A galvanizing moment?

This week in Vietnam, two priests were beaten while with a half-million people who were protesting arrests and government violence against Catholics who have been trying to regain possession of a 120-year-old Church. It's not clear if the priests were directly beaten by police (although the Zenit report says that 30 uniformed officers looked on as a gang beset one of them--and then stormed the hospital he had been taken to, pummeled him into a coma and threw him out of a window).

Back in 1984, Polish priest Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko was savagely murdered by that country's secret police. They didn't like the way he supported the Solidarity movement. In some ways, Father Popieluszko's death became a turning point for the underground movement--and for the history of Poland. Is it Vietnam's turn?

Only time will tell.