Three church groups legalized in Vietnamese city

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — The city government has granted long-standing requests of three church organizations to legally function in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The city Bureau of Religious Affairs granted a request for registration to a faction of the Vietnam Mennonite Church led by Nguyen Quang Trung, the small Grace Baptist Church led by Quoc Chanh and one grouping of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Vietnam. House-church leaders in Vietnam noted that all three of the church organizations represent only a part of their church traditions in Vietnam.

Sources said the government chose the smaller, more compliant Mennonite faction led by Trung over the larger one led by activist Nguyen Hong Quang.