As U.S. President Bill Clinton visited with Catholic Archbishop Pham Minh Man to discuss religious freedom issues in this city formally known as Saigon, security police across town broke up a quiet worship service in the home of a Protestant house church leader.

Clinton met with the archbishop on November 19, 2000 to discuss the difficulties still being experienced by the Catholic Church at the hands of Vietnam's communist regime. Earlier the same day, police raided the Sunday worship service of Grace Church, a house church congregation, being held in the home of Rev. Nguyen Ngoc (Henry) Hien.

Authorities confiscated Bibles, threatened those attending the worship service and seized Rev. Hien's identification card. The pastor was told to report to a police station so his activities could be further investigated.

"Although they always said that in Vietnam now having religious freedom, we are always in persecution," Rev. Hien said.

Recent incidents and the experiences of many Vietnamese Christians confirm the pastor's claim.

On November 14, a spokesperson for Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed as "distorted and slanderous" the publication of secret Vietnamese Communist Party documents that expose the government's harsh policies, plans and practices toward Protestants, according to a Reuters news agency report. The documents were made public by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Religious Freedom.

In early November, house church leader Cao Xuan Tao in Quang Binh province was arrested and jailed. As of November 20, he had not been released or charged.

In Phu Yen province, six Christians were fined 50,000 Vietnamese dong each for meeting in a home for Christian worship. The fines were levied and paid on September 20. ...