Five Hectares Since 1840: Saigon Nuns Refuse to Hand Their Convent Over to a City Development

• The Lovers of the Holy Cross convent occupies about five hectares in Thu Thiem, Ho Chi Minh City
• Officials urged the sisters and the parish to give up the land for a 930-hectare urban project
• The sisters have lived in the area since 1840; the parish dates from 1859
• Three convent school buildings taken in 1975 were never returned

Catholic sisters in Ho Chi Minh City have refused a government request to give up their convent land for the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, Global Sisters Report said on June 4, 2018, in a report by Joachim Pham.

The Lovers of the Holy Cross congregation occupies about five hectares (12 acres) in Thu Thiem, District 2, with facilities built in the 1920s. The sisters have lived in the area since 1840, when they settled there to escape persecution. Thu Thiem Church was established in 1859. The congregation has 610 nuns who provide education, scholarships, care for people with HIV/AIDS and vocational training.

District 2 head Nguyen Hoai Nam encouraged the congregation and the parish to vacate their land for the project, a 930-hectare development approved in 1996 as an international trade and financial centre. The sisters petitioned on May 22, 2018. “We do not agree to remove our convents from the area because this is sacred land where our first sisters built the congregation,” said Sr Maria Nguyen Thi Ngoan. The report said the government had borrowed three of the congregation’s school buildings in 1975 and never returned them.

The convent sits on a small part of a huge development zone, but for the sisters it holds nearly two centuries of history.

Church land in the path of development can be an issue in Jamaica too, where road projects, housing schemes and waterfront plans may reach historic church sites. The Thu Thiem case shows how important it is to have clear title and documented use, and to be involved early when a development plan is drawn up. A congregation that waits for a notice to vacate has much less room to negotiate.

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