Scottish Catholic Observer

Jamie Kerr was speaking after reports in The Herald revealed that a Vietnamese priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is seeking refugee status in Scotland due to fear of imprisonment in his home country, after protesting against the Vietnamese government.

The priest told judges he has paid more than $20,000 to traffickers in order to escape his country to the UK.

Despite his fears, the court initially refused his asylum application, a decision he has since appealed against, having since appeared at an immigration hearing in Glasgow.

Although the court have accepted he is a priest, they currently do not believe he would be at risk if he were to be deported back to Vietnam, where his family have received a court summons for him.

Mr Kerr has called for the Church to help fight his corner. He said: “This isn’t just an ordinary Catholic from Vietnam; he’s a priest. So the Catholic Church really could do something. I’d definitely encourage them to do so, because this puts pressure on the Home Office to act more on his case than they would normally.”

Mr Kerr added that there’s ‘no justice within the refugee system,’ and that the decisions made are often ‘brutal beyond belief.’

He explained that people are generally asked to prove their religion to the court, meaning that it can be even more difficult for lay Catholics.

He said: “We’ve got a Vietnamese case going on at the moment and some of the questions they’re asked I think I might actually struggle to answer, even as a practising Catholic myself.

“For instance, they might ask them to name the 12 apostles, how many books are in the Bible, or explain the Holy Trinity.

“For lay Catholics it’s often even harder and the Home Office sometimes don’t believe their case.”

Mr Kerr said that although the man fears imprisonment, should he indeed be deported, the court would argue that there is ‘a very established Catholic community in Vietnam.’

However, Open Doors, a charity who aid persecuted Christians across the world, found that Vietnam is ranked at number 18 in the world in a list of the worst countries for persecuted Christians.

A new law in Vietnam has made it difficult for people of minority religions to practice their faiths and some Masses have been banned.

Tamsin Taylor, office volunteer coordinator for Open Doors said: “In Vietnam local and national government authorities persecute the Christian minority through their laws.

“The communist regime in Vietnam operates harshly against ‘deviant’ thought, including christianity, which is still seen as a foreign influence and viewed as highly suspicious. Churches are closely ­monitored and converts face violent beatings as well as community and family exclusion.”

Glasgow Archdiocese said the priest has not contacted them about his struggle to remain in the country.

A spokesman said: “He’s never made himself known, never contacted the diocese, so we have little to no sense of what’s going on. If he does wish to get in touch with the diocese, we’d be very happy to hear from him.”

A spokesperson for the Church in Scotland said: “The Church upholds the right of people of all faiths and none to live their lives free from ­discrimination and intolerance. It is hoped that a similar commitment is extended towards Christians both at home and abroad, at a time when Christianity sadly continues to be the world’s most persecuted religion.”