Location of funeral wake of teacher Dinh Dang Dinh changed due to police harassment

Như Ngọc (Danlambao) - Before his death, teacher Peter Dinh Dang Dinh expressed his wishes to have the Redemptorist Order in Saigon to help arrange his funeral service. As previously scheduled, the rituals of shrouding the body and closing the casket took place at his private residence in Dak Nong and his casket was transported to Saigon on April 5, 2014. A wake was planned to be held at the Chapel at Our Lady of Visitation on Hoang Sa Street, Ward 9, District 3, Saigon City.

However, due to various forms of police harassment, the priests decided to hold the wake in room A.06, next to the Office of Justice and Peace, inside the premises of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 38 Ky Dong Street, Ward 9, District 3, Saigon.

According to a post on the Facebook page of the Rev. Dinh Huu Thoai, on the afternoon of April 05, 2014, about 10 uniformed and plainclothes police officers came to the private residence of Mr. Thang, a parish coordinator and manager of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Visitation, to force him to sign a “written agreement not to disturb public security and order.”

"Although we know that that piece of paper is not worth anything legal, but it would be an excuse for security forces to disrupt the funeral service and then wrongly accuse the parish coordinator; therefore, we decided to hold the wake inside the parish’s premises, accepting causing a little inconvenience to the parish’s activities on Sunday.

We warn the communist police at different levels about this inhuman behavior. The ethic of the Vietnamese people does not accept any violations of sacred matters such as funerals. I want to post the phone number of a secrete security agent, who was on duty in T-shirt and short, acted like a thug, and did not dare to reveal his name. The number is +84 0938940886,” wrote the Rev. Dinh Huu Thoai.

Reportedly, the casket of the beloved teacher, his family members and friends arrived at the Redemptorist Church in Saigon at 6:30 p.m. on April 5, 2014. A large crowd of spectators those who love and admire him was waiting at the church to pay tribute to him.

Those who love him just also set up a Facebook page called "Remembering Teacher Dinh Dang Dinh" to frequently update information about the teacher who is rich in virtue and patriotism.