Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

Vietnam revoked visas for a Vatican delegation visit to advance the beatification of a cardinal who spent 13 years in detention after the fall of the South, a church official said Monday.

HANOI — Religious tensions have flared in Vietnam after communist authorities moved in to start work on a sewage reservoir that Catholics say is on church land.

Ashton said in a statement that although 65-year-old Nguyen Van Ly "has partly recovered, his health remains very poor and he is still at high risk of death in prison."

A Catholic priest who is one of Vietnam's most prominent dissidents was re-arrested Monday, more than a year after he was granted medical leave from prison, sources familiar with the case said.

The Vatican's appointment of its first official representative to Vietnam signals a detente between the country's communist rulers and the Catholic Church that could represent the first step towards establishing formal diplomatic relations.

HO CHI MINH CITY - Just across the street from the Communist Youth Union, fake snowflakes swirled in the hot, humid air as a skinny Santa Claus flanked by two elves in miniskirts swayed to "Jingle Bells," "Silent Night" and "Let It Snow."

The Vatican said on Saturday that Pope Benedict would name a non-resident representative to Vietnam, in a significant step towards establishing diplomatic relations with the communist state.

A major stumbling block to diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Vatican has seemingly been removed with the resignation of a popular Vietnamese Catholic leader and government critic.

HANOI — Vietnam released one of its leading democracy activists from prison Monday after the dissident Catholic priest spent three years and suffered two strokes in solitary confinement, his lawyer and sister said.

HANOI — An imprisoned Vietnamese Catholic priest, whose release has been sought by US legislators, is in worsening health, his sister said Tuesday.

MY DUC — Vietnamese police on Friday blocked AFP journalists from an area where, according to a priest, several Catholics were wounded when police used tear gas in a dispute over a crucifix.

HANOI — Amnesty International on Saturday called on Vietnam to release an ailing dissident priest whose return to prison coincided with a rare Vietnam-Vatican meeting hailed as a prelude to improved relations.

In a message for the anniversary of Catholicism in the country, Benedict XVI recalled the testimony of the 117 martyrs and urges the faithful to take advantage of this time to promote reconciliation and to bring the Gospel values of charity, truth, justice and honesty to the nation.

The Authority’s gesture of openness in striking contrast to the theme of the seminar, dedicated to education in Catholic schools. Vietnam’s Catholics are banned from being involved in the educational sector.

A Vietnamese Catholic priest Wednesday called on the government to release seven parishioners arrested at a protest rally over a former church now used as a war memorial.