people, mostly elderly, gathered that Albania does not intend to change for religious activities and to which its position on religion. Its position was they also gave money. The "temple" stated clearly in the famous 1967 de-. was in fact a house. The son of the claration which described the country owner of the house was singled out as as the first atheiSt State of the world. the main culprit because he allowed Aq:ording to the Albanian leader, Mr. this group to continue undisturbed. Enver Hoxha, "the only.religion for an He should have reported his parents' be­ Albanian is Albanianism". Nevertheless, haviour to the authorities. For failing to not all is as clear·cut as the State might do so he was to be reprimanded, not wish. Even in 1967 the anti-religious only privately but also at his place of campaign did not advance without op­ work.. At Narta a family organized a position. In a province of central Al­ religious "memorial" feast. Relatives bania elderly vill~gers, many of them and local friends gathered for this reli­ members of the Communist Party, ob­ gious rite but no one took the initiative jected strongly to the convc;rsion of and complained about this event. The mosques into warehouses. They claimed neighbours, who knew about the pre­ that the mosque was a house of prayer parations for the feast, were part of a and to help secularize it was tantamount conspiracy of silence. Such irresponsi­ to raising one's hand against God. In bility encourages this kind of activity, Northern Albania, too, communist cam­ complains the article. Only because the paigners were told that the authorities guests fell ill with food poisoning did should distinguish between the removal the incident come to light. (]PRS, 12 of politically unreliable Catholic priests December 1975, pp. 1-3) News in Brief 53

Roman Catholic Church in Vietnam help of the Church to both North and South Vietnam have all contributed to One of the two new cardinals named by the improvement of the situation of the Pope Paul on 27 April "in pectore" (i.e. Church in North Vietnam. At a recep­ in secret). is the Archbishop of Hanoi, tion for the new Cardinal Archbishop of Joseph Marie Trin-Nhu-Khue. After the Hanoi, President Pham Van Pong wel­ successful consultations with the govern­ comed the "positive contribution of ment of North Vietnam, the Pope an­ Catholics in the war against American nounced the appointment of the Car­ aggression and towards the building of dinal Archbishop of Hanoi, who had socialism". Catholics of North Vietnam arrived in Rome immediately before the are today present in public life. Twenty consistory. After many years when rela­ of the 420 members of the People's As­ tions between the Vatican and the sembly are Catholics, among them two CIlurch in Vietnam had been severed, priests. The President of the Red Cross various recent contacts have had a fav­ is a well-known Catholic, Dr. Vo Duy ourable effect on the conditions of the Tung. The Presiding Judge of the Church in that country. People's Court in Hanoi, Tanh, and the . French TV carried an interview with commanding officer of the People's Archbishop Binh of Saigon, who said Army in the province of .Nhgo-An, that the adjustment of Catholics to the Colonel Van Diem, are both Catholics. new reality would not develop without (AKSA~ 4 June 1976.) some nervousness. Many Christians ask if co-existence is possible with others Shortage of Catholic Priests in Laos for whom atheism is not simply a vague principle. The archbishop nevertheless Bishop Thomas Nantha of Vientiane re­ believes that the healing of the wounds ported that there are only nine remain­ of the war, the Second Vatican Council ing Catholic priests in the. North of Laos and the important changes in the Church to minister to more than 23,000 Catho­ in recent years will make it easier for lics. One of them has been "deprived for Vietnamese Catholics to cooperate in a several months now of all liberty", he united effort to rebuild the country. The told the superior general of the Oblates government guarantees freedom of reli­ of Mary Immaculate, Fr. Ferdinand Jett, gious cults. Catholics in North Vietnam in Rome. The Bishop added that he be­ can practice their faith and have pos­ lieved the people's faith would uphold sibilities for deepening it. It is very valu­ them despite the removal of foreign able to have discovered that the Church missionaries from the country at Easter. can still be alive in a socialist country, (Tablet, 19 June 1976, p. 603) the archbishop continued. Although the Church remains conscious of the revolu­ Churches in East and West Germany tionary nature of Marxism, it must Maintain Contact nevertheless insert the Gospel into this Catholic and Protestant Churches have new world. It can only do this if it served as a conduit for hundreds of mil­ recognizes