Vientiane (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Hundreds of Lao Catholics celebrated Easter without the benefit of a priest in Kengweng, Savannakhet province. They had used a chapel as a place of worship and prayer but it was confiscated by Communist officials for alleged ownership irregularities.
"Around 200 Lao Catholics recited the rosary, sang hymns, and read the Gospel to celebrate Easter in front of Kengweng chapel, while four armed soldiers watched from the chapel's gate," said Sister Josephine Seusy, a Lovers of the Holy Cross nun who organised the event. "We prayed with the risen Christ for the government to return the chapel," she added.
Built in 1964, the chapel was closed off to parishioners by Savannakhet provincial authorities in February. The 200 sq m building is set on a 500 sq m plot of land in Xaybuly district where the authorities plan to build a school.
On Saturday, security officials arrested and questioned three local parishioners because they had removed a closure notice government officials had posted on the chapel's main door.
Sister Seusy said priests from elsewhere are still being prevented from providing pastoral services for local Catholics.
On Holy Thursday and Friday, some Christian NGOs and Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) complained about the latest action by Lao authorities against local Protestants, who are blamed them for their ties with the enemy (the United States) and for destabilising the country.
In Khamnonsung, Savannakhet province, village leaders confiscated a local church and prevented its members from celebrating Easter services.
In Communist Laos, most people (67 per cent) are Buddhist. Christians represent only 2 per cent of the total population of six million people with Catholics accounting for 0.7 per cent.
Protestants have suffered religiously motivated persecution the most. AsiaNews has documented the case of farmers deprived of food because of their faith and clergymen arrested by the authorities.