Father Joseph Fessio, S.J., editor and founder of Ignatius Press, and Vivian Dudro, senior editor at Ignatius Press, discuss THE LOST MANDATE OF HEAVEN
The following comes from a December 1 Christian Newswire press release:
Ngo Dinh Diem, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam, possessed the Confucian “Mandate of Heaven,” a moral and political authority that was widely recognized by all Vietnamese. What is not commonly known is that Diem was a devout Roman Catholic — in fact, he was a third-order Benedictine and daily communicant. Diem was taken down by a military coup sponsored by the U.S. government and ultimately betrayed by the administration of the first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy, which resulted in Diem’s brutal murder on Nov. 2, 1963.
In his new book, THE LOST MANDATE OF HEAVEN: The American Betrayal of Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam, military historian and counter insurgency expert Dr. Geoffrey DT Shaw disputes the commonly held notion that Diem was a tyrant who had lost the loyalty of his people, and who ultimately the Kennedy administration had to assassinate to further American progress during the Vietnam War. In fact, what he discovered buried in the annals of American History and revealed in the eyewitness accounts of military, intelligence and diplomatic sources is that Diem was a gentle, faithful and beloved leader — a man with rare integrity, a patriot who strove to free his country from Western colonialism while protecting it from Communism.
Many, many years ago, right after the Vietnam War, Fr. Vincent Micelli wrote about this betrayal in his book “The Antichrist”. He was in Vietnam when all this happened. According to him, Henry Cabot Lodge, a fading Republican star, was used to set up the coup against against President Diem. Whether or not President Kennedy knew President Diem would actually be murdered I do not know, and Fr. Micheli seemed to not know either. Perhaps this new book will shed further light on it.
Correction: Fr. Vincent Micheli’s book was copyrighted in 1981.
I read in the news, where Diem made a trip to the U.S., asking for support, and it was denied. It seemed that if he went home, after his trip, he might be killed, according to what I read. As he was reported to be a devout Catholic, and also a daily communicant, as well as a regular penitent in the Sacrament of Confession– I did not know the truth of the various news stories– the truth of his leadership, and why he was turned down by the U.S., and disowned by our own Catholic president, and betrayed. What was the truth?? It was chilling that a short time later, our own President was also assassinated, but with a different motive. The Vietnam situation was very confusing!
Sad indeed that JFK was evidently not familiar with the very serious warnings in Psalm 105 and 1 Chron 16 Do not touch my annointed ones! And the retribution that God permitted was swrift! Less than three weeks later, JFK himself was gone. From this episode and others, most notably the Titanic and the boast by the builders that it was built so well, that even almighty God couldn’t sink it.. we should all learn to be obedient and humble before our most High God! And there is no shortage of good examples for us and our benefit… starting with Jesus and Mary, and then all the saints down through the centuries…beware of all the many wolves in sheep’s clothing… there are still many of the around, most of whom are extolled and…
Kennedy was a poor example of Catholicism. You could say he was a CINO. Unfortunately the US helped oust Battista in Cuba a couple years before, and look at what happened in Cuba. Because of Kennedy, Vietman is communist, and because of Carter not helping the Shah of Iran, that nation is a terrorist sponsor. For too many years we have not helped our friends, but have aided our enemies. God is not going to bless America much longer.
the wikipedia accccount of the decision by the government to assassinate diem shows a sloppy, haphazard process, a careless bureaucratic handling that did not take a serious look at life and death issues, but rather went through an off-handed sign-offf process that made kennedy think it had been closely considered by all the important government players
Maybe it’s time that people stop defending Kennedy. Any “Catholic” who relies on “important government players” is a sham Catholic, which Kennedy was. As if the truth of Diem’s character meant anything to any of these people. As a “Catholic” himself, Kennedy was probably the only one in the mix who might have had the slightest sensibilities to regard who and what Diem actually was, but damn the torpedoes. And the whole of the Vietnam War was sloppy, haphazard, and careless, to put it mildly. The Pentagon Papers exposed that in spades.
“No servant is greater than the master.” The truth always rises to the top but it often takes many years. This revealing book reminds us of the faithful bishops, priests, Catholic University professors and teachers who were betrayed, unjustly persecuted, unjustly removed or undermined by their own. We may not know their individual stories but God knows. As the leadership in the Church goes, the world goes. This true story is an opportunity to make amends to God for anyone who sat back in the comfort of silence while good holy men were sacrificed. How many holy men that were mandated by God to lead his sheep were sacrificed by those who should have known better? Well done, faithful servant, Ngo Dinh Diem.
