Geopolitics and Religion in Việt Nam

In 2015, the journal Hérodote published “Géopolitique des religions au Việt Nam. Les voies multipolaires d’une société civile confessionnelle” (“Religious Geopolitics in Việt Nam: The Multipolar Paths of a Faith-Oriented Civil Society”). In the article, French anthropologists Jérémy Jammes and Paul Sorrentino offer a comprehensive picture of religion, belief, and faith in Việt Nam, analyzing their interactions with the political system and broader national developments. 

The authors highlight internal and external factors shaping Vietnamese spiritual life, point out ambiguities and contradictions in legal regulations, and review the country's prominent religious movements.

Religion Must Be “Communist” to Operate

According to Jammes and Sorrentino, the Communist Party of Vietnam and the government emphasize the secular nature of the state and control religious practice through a campaign of absolute atheism. Activities deemed superstitious—those that waste resources, reproduce feudal social hierarchies, or hinder social development—are strictly discouraged.

To gain legal recognition and operate, religions must embody “national characteristics” and demonstrate “compatibility” with government expectations. This is evident in state-sanctioned groups like the Patriotic Catholic movement, the General Assembly of the Evangelical Church of Việt Nam, and the Northern Evangelical Church. This control extends to requiring religious sites, such as churches or temples, to reflect images associated with Hồ Chí Minh.

The state’s concept of religion is narrow, limited to the activities of these officially recognized denominations. Jammes and Sorrentino note this excludes the broader spectrum of spiritual life, pointing to 2009 data showing only 20% of Việt Nam’s population claimed to practice an officially recognized religion. The state also allows the deification of leaders like Hồ Chí Minh or national heroes, but does not classify this as a religious practice.

The state alone determines the boundary between legal and illegal spiritual activity, as codified in the 2004 Ordinance on Belief and Religion and Decree 92. The government politicizes religious practice, banning figures like psychic Nguyễn Văn Liên, prohibiting the burning of votive paper in 2010, and restricting any activity deemed a threat to national security. 

This framework creates a gray area, requiring intellectuals to rename or reinterpret practices for survival. For instance, Professor Ngô Đức Thịnh, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Culture, reclassified the Tứ Phủ belief system as Đạo Mẫu. This practice, centered on spirit possession rituals (lên đồng), has since been officially recognized as an indigenous religion.

Does Việt Nam Have a National Religion?

Việt Nam has no official state religion, although Buddhism has dominated culturally for centuries and influences most of the population. According to Jammes and Sorrentino, Vietnamese Buddhism is politically categorized into two main branches: one supported by the Party and government (the Việt Nam Buddhist Sangha, established in 1981) and one not officially recognized (the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, banned since 1992).

This political division, however, does not capture the faith’s full diversity, which includes schools such as Thích Nhất Hạnh’s meditation tradition, Khmer Krom Zen, Hòa Hảo Buddhism, and Cao Đài, among others. At various points, different groups operating outside state control have resisted government policies, pressing demands at local, central, and even international levels.

In the 1960s and 1990s, these protests included violent acts such as self-immolation, as well as nonviolent actions like demonstrations, strikes, petitions, fasting, boycotts, or publishing dissenting materials.

Christianity Faces Multiple Challenges

Both Catholicism and Protestantism have become integrated into everyday life in Việt Nam, from rural villages to urban centers, with many believers contributing to political pluralism. However, both face significant state oversight.

From the government’s perspective, Catholicism presents a sovereign challenge. 2015 marked the 400th anniversary of Catholic missionary activity in Việt Nam, but the community’s connections with the Vatican are seen as creating a “Vatican religious state” within an “atheist Việt Nam state.” As a result, relations remain sensitive, sometimes leading to armed clashes and arrests. While Việt Nam maintains formal relations with the Vatican, it limits the Vatican’s interference in domestic affairs, effectively “nationalizing” Catholicism under communist rule.

Protestantism, whose recognition was linked to the normalization of Việt Nam–U.S. relations, poses different challenges. Authorities are concerned by its sizable following and the financial autonomy of local churches. There is particular wariness of separatist ambitions among Protestant communities in ethnic minority regions like Tây Nguyên. This distrust has historical precedent: after 1975, 400 minority churches were closed, prayer gatherings and baptisms were banned, and pastors were sent to reeducation camps.

A Complex Religious Landscape

The development of religious movements in Việt Nam is complex. According to Jammes and Sorrentino, religion has marked the emergence of a civil society in the country. This civil society operates under scrutiny, as religious institutions such as churches and temples are monitored internally, externally, and online. From the state’s perspective, while declaring a secular government, Việt Nam has allowed the existence of multiple religions and spiritual traditions, but only within certain limits.

Nguyễn Thanh Minh wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 27, 2024. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.