the value of this world, said lions of dollars in West German pay­ the archbishop. ments to the East over the past 15 years, After the unification of North and according to a newspaper report based South Vietnam it appeared that the gov­ on a series of interviews of clergymen ernment in Hanoi was interested in an from both sides. Some of the money increasing integration of Catholics into goes to support negotiations for the re­ the country. This impression was sus­ lease of political prisoners in East Ger­ tained by the open benevolence with many, but other amounts help to sup­ which the government allowed the plement pastors' salaries or contribute meeting of the Bishops' Conference of towards the building and technical sup­ South Vietnam in Saigon and the voy­ plies needed, particularly for the 52 age of the newly appointed Cardinal church hospitals in the East. The total Trin-Nhu-Khue to Rome. sum involved is calculated at 80 million The solidarity of Christians with their dollars a year. In 1975, 42 million dollars country at the time of the war, the were spent on prisoners alone. Negotia­ neutral stand of the Vatican during the tions for the release of prisoners are war, and the international humanitarian carried out with the East German Minis- 54 News ill Brief try of Foreign Trade, which sends a list East German Church League's of goods it wishes to buy in the weSt via Statement on Zionism the Evangelical .Church of Germany. Leading clerics of the member churches The operation Director, Bishop Hermann of the German ., Democratic · Republic Kunst. then buys the goods with the Church League have issued a joint state­ money offered by ·:the West German ment expressing their . "grave concern" government for the release of the pris­ at the UN's condemnation of Zionism oners. The,. Bishop's own mediator is a as racism. Their statement thus, opposes representative of a Protestant Charity the policy .of the German Democratic Agency. The Roman Catholic Church in Republic Government ' and that of the East Germany is said ·to transfer . 14.8 rest of the Eastern Bloc. "However one million dollars a year to, East Berlin, also might judge ziOIiism .in the world, . the through :the East .German Ministry for condemnation of Zionism as racism con­ Foreign Trade. So, though neither Car­ cerns us greatly", said the church lead­ dinal ,Bengsch of East Berlin nor Bishop ers. they draw attention to the period Schick of Fulda, West · Germany, can of the Third Reich, when the .Germans visit the parts of their diocese which ex­ denied the right .of the Jewish people to tend into West and East Germany res­ exist, and they point out. that their pectively, the latter can still help the Churches have always . supported the former ' by paying for the buildings, for ecumenical .anti·racism .programme. example, in which the Catholic Primate Among · the church. leaders who signed of East Germany has his headquarters. the joint statement are Bishops Schoen­ Funds · for :.new roofing, even a new hen, BraeckIein and Krusche. (Sue­ 400,000 pollar organ for the Cathedral of deutclie. Zeitung, 3 December 1976, p. 5.) East Berlin, are other ways in ,which East and weSt' German Catholics. can . , demonstrate their unity. (The New York !yew Appointments in Hungarian Times, 4 April 1976, pp, 17-18.) Catholic Church. , For ' the first time since the communist government came to power in Hungary, New Baptist Church for East Berlin all 11 ' Hungarian' Catholic dioceses are now filled. Bishop Kornel Pataky was The Bethel Baptist Church (in East Ber­ appointed to the see of Gyor, and Fr. lin) '. which has been trying since 1945 Laszlo Toth was made auxiliary Bishop to obtain permission to rebuild its house of Vezprem. This completes the hier­ of worship, has finally succeeded. Per­ archy of the Hungarian Catholic Church mission hasheen given to erect a new ,and is seen as a result of Archbishop structure in a new location. The origi­ Luigi Poggi's visit to Budapest earlier this nal building was bombed during the year. The ArchbiShop acted as the offi­ Second World War. In the meantime cial of the Vatican Council for the Pub­ the congregation has been meeting on lie Business of the Church. (Tablet, 1 the upper floor of a former factory. The May 1976, p. 437.) neW church is planned.' to seat 300 people. It will have auxiliary rooms for church youth work, women's and child­ Hungarian Bible Printed ren's organizations, and a larger room On 15 December 1975 the new Hungar­ for conferences and Union meetings. ian Bible, commissioned by the Hungar­ Th~ full cost of the.building is estimated ian Bible Council, was issued. The press at 500,000 marks. Half is to be paid by department of the Reformed Church the Baptist Union in the German Demo­ was responsible for this first edition' of cratic Republic, and the remainder, it is 30,000 copies. One third of the Bibles hoped, . will be raised from amo'ng sister have been dispatched to the various Baptist churches within :the European parts of the country. The'United Bible Baptist Federation. This will be the first Societies supported the project by sup­ time that the East German Baptists have plying 35 tons of paper. The Chairman asked for assistance from abroad, claims .of ,the Hungarian Bible Council, the Rt. the Union's General Secretary, the Rev. Rev. Dr. Tibor Bartha, thanked the UBS Rolf Damman. (European Baptist Press secretary, the Rev. Ulrich Fick, for the Service. 