ARTICLES

Viet Turmoil

What is Going On in San Jose?

By Eric Reslock

Vietnamese Catholics in San Jose have been digesting a dizzying maze of controversy since the diocese of San Jose established a Vietnamese parish at St. Patrick's church in July 1999. Despite having their own parish and liaison to the bishop, the Vietnamese community has not been able to overcome factional infighting that, some say, has little to do with Catholic orthodoxy, but with greed, the desire to regain social status once held in Vietnam, and other issues surrounding the Vietnam war.

Since last spring, parishioners of St. Patrick's have been protesting the demotion and transfer from that parish of Monsignor Dominic Dinh Do, who had been pastor and vicar for the Vietnamese community. Monsignor Dominic was first stripped of his role as vicar of the Vietnamese ministry in March, 2001. His replacement for that position, Father Hien, found himself the subject of controversy over changes that he instituted at the Vietnamese cultural center in San Jose. Within two weeks of becoming the new vicar, Hien reportedly ordered the removal of bookshelves that held between 500 and 1,000 donated books on Vietnamese culture. Some parishioners say they are willing to believe there was a good reason for such changes, but they are angry that no explanation was given for them.

Then there was an announcement made by Father Hien on Wednesday during Holy Week this year that Monsignor Dominic was being transferred from St. Patrick's, where he was pastor, to a smaller church as an assistant pastor. The assistant pastor of St. Patrick's, Father Phan, was named as the replacement pastor for St. Patrick's. Both the appointment of a new vicar and the transfer of the monsignor have caused considerable controversy among Vietnamese people in San Jose. Since then, scores of parishioners have either sent letters of protest to the diocese or signed onto letters questioning the decisions of the diocese. And lay leaders at St. Patrick's are complaining that they were not consulted about the change of pastors before it took place.

The complaint that little information has been forthcoming from the diocese is the theme of many of the letters parishioners have shared with this writer. One parishioner of St. Patrick's said, "the whole situation is a little unfair to the Vietnamese faithful. We respect the bishop but he is not very friendly with out community." Another said, "the problem is the bishop relies on young priests too much and does not listen to us."

One issue that has befuddled parishioners is the issue of Father Phan, Monsignor Dominic's replacement as pastor of St. Patrick's. Phan was the defendant in a well-publicized lawsuit in 1992 in which a San Jose woman alleged that Phan assaulted her when she broke off a long-time affair with him in 1990. The suit said that the affair started in 1985 when the woman, then 20 years-old, was taking religious instruction to become a Catholic. At that time, Father Phan was studying to become a priest and was the woman's religious instructor. The affair allegedly continued after Phan's ordination. According to the woman's attorney, the suit was dismissed by summary motion in 1992 before the case even went to trial. The fact that the woman waited six months to report the alleged assault might have been a factor. Diocesan sources say that the diocese did pay for the plaintiff's counseling afterward. Although the charges were dismissed, in the current climate of scandal, members of the Vietnamese community object to the promotion of a priest who received publicity of this kind.

Sources close to Bishop McGrath say he justifies promoting Father Phan because parishioners did not complain when Phan was made the assistant pastor of St. Patrick's when the parish was established in 1999. And, the bishop reportedly insists the current scandal climate is focused on the abuse of children, not on consensual relationships like in the case of Father Phan.

But among a number of faithful, the difference between assistant pastor and pastor is enough for them to want a priest with unquestionable credibility. This has not gone over well with Father Hien, the vicar for the Vietnamese community. According to several Vietnamese Catholics who were present at a Mass at the Queen of Martyrs Cultural Center in San Jose, in his homily on April 12, Father Hien called those who sent the letters of complaint to the bishop "vermin" and "worms." This did not prevent more parishioners from writing letters of protest to Bishop McGrath, including 47 who signed a letter dated May 12.

In many of the letters I obtained, parishioners speculate that Monsignor Dominic was removed as a result of a crude set-up. Sometime in 2000, a tape appeared that had a recorded conversation between Monsignor Dominic and a woman. Described by those who have heard it, the first part of the tape consists of an exchange of greetings. But later in the tape, the conversation turns explicitly sexual. To those who have heard the tape, it appears obvious that the voices in this part of the tape do not belong to either Monsignor Dominic or the woman and is a blatant forgery. According to a man who worked for Monsignor Dominic, two weeks before Dominic was going to be installed, a man approached him with the tape. The man demanded either $100,000, to keep the contents quiet, or that Dominic not accept his appointment as pastor of St. Patrick's. Despite the threat, Dominic went ahead with the installation ceremony on July 1, 2000, and with the help of an attorney, was able to stop the blackmail attempt. But a copy of the tape found its way to Bishop McGrath's office in either January or February of 2002. In what many seem an inexplicable irony, Monsignor Dominic was transferred to St. Maria Goretti Church -- the same church where parishioners are believed to have fabricated the tape.

Parishioners of St. Patrick's are wondering if, in fact, Monsignor Dominic was transferred because of sexual allegations, does this not run counter to the Church's new policies in regard to priests accused of sexual misconduct? In a letter to a parishioner dated May 21, 2002, Bishop McGrath denied listening to the tape and said that it had nothing to do with his decision to transfer Monsignor Dominic to St. Maria Goretti last spring. He wrote, "please allow me to assure you that neither the concerns you raised in your letter nor what you claim to be on the tape had anything at all to do with his assignment. I was happy that it was possible to give him [Monsignor Dominic] an assignment that would allow him to serve the Vietnamese people without the additional administrative responsibilities that are so much a part of the role of pastor." Neither Father Hien nor Bishop McGrath responded to an invitation to comment on this story.

One parishioner acknowledges that Monsignor Dominic may lack the administrative skills to be the pastor of a church like St. Patrick's. The parishioner said, "his leadership style does not fit with American culture. He many not have the skills to communicate to the diocese the needs of the community." But some parishioners do not believe that Father Hien is a good replacement as vicar, although he has a doctorate from Rome and may be a better administrator. In letters to the bishop, several parishioners have accused Hien of being arrogant. They also charge he does not really understand the Vietnamese culture. Others have praised the choice of Hien because they believe him to be a neutral arbitrator for controversies because he was not previously assigned to any particular parish.

Some parishioners believe there is another reason why Bishop McGrath may not have full confidence in Monsignor Dominic. In February 2001, after Bishop McGrath asked him to visit San Jose, Archbishop Man Minh Pham of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) canceled his visit after Monsignor Dominic asked him not to come. According to an assistant to Dominic, the monsignor had received numerous threats if he were to host the archbishop because some Vietnamese members of the community felt that Archbishop Pham had not done enough to assist a priest, Father Lee, that was put on trial and imprisoned by the Communists in Vietnam. The assistant said that most of these threats came from non-Catholics in the Vietnamese community-at-large; and, he said, "other motives were involved." "There are so many divisions in this community," said the assistant. "No one cause will hold them together."

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