The immoral assassination of Diem is old news and a very sad chapter in U.S. History…as is the entire Viet Nam war.
Bob, The birth of our Savior is “old news”. The conversion of St. Paul is “old news”. The life and story of ( ) is “old news”. So what is your point?
As for myself this is new news!
As the leadership in the Church goes, the world goes. Thank you, Bishop Schneider for your courage and faithfulness.
https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/bp.-schneider-denounces-gnostic-clergy
BP. SCHNEIDER DENOUNCES GNOSTIC CLERGY
The bishop of Kazakhstan says laity must defend the Faith because many priests fear losing their positions.
Vox Cantoris: Pope Francis’s words to Lutheran woman taken to task by two Prelates
https://voxcantor.blogspot.com/2015/11/pope-francis-words-to-lutheran-woman.html?m=1
One can always wonder about historical ‘what if’. After General Giap humiliated the French at Dein bien Phu in 1954, what if President Eisenhower had offered support to Ho for a united Vietnam? What if Ho sought communist support only because other powers were obligated through WWII alliances to the French colonial masters? Maybe by 1962, the USA would then have not been involved in Vietnam. Then President Diem’s status as saint or sinner would be left to God. Unfortunately, it took thirty years until President Ford realized we could never win there.
Sorry but Ho was a Soviet Agent.
Modern wars aren’t fought to be won, they’re fought for political realignment. Eighty percent (80%) of the Viet Cong weaponry was Russian made, yet during the 10 years of the war, the U.S. and its allies loaned $40 billion to the Soviets and its satellites. Source: Anthony Sutton, National Suicide. As James Warburg (son of Fed Reserve architect Paul Warburg) testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1950, “You will have World Government, whether you want it or not, whether by consent or conquest.”
I don’t think mike m (as hymie observes) has correctly evaluated the extent of “Ho Chi Minh” (a made-up communist name, just like Stalin: it means “one who has become enlightened”) being a communist ideologue, at least from the 1920’s, when as a student in France he was participating in the International Socialist Congress. He twice spent significant time with Comintern, the communist leadership in Moscow, 1st about 1923, then later in the 1930’s after being released by the British from jail.
“Uncle Ho” was a fierce and bloodthirsty communist — who after the murder of a rival famously said, “Anyone who does not follow the line I determine will be smashed — who hated the capitalists and the West and true to classic…
..to classic Leninist doctrine, only valued capitalists and the West as “useful idiots”, Lenin’s famously cynical line.
I grew up in the ‘Pipeline to Nam’ – meaning the Male Only Military Draft. When I turned 18, I registered to Vote, registered for the Draft and Volunteered for Active Duty in the USCG.
When I was in basic training my mom sent me a newspaper clipping showing that my Draft Lottery number would have made me exempt, which was rather ironic – but so was joining the Military at a time when those in Uniform were often treated rather shabbily, to understate considerably.
The evening ‘News’ used to broadcast the “Body Count” using ‘Stick Man’ graphics to show the numbers of Soldiers Killed that day – and we generally ‘won’ the body count, although the names on the Wall remind us of the Cost for a War (like Iraq) that we Won, and…
The evening ‘News’ used to broadcast the “Body Count” using ‘Stick Man’ graphics to show the numbers of Soldiers Killed that day – and we generally ‘won’ the body count, although the names on the Wall remind us of the Cost for a War (like Iraq) that we Won the Fight – and then Lost the Peace by not following up when we had the situation under control – which was the key to Post WW-2 & Korea rebuilding versus the disintegration of Iraq.
I Recommend Reading a truly insightful book: “What It is Like to Go to War”
by Karl Marinates… a powerful nonfiction book about the experience of combat and how inadequately we prepare our young men and women for war.”
– What It Is Like To Go To War is set to become required reading for…
I don’t know if Cal Catholic readers are aware that the brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem was the Archbishop of Hue, Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc Pierre Martin, often called Archbp Thuc, for short.