31 March 1976, p. 3.) United Bible Societies' help. The trans- News in Brief 55 lation took 25 years to complete. (The See towards countries where a commun­ National Bible Society of Scotland, Bul­ ist government is in power is not mar­ letin No. 24, March 1976.) tyrdom and the catacombs. No pope is authorized to hand over believers to Meeting of Bible Societies martyrdom; this is not a principle of A meeting of representatives of all Cen­ the Church and the catacombs were tral and East European Bible societies never "a great spiritual lodging house" least of all for Catholics. The Holy See was he~d on 22 September 1975 at KIos­ terneuberg near Vienna. Dr. Adalbert directs its diplomacy according to the Rebic, professor of Bible studies at the situation in individual countries. There Zagreb Theological Faculty represented are different approaches, for example, Yugoslavia. He spoke of the translation, to Hungary and to Czechoslovakia. The publication and distribution of Bibles in Holy See's diplomacy is elastic and not Yugoslavia. (AKSA, 3 October 1975). based on the principle· of "all or noth~ ing". Stehle discusses the eagerness of the Vatican to fill vacant sees: the re­ Statistics for Ljubljana Archdiocese establishment and nurture .of the (Yugoslavia) Church's structure is the principal task The official gazette of the Ljubljana of the diplomacy of the Holy See.· It archbishop has published the following begins with partial solutions which lead figures for the archdiocese: towards global solutions, and priority Children in primary school, 90,000; is always given to relations with the those . receiving religious instruction, Soviet Union. Thus the Holy See took 63,000 (70%); those going regularly to part in the Helsinki Conference on the mass, {6,000 (51%); pre-school children basis that the "cold war" is harmful to at religious instruction, .3,650 (35%). the Church. (AKSA, 23 April 1976.) (AKSA, 16january 1976.)

Superior of Monastery in Yugoslavia Visit of Cardinal Konig to Poolish Primate Imprisoned Last year Cardinal Konig visited Car­ Oslobodjenje of Sarajevo, 5 March 1976, dinal Wyszynski, and had talks with reports that Fr. Miroslav Cvitkovic, Su­ Polish bishops concerning .the possibility of inviting still more Polish priests to p~rior of the Franciscan monastery at Plehana, has been sentenced to six years work in Austria. There has been a big in prison· for hostile propaganda by the increase in young priests in Poland. court at Doboj. According to the paper More of them are interested in this new he made a number of journeys between field of work. The visit of Cardinal 1968 and November 1975 to several Konig to the Polish Church was to Western countries where he met mem­ coordinate the need of the Austrian bers of the "Croatian Freedom Move­ Church for Polish priests and the offers ment" and their leaders. From them .he of Polish priests to serve in Austria. ootained literature of a. hostile nature (AKSA, 12 September 1975). and instructions for hostile activities within Yugoslavia. (AKSA 5 March Police Demolish P,olish Chapel 1976). On .10 April this year more than a hun­ dred policemen with dogs attacked Vati~an's "Ostpolitik" D~fended Catholics who were building a make­ The journalist and historian Hansjacob shift chapel in the village of Gorki, 13 Stehle, representative in Rome of the miles north-west of Warsaw. They then North German and West German radios pulled down the building, which was and author of The Vatican's Ostpolitik being constructed without official per­ which appeared in 1975 (see the review mission (the nearest church was some in this issue p. 32) said in a lecture in distance away). Cardinal Wyszynski de­ Munich that some of the credit for the nounced the. incident in his Easter ser.. improvement in the religious atmos­ mon, but said that he prayed for those phere in East European countries can be who had shown such "brutality". Inci­ attributed to the Vatican's diplomacy_ dents of this kind were common before The alternative to the policy of the Holy Gomulka was replaced in 1971, but have News in Brief

been rare in recent times. (Keston News (The Times. 13 May 1976, p. 9 and R.uss­ Service No. 20). kaya Mysl, 29 April 1976. p. 5.)

