HA NOI (UCAN) -- Church leaders said they hope the communist government will keep its promise to return the former apostolic nunciature to Ha Noi archdiocese.

"We are very happy the government promised to return the nunciature to the local Church after the Tet festival," Father Joseph Nguyen Khac Que told UCA News on Feb. 4. The festival for the Lunar New Year falls Feb. 7-9 this year.

Even though nothing was put in writing, Father Que said, Deputy Minister of Public Security Ngo Van Huong made the promise to Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Ha Noi and 10 priests and lay leaders during a Jan 31 meeting at the Public Security Ministry in Ha Noi.

Father Que, 65, pastor of Thach Bich parish in Ha Tay province, which borders the capital, had followed closely local Catholics' recent prayers for the government to return the Church property. He has urged the government to return a seminary building in Ha Nam province since early last year.

"I believe the return of the nunciature is only a question of time, since government officials have to save face," added the priest, who did not attend the meeting but said he was informed of it.

According to Father Que, high-ranking authorities at the meeting reportedly said they would return the nunciature "as a way to express their goodwill and respect to Pope Benedict XVI."

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who met the pope in Rome on Jan. 25, 2007, also visited Archbishop Kiet at his residence and the nearby nunciature on Dec. 30, after thousands of Catholics gathered there to pray for the government to return it.

Archdiocesan leaders asked government authorities to restore the nunciature's roof and wooden floor, which had been partially dismantled on Dec. 13, the priest said, adding that the government effected the repairs on Feb. 1 and 2.

"Those achievements result from the solidarity and unity of local clergy, laypeople and Religious who have prayed peacefully and bravely for justice for a month and a half," he commented.

Father Que also said that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone conveyed his concerns and sympathy to local Catholics in a Jan. 30 letter to Archbishop Kiet. The cardinal encouraged them to avoid acts "which might trouble the public order" and encouraged them "to resume the dialogue with the authorities in a calmer climate to find an appropriate solution to this delicate problem," the priest added.

Archbishop Kiet referred to the situation in a Feb. 1 letter he sent to clergy, laypeople and Religious in the archdiocese. He said local Church leaders and high-ranking government officials "approved a good resolution whose concrete steps will be carried out in mutual respect between the two sides according to suggestions of the Holy See."

According to the archbishop, the first step was the closure of the restaurant located in the nunciature compound, after which Catholics moved their tents and a large cross they had erected in the compound to the neighboring archbishop's house on Feb. 1. That step was important, he added, so Catholics who had been staying at the nunciature compound since Jan. 25 would be able to celebrate Tet in their homes, especially since the weather has fallen below 7 degrees Celsius.

Nonetheless, Archbishop Kiet urged them to pray continuously, patiently and persistently. "You should believe that I am always with you," the Church leader said, adding that the pope and Catholics in other places also stand by them.

"I highly praise your bravery, deep prayers, spirit of peace and strong faith" during recent weeks, he wrote in his letter.

Antoine Nguyen Dinh Loc, a lay leader, told UCA News that since Feb. 1, local Catholics have been praying in front of the Pieta replica under the big banyan tree in the nunciature compound, although they no longer stay there in the evening. The statue, which Catholics placed there in December, has not been moved, Loc added.

The Ha Noi resident, who attended a meeting between diocesan representatives and Ha Noi city authorities on Feb. 1, said security officials have not been in the compound since that meeting.

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