Also, President Diem along with his brother, Ngo Diem Nhu, actually escaped the generals’ coup about 10pm at night and were secreted by a political supporter; however, when that location was betrayed, before military forces showed up, they made their last trek in freedom to the Catholic Church, St Francis Xavier Church, in a district of Saigon: it was All Souls Day, 1963, and they attended early morning Mass, and received communion. Shortly afterwards, they were both arrested. By nightfall they had been both executed, the generals claiming…
…the generals who had instigated the coup, claiming lamely the brothers had “committed suicide”. (Really? For a Catholic? Especially the quite observant Diem brothers?) No one believed it for a moment.
I have been reading more about Diem and his devout Catholic family, and the angry Buddhists, who were wrongfully suppressed. I am not sure as to whether the Diems were trying to get rid of not just the Communists, but other religions, too! Persecution of other religions is wrong! I don’t think we will ever know the truth! But Fr. Fessio is a very big figure in our Church, and I hope that he will present the truth clearly, and never support a famous Catholic, who seems devout– but who has actually also committed some great sins!
The Buddhist persecutions by the Diem family, is too similar to the jihadist Muslims, of today!
LInda Maria, the Diems had suffered terrible persecution from the Buddhists for their religion, also, before they came to power, It seemed to have worked both ways. Many of their family members had been killed by them. Also, Diem did not want French rule. The truth is that all religions prefer leaders of their own religions and ethnic groups and do not want to be ruled by others. There is the crux of the problem that most do not want to say. We have it constantly in this country, too, with politicians pitting one group against another.
Well, I watched the video (above) again– and will get he book, and read it! I recall seeing in the news, just horrifying events of self-immolations by Buddhist monks, due to the suppression of their religion– and that seems just terrible, to me! I never could understand why a monk would kill himself! A horrible sin! Although Buddhists claim a strange sort of atheism– did they not believe in the value of cherishing the miracle of a human life, and seeking relief from all sins and from all suffering, compassionately?? Anyway– I will read this book, and learn more!
Think of the lives of American armed forces that were killed to fight in what was essentially a civil war. They were not protecting real American interest and died in vain. And yet, we continue this same political war mongering even today. Since World War II, we have involved ourselves in one war after another to what end? We haven’t won any of them, even our invasion of Granada was a sham. and we keep doing the stupid things all over again. We have been at war for over ten years in the middle east, to what end. WWII only took four and a half years. Now, our stupid actions have caused the rise of ISIS and we are in another way
” Now, our stupid actions have caused the rise of ISIS and we are in another way ”
“Our Lady came with a message from God to every man, woman, and child of our century. Our Lady of Fatima promised that the whole world would be in peace, and that many souls would go to Heaven if Her requests were listened to and obeyed. She told us that war is a punishment for sin; that God would punish the world for its sins in our time by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and persecution of the Holy Father, the Pope, unless we listened to and obeyed the command of God. “
To reply to the post of Bob One– The Vietnam War seemed so pointless! However, it is always said, that it is smart for America to help other countries defend themselves against Communism as best they can, because Communism is such a huge threat to the world! Someday, we ourselves may find Communism at our own door, and we may be trying to defend our own country against this terrible evil!
Italian Communist theoretician Antonia Gramsci (d. 1937) stated that the final communist takeover would not be by tanks and guns, but by secularizing the culture to the point of Godlessness. That “someday” is here right now, and it didn’t arrive through the door, but through a total infiltration of our culture, government and economy. The systems in place have not only failed in their defense of this country, but have assisted the disintegration. People need to get it that the Berlin Wall wasn’t removed to let freedom in, but to let communism out. The global communist state is upon us as our borders and those of all of Europe are under siege while the leaders negotiate global climate pacts. The old domino theory is an anachronism.
May I point out that the Soviet Union ceased to exist 25 years ago. While the People’s Republic of China still exists, I wonder if Mao would recognize it.
A very holy, intelligent, and insightful Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc Pierre Martin, often referred to as Archbp Thuc disagreed with the Vatican 2 Council and its changes to the Catholic Church which resulted in the V2 Church today. He had the sensibility of the crisis at that time, and given the emergency nature of those daunting changes, had the authority and power to preserve the true Roman Catholic Faith of our ancestors by consecrating holy Roman Catholic priests raising them to the rank of Bishop. Thank God Almighty for these Bishops and their descendents that have continued to preserve the true Roman Catholic Faith as well.