Reds Executing S. Vietnam’s Clergy
By W. H. MARSHNER
THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
April 17, 1975
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Communist insurgents who captured two-thirds of South Vietnam’s provinces in the past month, have already begun executing religious leaders, according to Fr. Raymond deJaegher, a Belgium- born priest working here on Vietnamese refugee problems.
Bishop Nguyen Huy Mai of Ban Me Phuot, the capital of Darlac province, and at least two “and probably more” priests have been shot by the Communists, Fr. DeJaegher told The Wanderer April 9th. In addition, the Bishop of the new diocese of Phan Thiet and seven priests are also known to have been executed.
Fr. deJaegher said that about 450 school teachers were recently arrested in Darlac province by Communist authorities and are now listed as missing. In Saigon, he said, the Jesuit superior has ordered all priests to evacuate Darlac and other areas under Communist siege.
Reached in the offices of Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.) where he was conferring with aides on the evacuation of refugees, Fr. deJaegher said that between one and two million South Vietnamese are on the Communists’ blacklist for execution. Reports reaching Saigon from the captured cities of Hue and DaNang, he said, tell of daily executions of hundreds of South Vietnamese citizens trapped when Communist forces seized those cities.