KremIin Crackdown on Georsia Orthodox Christian in Psychiatric Hos· A de~ree of the CentralCommhtee pital (Communist Party of the Soviet _t:i~on) Anat6li Omitrievich Ponomaryov. - a has ordered a campaign against ideologi­ Russian Orthodox Christian, was re­ cal deviation, corruption .and national~ cently·arrested and placed in Civil ·Men­ ism in Georgia. The decree claimed that tal Hospital No. 3 in · Leningrad (De­ some progress had been made since the partment No. 8 for severely disturbed Central Committee condemned the state cases) . •This .is the third time he has of Party and government administration been put in a psychiatric hospital. Pono­ in 1972. The first secretary of the Geor­ maryov .. has .appealed for permission to gian CommuniSt ·Party. Vasili Mzhavan­ emigrate to the West, since he is unable adze. w.as . subsequently removed. The to get work in Russia. recent decree included amongst Geor­ gia's shortcomings "philistine. petty New Russian Theological Publication bourgeois ~inking, money·grubbing, The 13th volumeofBososlovskiye trudy manifestations of nationalism, outdated (Theological Works) has been published and harmful customs and relisious preju­ by the Moscow Patriarchate. It is dedi· dices" (our italics). (International Herald cated to the 75th birthday of Nikolai Tribune. 29 June 1976.) Uspensky. Doctor of Church History, Professor at the Theological Academy Georsian Detained in Moscow in Leningrad, a connoisseur of Russian The Georgian writer and human rights Liturgical music. The volume comprises campaigner, Dr. ~viad Gamsakhurdia an article on Professor Uspensky and (see his letter and photograph in RCL some of his theological works. (Tass Vol. 4, No. I. pp .. 49'50) was detained radio broadcast in English. 9 February recently by the KGB in Moscow: He was 1976). - acc1Jsed of knocking over an old woman as he ran through a subway: After being Demonstration for Georgi Yins held for four hours, he had books. films and· written notes confiscated. (Inter­ On 8 May 1976 an estimated 6,000-8.000 Christians from the British Isles demon­ national Herald Tribune, 29 June 1976.) strated in London fcir the release of Georgi . Yins. The demonstration took T\re~dokhlebov's Appeal Dismissed the form of a · rally in Hyde Park, fol­ On . I2. May 1976 a Moscow court dis­ lowed by a march through the West missed an appeal by Andrei Tverdokhle­ End of London to Westminster. Whilst bov against a .sentence of five years' in­ the marchers headed for Downing Street, tefnal exile for "slandering the Soviet a delegation from· the rally visited the State". The hearing took place in the Soviet Embassy to present a petition for absence of Tverdokhlebov and his law­ the release of Vins, which had been yer. Andrei Tverdokhlebov, secretary of signed by 280,000 people. A Conserva­ the Moscow branch of Amnesty Inter­ tive Member of Parliament, Mr. Michael national. was sentenced in April. One of Alison, led the delegation to the Em­ the charges brought against him was bassy. An officer of the Embassy, how­ that he had defended Leonid Plyushch ever, refused to accept the petition. He and Yiktor Fainberg, former prisoners in said that it would have to be sent to the psychiatric hospitals, both of whom are Embassy -by post. Mr. Alison complained now in the West. . While in'Lefortovo that such a refusal was an affront to a prison. Moscow. pending trial. Tver· Member of Parliament and said that he dokhlebov. an Or.thodox believer, was would write to the Foreign Secretary refused the ministrations of a priest. asking him to make representations Yladimir Albrekht, a Roman Catholic, about the Soviet Embassy's discourtesy. has appealed to Patriarch ·Pimen for help The rally was one of 13 similar rallies and·prayer on behalf of Tverdokhlebov organized·by Christian Prisoners' Release (see DS/1975/0/50 and · DS/1975/0/49). International.