BANGKOK – The historic Bui Chu Cathedral in Vietnam, a 135-year-old church considered by many to be an architectural gem, is being demolished to make room for a larger cathedral despite recent efforts to save it.
By Wednesday, workers had removed the tiles from the floor and dismantled much of the roof of the cathedral, which is located in Nam Dinh province, about two hours south of Hanoi. A tall fence has been erected around the building, and the demolition is likely to be completed early next month.
“This would amount to an irreparable loss of heritage for Vietnam, for the world and for the Catholic Church itself,” said Martin Rama, one of the leading World Bank economists who has worked to save the building. “In fact, the ancient Bui Chu Cathedral embodies a striking intersection of culture, history, and architecture.”
As Vietnam’s population and economy have grown in recent decades, the country has lost much of its cultural heritage with the destruction, or aggressive renovation, of numerous French colonial buildings, pagodas, and temples.
The communist government refused last year to declare Bui Chu a heritage site, which would have prevented its demolition. Nor has it intervened in plans to build a new cathedral.
In many parts of Vietnam, the Roman Catholic Church has been a leader in historical preservation, making the demolition of the cathedral unusual.
“I would rate the church as one of the most successful heritage advocates in the entire country,” said Mark Bowyer, a Vietnam resident and travel blogger who visited Bui Chu last year for his website, Rusty Compass. “In this case, the church is committing an act of self-harm.”
The Bui Chu priests have said that the old structure must be razed because it is in dangerous condition. The electrical wiring is faulty and could cause a fire, they say, and occasionally the plaster falls from the high ceiling, endangering parishioners.
They say the new cathedral will be a replica of the old one, but could house more people.
Mr. Rama, who worked for eight years as the World Bank’s chief economist in Vietnam, has long been interested in Bui Chu and has devised a plan this year to save him.
Acting in a personal capacity, he met with church leaders and proposed acquiring land next to the church property, which would expand the church’s properties and provide space for both buildings.
Mr. Rama, now based in Washington as the World Bank’s chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, offered to pay for the land himself and to start a worldwide fundraising campaign to raise the estimated $ 3 million to restore the old cathedral.
“Saving the old Bui Chu Cathedral in a way that allows the new church to be built and welcome large numbers of parishioners is entirely feasible,” said Mr. Rama, who is also project director for an urban development center. sustainable with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. “Future generations will always be grateful to parents if they make a smart choice.”
To their disappointment, church leaders rejected his offer in favor of their original plan to build a new cathedral instead of the old one.
Cathedral bishop Thomas Vu Dinh Hieu declined on Wednesday to discuss his rejection of Mr. Rama’s offer or comment on the demolition of Bui Chu, saying only, “We don’t want to speak to the media.”
A local official at Xuan Ngoc, the church site, said the priests had permission to proceed with the demolition. He declined to give his name and declined to comment further.
Among the hundreds of Catholic churches in Vietnam, Bui Chu stands out for its unusual mix of Baroque and Vietnamese architecture.
The Diocese of Bui Chu is where Catholicism first took hold in Vietnam more than 400 years ago, long before French or Communist rule. The area attracts few tourists, but it is still the heart of Catholic Vietnam today.
“The Bui Chu Church is the birthplace of Vietnamese Catholicism,” said Nguyen Hanh Nguyen, an associate professor at Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture. “It must be recognized as a heritage site and preserved in its original state.”
While the communist government is officially opposed to organized religion, it has reached a state of détente with religious leaders, allowing them to maintain services and maintain and maintain their facilities.
The reluctance of Bui Chu priests to speak to the media is not surprising. When they tried to lay waste to the cathedral last year, they were criticized by public criticism and their plans were eventually derailed.
A group of 25 architects asked the prime minister and other government officials in May 2019 to declare the cathedral a heritage site and block the demolition. They said that the combination of European and Vietnamese elements, details and materials from the cathedral created a unique architectural work that is found nowhere else in Vietnam.
Around that time, a devastating fire destroyed the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, devastating Catholics around the world and causing many Vietnamese to oppose razing Bui Chu. Although the Vietnam government did not intervene, the priests backed down.
Upon inspecting Bui Chu at the time, the architects discovered that he was only slightly damaged and in good condition to last a long time if reinforced.
Photographs of the church while it is being demolished have only reinforced that vision, said Nguyen, who was one of the 25 architects.
“Based on the image of the recent dismantling,” he said, “the wooden structure of the church is still in good condition, not serious degradation.”
Chau Doan contributed reporting from Hanoi.
