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Vietnamese authorities are investigating a monastery orphanage’s child-rearing activities after a Buddhist abbot delivered a lecture expressing admiration for a monk who became an internet sensation in May.
Abbot Thich Minh Dao founded the Minh Dao Monastery in southeastern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province in 2006. It has become known for its charitable work in raising and educating abandoned children.
Minh Dao recently made positive comments about Monk Thich Minh Tue, whose barefoot pilgrimage across Vietnam attracted attention on TikTok and other social media platforms from supporters who were drawn to his simple lifestyle and humble demeanor.
Tue's popularity appeared to worry authorities, and in June, law enforcement officials raided his camp in the middle of the night, detaining him and several of his followers.
Minh Dao’s praise for Tue, who follows the ascetic practices of Buddhism, drew a rebuke from the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, or VBS, according to state-run media.
The VBS ordered Minh Dao to kneel in penance for his remarks, which led the monk to reply in a letter on Aug. 11 that he was renouncing his monastic vows, according to the Industry and Trade Newspaper .
However, he has continued to wear a monk’s robe while managing at the orphanage.
Monastery to be inspected
The provincial VBS administration board wrote to the local and provincial officials to request an examination of the legitimacy of Minh Dao Monastery's orphanage, Industry and Trade reported on Wednesday.
If Minh Dao is no longer an official monk, then he can no longer be responsible for overseeing and managing the monastery, the board wrote.
Although freedom of religion is enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution, religious groups or individuals require official recognition from the government and institutions like the VBS to practice.
An inspection of the monastery and orphanage could “promptly find measures to rescue unfortunate, disadvantaged, poor and disabled children who, for various reasons, are unable to look after themselves and have been taken advantage of by bad individuals,” the board wrote.
The Phu My Town People's Committee has directed relevant agencies to do the inspection, compile a list of the children living there and examine their legal documentation to see whether the children were taken in accordance with the law, according to Industry and Trade.
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Lawyer Nguyen Van Hoa visited the monastery on Aug. 13 and was told by other monks there that Minh Dao had returned to the VBS everything that belonged to the sangha.
However, Minh Dao years ago used his own money to purchase the land and build the religious facility, the lawyer said, adding that local authorities had issued a certificate of land use rights and ownership of related assets to the monk.
The investigation appears to be retaliation against Minh Dao for renouncing his vows, according to attorney Dao Kim Lan, one of five defense lawyers who defended members of a Buddhist community in southern Long An province from criminal charges in 2022.
“His withdrawal was a slap in the face to the Buddhist Sangha,” he told Radio Free Asia. “Given the current situation, I believe the sangha and local authorities will not forgive Minh Dao for his ‘disrespect.’”
Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed.