Note: The following is the draft of a chapter I wrote for the book, RENDER UNTO CAESAR: THE RELIGIOUS SPHERE IN WORLD POLITICS, a collection of essays edited by Sabrina Petra Ramet and Donald W. Treadgold, published by The American University Press, 1995. Because this is a draft, readers interested in the final edited version should read the book. Of course there have been some changes in Vietnam's religious policy in the six years since this was written, but the overall situation remains similar, a conflict between religion and state: the Communist Party having lost its ideological force it is now up to religions to fill the spiritual vacuum among the people. - Steve Denney Religion and Communism in Vietnam, 1975-1992 by Stephen Denney (August 1992) (Draft for forthcoming book, not for quotation or citation) There is a remarkable juxtaposition of two scenes in the 1985 film Decent Stories of nuns helping destitute lepers in Vietnam, with another scene of high ranking Party officials emerging from fancy limousines. The fact that this film could be produced, and that it could depict such a contrast, demonstrates how far Vietnam has come since Communism was established over the entire country in April 1975. As Vietnamese communist leaders stress the need to develop a private market economy while maintaining one party rule, it also seems to be moving from a left-wing totalitarian society to a right wing authoritarian regime. The Party has lost prestige with the people, while religious clergy are now widely seen as more faithful to the egalitarian ideals professed by Party leaders. In this essay we will explore the conflict between Party and State for the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, focusing on what was formerly South Vietnam, since it is here where the greatest conflict has occurred. Religion and politics have always been closely intertwined in Vietnam. It is common to see in many Vietnamese villages shrines to historical heroes, mostly military, who defended the country's sovereignty. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism form the three great traditions of Vietnam and together form the basic belief system of most Vietnamese. Ancestor worship is practiced by most Vietnamese, and this reinforces Vietnam's sense of unity between the national heritage and the traditional belief system. Of the 69 million people in Vietnam (circa 1991) about 80% adhere to this traditional belief system. Most ethnic Vietnamese follow the Mahayana form of Buddhism, while the ethnic Khmer (some 800,000) in southwestern Vietnam follow the Theravada tradition. About 8% (5.5 million) of Vietnamese are Catholic, between 200,000 and 300,000 (mostly in the South) are Protestant, one third of whom are montagnards; between two and three million are Cao Dai and the Hoa Hao religion claims between 1 and 2 million followers, mostly in the South. There are approximately 30,000 Moslems, mostly ethnic Cham whose ancestors ruled southern Vietnam before it was conquered by the Vietnamese. Official Policy. Vietnamese communist ideologues have tended over the years to adopt a very negative view toward religions in Vietnam. Their hostility toward Catholicism's history in Vietnam is the most well known. The legacy of other religions, even those which might be considered anti-French and anti-American, is also viewed negatively because religions in Vietnam are regarded as rivals to the regime's own efforts to mobilize the population and offer an alternative source to the Marxist-Leninist values of the regime.[1] This concern is understandable because the major religions of Vietnam do indeed offer competing visions of society and alternative sources of nationalistic identity to the Communist Party. There is no clear concept of separation of church and state, of secular and religious life as in the West. Nor can traditional Vietnam be described as a genuinely pluralistic society. Rather the different religions The strategy of the Vietnamese Communist Party toward religions in Vietnam has been directed by two opposing forces: on the one hand to mobilize religious believers in support of government policies, and on the other hand to contain religious influence. The Vietnam Fatherland Front is the umbrella organization of the Party for mobilizing various social groups in Vietnam, including religious believers. Subordinate to the VFF are the Vietnam Buddhist Church, created by the SRV government in 1981 to control Buddhists, and the Committee for Solidarity of Patriotic Vietnamese Catholics, Therefore the religious policy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has two faces: on the one hand religious freedom is proclaimed in its constitution and certain religious holidays, such as Christmas, are encouraged by the regime. On the other hand the policy in practice over the years appears aimed at containing religious influence -- first, through requiring government approval for virtually all forms of religious activity; second, isolating and punishing those clergy judged reactionary while promoting "progressive" and "patriotic" clergy; and third, pressuring religious leaders to ban "superstitious" practices and other aspects of the internal religious doctrine that hinder government efforts to mobilize the people. The most detailed statements of official SRV religious policy are Directive 297, passed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's (SRV) Council of Ministers in November 1977, and its successor, Directive 69, passed by the Council of Ministers in March 1991. Both require prior government approval for virtually all forms of religious activities. The effect of these directives are to vary the degree of religious freedom from one area to another depending on the manner in which municipal or provincial officials interpret these directives. Thus, there is no right of religious practice in Vietnam, only privileges which may or may not be granted. The directives also reinforce a policy of gradually choking off the supply of clergy through requiring government approval for their training, opening of seminaries, staffing of seminaries, courses taught in seminaries, ordination, and movement of a priest from one area to another. This has been especially harmful for the Catholics, with their dependence on the church hierarchy for the practice of their faith.[2] The directives also contain broadly worded language demanding religions conform to "the policy lines and legislation of the State" while prohibiting "superstition" and "all activity to sabotage the national independence, to oppose the State, to sabotage the policy of national union, to damage the wholesome culture of our nation, (and) to hinder the faithful from fulfilling their civic duties."[3] Furthermore, the Criminal Code of Vietnam provides up to 15 years imprisonment for "causing divisions between the religious and non-religious and separating religious followers from the people's government and social organizations."[4] Such language underscores the primary concern of Vietnamese Communist leaders that religions not serve as a basis for any form of anti-government resistance. It is also evident in the wording how broadly anti-government resistance can be intepreted. Aside from these factors, the SRV religious policy must be understood within the framework of the overall domestic and foreign policies of the SRV. The first period, from 1976-79, was the most drastic period as it was a time when Vietnam's communist leaders were pursuing a policy of radical collectivization and destroying the former elite of South Vietnam. Other changes have occurred over the last four years, since the Sixth Party Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party in Dec. 1986 and the collapse of communism in Soviet bloc countries. This period has seen on the one hand, efforts to improve Vietnam's economy through allowing more free enterprise and attracting Western aid and trade; and on the other hand, suppression of dissident activities which threaten the VCP's monopoly of power. These contradictory impulses have brought mixed results for religious believers, as we shall see below. The policy toward religions has varied, but seems to have been most repressive against those religions which are unique to Vietnam and therefore do not have connections with other countries abroad. The most drastic action was taken against the Hoa Hao religion immediately after the 1975 communist victory. The new regime moved to dissolve the Hoa Hao's two leading organizations, the Hoa Hao Central Church and the Hoa Hao Central committee in July 1975. Its most prominent leaders were arrested and taken to Hoa Hao villages to "confess their crimes". The village management committees of the Hoa Hao were also dismantled at this time.[5] However, the practice of the Hao Hao faith does not depend on a hierarchy, temples or ceremonies. This combined with the geographical concentration of Hoa Hao believers in southwestern Vietnam would make it difficult for the government to control the faith.[6] We shall now consider the state-religion relations concerning the Cao Dai from 1975-85; and the Buddhists, Catholics and Protestants from 1975 through 1991. The Cao Dai. The Cao Dai religion is elaborately syncretic, combining elements of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity and Spiritualism. It was founded in 1926, and presently claims between two and three million followers, almost all ethnic Vietnamese, concentrated in southwestern Vietnam. Its structure is similar to the Catholic Church, with a pope, cardinals and priests.[7] Although Cao Dai believers for the most part are anti- communist, some Cao Dai leaders urged a more neutral stance during the Vietnam War. During the war's final stages, the NLF and North Vietnamese pressured Cao Dai leaders to declare the Cao Dai area around Tay Ninh city known as the Holy Land a neutral area and to protest the stationing of South Vietnamese troops there. They succeeded with a declaration on Jan. 15, 1975 by Cao Dai Pope Truong Huu Duc appealing to both sides to allow the "nearly half million innocent people" living in this area to be exempt from combat.[8] Following the April 1975 communist victory, however, some 25 Cao Dai leaders were sent off to re-education camps.[9] Other high ranking Cao Dai leaders were compelled to attend meetings organized by the government in which the regime accused them of disloyalty to the regime.[10] Cao Dai religious holidays were also restricted during this period.[11] Vietnamese authorities apparently nourished some hope during these first years of power over the South that they could control the Cao Dai religion through working with more pliant Cao Dai leaders. However, this hope was not realized and in the early 1980's the SRV subjected Cao Dai leaders to trials and public denunciation. Pham Ngoc Trang, the Holy See's officer in charge of worldwide propagation of Caodaism, was brought to trial with his associates in April 1983. He was accused of spreading "propaganda against party and state policies and lines" and obstructing popular participation in Party activities, and was "severely punished", according to Vietnam's army newspaper, Quan Doi Nhan Dan.[12] Cardinal Ho Tan Khoa and Pope Truong Huu Duc were denounced at government-organized public rallies in Tay Ninh province in 1984. They were accused of being "reactionaries" who pretended to cooperate with the government while seeking "by every means to oppose the revolution in accordance with a postwar plan devised by U.S. imperialists."[13] Khoa was also accused of condoning the assassination of Truong Ngoc Anh, a Cao Dai member of the SRV National Assembly whom the SRV hoped to use in order to take control over the Cao Dai. However, far from being a reactionary, Cardinal Khoa was instrumental in pushing the Cao Dai toward a more neutralist stance during the last years of the war.[14] Between 1975 and 1983, according to SRV statistics, more than 1,000 people in Tay Ninh province were imprisoned for Cao Dai based anti-government activities, and 39 were executed.[15] The government also brought pressure on the Cao Dai to disband the practice of "Cau Co", a form of communicating with departed spirits which is at the heart of the religion.[16] The government policy toward the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, according to a 1987 Hanoi journal for party cadres, is to allow these religions "to exist in the localities", but not as religious organizations.[17] The Buddhists. Buddhism has existed in Vietnam for some 1,800 years, and most Vietnamese follow the Mahayana tradition. It is adapted to the village level, and is not organized in the hierarchial manner of Catholicism. However, Buddhism became a more organized political and social force during the 1930's when a reform movement was commenced to abolish superstitions and "engage" Buddhism in society through the operation of social welfare institutions and organized youth movements.[18] The persecution of Buddhists by President Ngo Dinh Diem brought further unity. In 1964 in the wake of his overthrow, the Unified Buddhist Church (UBC) was created, bringing together a wide variety of Buddhists from both Theravada and Mahayana traditions. Headquartered at the An Quang Pagoda in Saigon, some of the more prominent UBC monks became known over subsequent years as major advocates for a neutralist, "third force" solution to the war and developed close ties with anti-war groups abroad. Among these monks were Thich Tri Quang, youth leader Thich Thien Minh and Thich Nhat Hanh. With the Communist victory in April 1975, Buddhist leaders sought to promote reconciliation with the new regime but were rebuffed. The regime moved instead to control Buddhism through creating a "patriotic Buddhist association", while allowing cadres and officials to carry out various acts of repression at the local and provincial level. Such repression over the first two years included destruction and confiscation of Buddhist pagodas, offices, buildings, statues and shrines; arrest of monks and restrictions on their travel and right to preach; forbidding worship at village temples; and requiring prior government approval for virtually all forms of government activities.[19] The first known act of resistance against such repression occurred in Nov. 1975 at Duoc Su Temple in Can Tho province when the abbot was told temple members could not go into religious retreat or observe silence; could not accept new members to the pagoda; could not display the Buddhist flag; but must praise the "Revolution" in sermons and must join local revolutionary associations. The 12 members of the temple chose to immolate themselves instead.[20] In March 1977, UBC leader Ven. Thich Huyen Quang wrote to SRV Prime Minister Pham Van Dong describing in detail 85 separate incidents of religious repression against the Buddhists and appealing for more tolerance. The government's response came three weeks later with the arrest of Ven. Quang and five other leading UBC monks.[21] They were held without trial until Dec. 1978, when they were released on probation following a pro-forma show trial. At the same time, however, the government was moving toward the establishment of a new Buddhist church. This movement had begun in 1975 with the creation of a "Patriotic Buddhist Liaison Committee" and culminated in Nov. 1981 with the creation of the Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC). The VBC, according to its founding charter, was henceforth to be considered the only legitimate representative of Vietnamese Buddhism within the country and abroad.[22] Thus, the Unified Buddhist Church was no longer recognized as a legitimate religious organization by the government. The creation of this new government-sponsored organization divided Buddhist leaders. Some high-ranking leaders in the South, such as Ven. Thich Tri Thu and Thich Minh Chau, chose to cooperate with the new organization. Others protested. In February 1982 Ven. Thich Huyen Quang (UBC Executive Director) and Ven. Thich Quang Do (UBC General Secretary) were arrested for their protests, and banished from Ho Chi Minh City to remote areas of central and northern Vietnam respectively.[23] They remained under house arrest in subsequent years through the end of 1991.[24] Ven. Thich Tri Thu, on the other hand, agreed to accept the position of VBC president. However, two years later, on April 2, 1984 he died under mysterious circumstances following a police interrogation. Ten days before, on March 22, several monks and nuns closely associated with him were arrested. They remained in jail without trial until September 1988 when 18 Buddhist clergy and laypeople were brought to trial in Ho Chi Minh City and accused of anti-government activities. The defendants denied accusations that they were fomenting armed resistance, and maintained that they only struggled non-violently for human rights. Two of the monks, Thich Tue Sy and Thich Tri Sieu, both prominent young scholars, were sentenced to death, but their sentences were commuted to 20 years imprisonment following worldwide protest. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and International PEN consider them "prisoners of conscience" and have campaigned for their release. The Vietnam Buddhist Church's role, according to a spokesman, has been to simplify Buddhist practices, curb "superstition-laced" ceremonies, and mobilize youth to join the armed forces.[25] It has also represented Buddhists in meetings with foreign dignitaries, and its leaders have traveled to world "peace" conferences, such as those once held in Moscow. It is under close supervision of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Vietnamese Communist Party's umbrella organization to mobilize various social groups. Monks and nuns not belonging to the VBC have had to seek shelter in followers' homes in order to continue their practice.[26] The government policy toward Buddhists since 1975, as with other religions, might be described as a war of attrition. Very few have received permission to enter seminaries or be ordained. Only one seminary was reported operating in 1989, at the Van Hanh Institute in Ho Chi Minh City with a few dozen students.[27] The long range effects of this policy were observed in northern Vietnam by a visiting monk in the summer of 1989. In a letter smuggled abroad, he said most temples in the north had only one nun, temples with monks are rare, and that most clergy were in their seventies. When an old monk or nun passes away, there is no one to succeed them, and the temple closes. Monks and nuns in the north were pressured by the government to end superstition, but were "..so ignorant about Buddhism that they do not distinguish between real superstition (like predicting the future) and religious practice (like reciting the sutra on the occasion of someone's death and learning the sutras)."[28] Nevertheless, the policy toward Buddhists showed increased signs of openness by 1991. Although several prominent monks and nuns remained under arrest, some had been released. More encouraging is the increased government tolerance of Buddhist social welfare activities, such as operating leper colonies, day care centers and vocational training schools. Vietnamese emigres and others overseas have provided financial aid for these activities.[29] The Catholics. Relations between Catholics and Communists in Vietnam have always been tense, although Catholicism seems to have fared better institutionally than other religions in Vietnam. This is in large part because of connections to the Vatican and the West. Ironically, it is also on this basis that Catholics have come under heavy criticism from the Vietnamese Communist Party. Official communist literature of Vietnam portrays Catholics in Vietnam as collaborators with the French and agents of the Vatican and Western imperialism.[30] It is stressed that Vietnamese Catholics must be Vietnamese first and Catholic second, and Vietnamese nationalism in this sense is equated with fidelity to the Vietnamese Communist Party, as the vanguard of the nationalist cause. In fact, many Catholics were involved in the anti-colonial struggle during the French era, but Catholics broke with the Viet Minh because of fears of persecution. In the 1954 exodus of Vietnamese from the North, some 700,000 of the 900,000 who went south were Catholic, including 619 priests and 5 bishops (leaving about 375 priests and six bishops in the north).[31] Over the next 21 years essentially two Catholic churches developed in Vietnam. In the north, the church suffered under severe government restrictions which prevented it from replacing the departed priests and shielded Catholics from the liberalizing changes brought about by Vatican Council II. Thus the church in the north was frozen into a pre-Vatican II position and led by very conservative bishops whose views on church-state relations in a communist society were formed by Vatican cold war pronouncements of the late 1940's and early 1950's. Opposed to these bishops was a small group of priests belonging to the "Liaison committee of Patriotic and Peace-Loving Catholics", created by the North Vietnamese government (and condemned by the Vatican) in 1955 in order to pressure the bishops and propagandize policies of the regime. In the south, on the other hand, while the church was predominantly conservative, the divisions were more complex. Most Catholics, particularly those who fled from the North, were strongly anti-communist and highly supportive of the South Vietnamese government. However, Vatican II did bring about significant changes within the southern church and in the attitudes of the church leaders. After 1975 it provided the basis for church-state dialogue. There also developed during this period a small group of priests in Saigon (including Fathers Chan Tin, Nguyen Ngoc Lan, Huynh Cong Minh and Phan Khac Tu) who became involved in anti-government activities during the last years of the war and were highly critical of the South Vietnamese government for its human rights violations. Shortly after the Communist victory in April 1975, the new regime moved to control Catholics and other religious groups by confiscating their vast network of social welfare institutions (schools, hospitals, orphanages, etc.) and arresting those clergy considered reactionary. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese associated with the former South Vietnamese regime were ordered to report to re-education camps during this time, where many remained imprisoned over the next decade.[32] Among these were former chaplains in the South Vietnamese armed forces (considered by the new regime to be psychological warfare agents), including 116 Catholic chaplains. The last of these chaplains were not released until 1990.[33] Other priests arrested during this first year included prominent priests and bishops who were judged potential threats to the new regime, such as Fr. Tran Huy Thanh (arrested in Feb. 1976), a popular conservative priest who had led an anti- corruption movement against the Thieu administration during the last year of the war; or Msgr. Nguyen Van Thuan, appointed by the Vatican on the eve of the 1975 communist victory to be co- adjutator bishop of Saigon. The new authorities feared Thuan, considered to be highly intelligent and anti-communist as well, to be in a position to succeed the more pliant and elderly archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Nguyen Van Binh. Thuan was thus banished from Ho Chi Minh City in 1975, and held under various forms of detention until he was finally released in 1988. It remains unlikely that he will be allowed to succeed Msgr. Binh (age 87 in 1991) as archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City. In subsequent years a number of priests have been arrested by the government for alleged anti-government activities. The first major crisis in this regard occurred with a shootout between police and Catholics at the Vinh Son church in Ho Chi Minh City on Feb. 12-13, 1976. Police alleged a group of priests and laymen at this church were plotting to overthrow the government. Archbishop Binh and other church officials deplored the incident, however, and Binh and most other bishops have pursued a conciliatory approach over subsequent years in church- state relations. An open letter of the Vietnamese bishops in 1980 outlined the church's role in accepting its impoverished state and helping to rebuild the new society. This letter has often been cited by communist authorities in subsequent years as a basis for church-state cooperation. Another prominent archbishop in the South, Nguyen Kim Dien of Hue, was more forthright in his criticism of religious repression by the government. His first publicized protest came in an April 1977 meeting organized by Hue government officials to promulgate the news of the arrest of six leading Buddhist monks (see above). Dien was apparently expected to endorse the arrests, but instead expressed sympathy for the arrested monks and complained of religious restrictions directed against the Catholics. In a statement later smuggled abroad, he said Catholics were treated as second class citizens, suffering discrimination in employment and fired from their work at hospitals and charitable institutions; that mass and religious ceremonies were restricted; children in schools were subjected to anti-Catholic propaganda; and priests were forbidden to travel to remote areas of the countryside known as "new economic zones" where many Catholics were being sent at the time.[34] For making this statement, Dien was placed under house arrest and two other priests were arrested for distributing it.[35] The second major confrontation between Archbishop Dien and the government occurred after the government-sponsored creation of the "Committee for Solidarity of Patriotic Vietnamese Catholics" (CSPVC), which succeeded the northern "patriotic" committee and was intended to unify pro-government Catholics from north and south into one organization. The Vatican, however, feared this new organization could lead to the creation of a new, autonomous church as happened in China, and several Vietnamese bishops protested. Archbishop Dien was the most outspoken opponent, suspending a priest in his diocese who joined the committee. Consequently, he was subjected to a series of police interrogations from April to October of 1984,[36] and remained under house arrest until his death on June 7, 1988. There are three other confrontations between church leaders and the state that provide some indication of church-state relations: - Fr. Nguyen Cong Doan, Fr. Le Thanh Que and other priests and laymen from the Alexander de Rhodes (Dac Lo) cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City. They were imprisoned over the next decade, accused in a 1983 trial of resistance activities. However other sources believe they were punished because their church had become to popular with young people.[37] In fact, Fr. Doan was the chief author of the 1980 bishops letter referred to above, calling for improved church-state relations.[38] - Fr. Tran Dinh Thu, an elderly priest from Dong Cong (Mother Co-Redemptorist) monastery in southern Vietnam which was raided by Vietnamese security forces on May 15, 1987. He and 40 priests and brothers were arrested, charged with resistance activities. However, Catholic leaders in Ho Chi Minh City denied this characterization and described Fr. Thu and his congregation as an ultra-conservative group of northerners who functioned as an "underground church" because they did not believe they could live openly in a Marxist society.[39] - Fr. Chan Tin, a well known Redemptorist priest from Ho Chi Minh City who before 1975 was a leading dissident against political imprisonment and other human rights violations in South Vietnam. Because of his "progressive" background he was initially given a position in the government-sponsored Vietnam Fatherland Front. However, Fr. Tin became increasingly disaffected from government policies and resigned from the front with a letter (Dec. 22, 1981) protesting government restrictions and discrimination against Catholics. [40] After the onset of "renovation" in 1987 Fr. Tin spoke out more boldly. In 1988 (Jan. 15) he publicly dissented from a government-organized campaign to oppose Vatican plans to canonize 117 Vietnamese Catholics who had been martyred for their faith in earlier centuries. He described those Catholics cooperating with the regime in this effort as people who "are ungrateful and sow discord within the Catholic circles."[41] Fr. Tin continued issuing statements critical of the government's religious policy until he and a lay colleague, Nguyen Ngoc Lan, were arrested in May 1990. A Hanoi broadcast (May 17, 1990) accused Fr. Tin of issuing a series of sermons on the theme of repentance, "with the aim of attacking the communist party" and (among other things) "inciting Catholics to demand human and civil rights." Further, he undermined the policy of church-state unity by criticizing Saigon Archbishop Binh and the "patriotic" Catholics, and complicated these misdeeds by disseminating his statements abroad. Fr. Tin (age 70 at the time) and Mr. Lan were then placed under house arrest on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.[42] In examining these three cases, we see how priests from widely divergent backgrounds can run afoul of the government -- in one case a priest and his church considered by the government to be too popular with the youth; in the second a priest and his religious community who tried to isolate themselves from the government; and in the third a priest who was outspoken in his criticism of government repression. Regarding the CSPVC, it should be noted that some clergy in this organization, particularly in the south, have appealed for more religious freedom. One member, Fr. Huynh Cong Minh of Ho Chi Minh City, protested restrictions on Catholics in a Feb. 3, 1991 interview with the CSPVC organ of the south, Cong Giao Va Dan Toc. He complained that the number of students allowed to enter seminaries was still very small, despite the severe shortage of priests, and that party cadres held deep-seated prejudices against Catholics.[43] Overall, however, most Vietnamese would consider the CSPVC to be more representative of the government and communist party than of Vietnamese Catholics. The committee lost favor with many Catholics for siding with the government opposing the Vatican canonization of Vietnamese martyrs, and has little influence outside Ho Chi Minh City.[44] The Vietnamese bishops have also continued to express criticism of the government's religious policy. An episcopal letter of April 14, 1991 to the government, signed by bishops Nguyen Minh Nhat (president of the episcopal council) and Le Phong Thuan (secretary general of the episcopal council) complained that reforms underway in Vietnam have so far had little effect on religious and social activities. The letter urged more tolerance of religious practice and dissent, condemned increased corruption and social evils in the country, and complained that government legislation seemed aimed more at restricting religious activities than protecting them. "Of all human rights, the right to religious freedom is the most important. Therefore, it must be respected as a right, and not as a privilege," they said.[45] Nevertheless there has been some improvement in the opening of seminaries, the release of priests from prison and increased contacts between the Vatican and the Vietnamese church. It seems likely that in coming years, Catholics will be allowed to resume a greater role in carrying out the kinds of social welfare activities (schools, hospitals, orphanages) they carried out before 1975. Protestants. Protestant Christianity was introduced to Vietnam with the arrival of American missionaries of the fundamentalist Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in 1911. Conversions spread rapidly in southern Vietnam, and more slowly in central and northern Vietnam. In 1927 an independent organization was formed, which is today known as the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (Hoi Thanh Tin Lanh Viet Nam, or "Tin Lanh" ["Good News"] churches). During the period of American involvement, the C&MA missionaries intensified their activities, particularly with the montagnards, ethnic minorities living in the central highlands. By 1975 there were some 200,000 protestant Christians in 500 congregations in South Vietnam, about a third of them montagnards. The Evangelical Church was well organized and very conservative both theologically and politically, but its leaders were never very active in South Vietnamese politics. On the other hand, the number of protestant Christians in North Vietnam was very small by 1975, numbering perhaps two thousand, and living under highly restrictive circumstances. Their religious activities have been controlled by the Vietnam Protestants' Association, founded in 1955 under government auspices and belonging to the Fatherland Front. Its most prominent pastors frequently participate in activities of the front and meet with western visitors inquiring about Vietnam's religious situation. The SRV has over the years pressured the Evangelical Church of the south to join a unified organization under control of the northern Vietnam Protestants' Association, but so far without success. Consequently, leading pastors of the Evangelical Church have come under heavy criticism from the government and pro- regime pastors.[46] The Nha Trang Bible Seminary, the only seminary in the South for training pastors, was closed by the government in 1976. Various protestant social welfare institutions -- church schools, orphanages and medical clinics -- were seized by authorities and religious publications were banned. District and national conferences of the Protestants have also been restricted.[47] The montagnard Christians have suffered the most severe persecution, because of their suspected ties with FULRO, an independent resistance organization of Montagnards, founded in the 1960's, which continued its activities after 1975. Most churches in the highlands were closed in the first years after 1975, and many montagnard pastors and other Christian leaders were imprisoned in re-education camps. Some 200 protestant churches were closed in Vietnam between 1975 and 1986, most of them in the highlands.[48] Over 50 priests have been arrested since 1975, some as former South Vietnamese military chaplains, and others arrested in subsequent years for various reasons. Almost all Protestant chaplains had been released by September 1988. The exact number of Protestant pastors detained at the end of 1991 was unknown, but at least ten pastors were known to be detained for their involvement with unauthorized church meetings in private homes.[49] Despite restrictions the evangelical protestant church has experienced revival in Vietnam. A visiting missionary to Vietnam in 1986 said there was a "remarkable number of new conversions to the Christian faith since 1975" and estimated there were 300,000 protestant Christians in Vietnam.[50] Conclusion Vietnam today lives in a post-communist world. And in some respects, Vietnam itself is becoming post-communist. The Marxist- Leninist ideology has been virtually abandoned on the economic front, replaced by a free market economy with private incentive encouraged for peasants. Furthermore, with the collapse of the Soviet bloc countries, Vietnamese leaders are now appealing for support from the non-communist countries of Asia and the West, as well as international lending institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Vietnam is trying to attract foreign investment from capitalist corporations. U.S.-Vietnam relations, virtually frozen over the last 17 years, now finally shows some signs of improvement. For religions in Vietnam these developments give some hope for improved treatment. The most significant improvement is likely to take place in the field of social welfare activities, with the various religious groups allowed to assume greater responsibility in operating schools, orphanages and other institutions. On the other hand, the Party's continued preoccupation with threats to its monopoly of power do not bode well, and inhibit development toward a more liberal religious policy. Overall, however, it seems that the Party has failed in attempting to supplant the influence of religions among the Vietnamese people. Despite severe restrictions over the last 17 years, religions have continued to thrive. With increased tolerance, they may finally be able to offer stronger voices in determining the future development of Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------- ENDNOTES 1. Nguyen Quoc Pham, "Lesson: Scientific Communism Versus Religions", Tap Chi Giao Duc Ly Luan, Feb.-March 1987, pp. 45-50, JPRS-SEA 87-14, pp. 58-64. 2. Directive 69 was published in Nguoi Cong Giao Viet Nam, May 1991; French translation in Eglise D'Asie, May 16, 1991; English translation (of French translation) in Indochina Journal, Fall 1991. Directive 297 was published in Chinh Nghia, Dec. 20, 1977, translated by JPRS Vietnam Report, No. 70556, Feb. 17, 1978, pp. 6-10. Both publications are organs of "patriotic" Vietnamese Catholics in the north (Nguoi Cong Giao Viet Nam succeeding Chinh Nghia). 3. Article 5 of CM Directive 69, op cit. 4. Article 81c of Vietnam's Criminal Code, published in 1985. 5. For reports of 1975 repression against the Hoa Hao see Hanoi Liberation Radio, July 12, 1975, FBIS-Asia Pacific Daily Report, July 14; Vietnam News Agency, July 14,17, FBIS - Asia Pacific Daily Report ("For Official Use Only" section, on file at Indochina Archive); Associated Press July 3, 1976. See also unclassified U.S. government intelligence reports on file in SRV Religion file of Indochina Archive: "Status of the Hoa Hao and SRV Detention of Hoa Hao Leaders" (April 1979; and "The Situation of the Hoa Hao Sect Under the Communist Administration" (Feb. 1980). 6. An article by Nguyen Khac Vien in Hanoi's Vietnam Courier, Oct. 1983 ("`Pilgrimage' to Hoa Hao Land") claims Hoa Hao support for government policies and praises Hoa Hao agricultural achievements; but denies Hoa Hao right to have a religious hierarchy. 7. "Fundamentals of Caodaism" by Rev. Minh Ly, Vietnam Times, July/Aug. 1985, p. 11. 8. Dien Tin, (Saigon) Jan. 17, 1976; "Cao Dai Politics in South Vietnam - Early 1975", unclassified U.S. government internal report in Indochina Archive files: DRV/SM/Rel./Jan. 1975. 9. "The Cao Dai Since End of War: 1979" Unclassified U.S. government internal report in Indochina Archive file: SRV/SM/Rel./May 1979. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid. 12. Quan Doi Nhan Dan, April 24, 1983, FBIS-AP May 23, 1983, P. K3. 13. Nguyen Xuan Hy, "The True Face of the Reactionaries Who Have Taken Advantage of Cao Daism", in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, Nov. 4, 1984, p. 2, JPRS-SEA 85-019, Jan. 31, 1985. 14. "Cao Dai Politics in South Vietnam - Early 1975", unclassified U.S. government report in Indochina Archive files: DRV/SM/Rel./Jan. 1975. 15. Nguyen Quoc Pham, op cit. 16. Ibid. 17. Nguyen Quoc Pham, op cit. 18. See pp. 40-49 of Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire, by Thich Nhat Hanh. Hill and Wang, New York, 1967. 19. March 17, 1977 letter of UBC Ven. Thich Huyen Quang to SRV Prime Minister Pham Van Dong; and June 1977 Appeal of the UBC Central Executive Council for human rights (smuggled abroad). Both published in Jim Forest, The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: Fifteen Years of Reconciliation, International Fellowship of Reconciliation (Alkmaar, Holland: 1978). 20. See 28 Nov. 1975 letter of Ven. Thich Tri Thu, UBC Executive Council President, in Forest, op cit. 21. Another prominent monk, Thich Thien Minh, was arrested in 1978 and died later that year. Ven. Minh had also been arrested by the South Vietnamese government in 1969 for his anti-war activities. 22. Vietnam News Agency, Nov. 6, 1981, FBIS Asia Pacific Report, Nov. 10, 1981, p. K5. 23. Their arrest was reported in a press release of the Vietnam Buddhist Peace Delegation (Sister Cao Ngoc Phuong), May 11, 1982. 24. In March 1992, Ven. Thich Quang Do was allowed to return to Ho Chi Minh City. However he was arrested three weeks later, and his present whereabouts at this writing (May 1992) are unknown. 25. See article by Tong Ho Cam (member of VBC standing central committee) in Dai Doan Ket (Hanoi), April 1985, pp. 6-7; translated by JPRS Southeast Asia Report, JPRS-SEA 85-107, July 8, 1985, pp. 160-62. 26. Letter published in NUFLVN News Report, Nov. 1983, pp. 11-12. 27. Circular letter of Sister Cao Ngoc Phuong, 1989, representing the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in France. 28. Ibid. 29. See "Compassion Works in Vietnam," by Therese Fitzgerald in The Mindfulness Bell (Berkeley), Spring 1992. The article describes the work of the Community of Mindful Living, a Berkeley based organization which works with Vietnamese Buddhists. 30. The most detailed official view of the legacy of Catholics in Vietnam is presented in "The Catholics and the National Movement" published as Vietnamese Studies No. 53 (Hanoi: Xunhasaba, 1979). 31. Pierre Gheddo, The Cross and the Bo-Tree: Catholics and Buddhists in Vietnam (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1970, p. 71,99. For a more detailed discussion of Catholics under Communism in Vietnam, see "The Catholic Church in Vietnam" by Stephen Denney in Pedro Ramet, editor, Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990), pp. 270-296. 32. By the end of 1991 there were still about 100 former government officials and military officers of the pre-1975 South Vietnamese government remaining in re-education camps. 33. "Les Anciens Aumoniers Militaires Catholiques Avant et Apres Leur Liberation des Camps de Reeducation", by Fr. Tran Quy Thien, "Dossiers et documents No. 3/92" of Eglise d'Asie, March 1992. Fr. Thien, a former RVN chaplain himself, notes that the released chaplains have not been allowed by the government to resume their ministry, and for this reason most see no option but to flee abroad. 34. Text of statement published in Religion in Communist Lands, 10, No. 1 (Spring 1982): pp. 61-66. 35. Claude Lange, "Controverses sur la "Liberte Religieuse' au Vietnam", Monde Asiatiques, No. 12, Winter 1977, pp. 329-330. 36. The text of a letter from Dien describing his treatment under interrogation was published in Exchange France-Asie (De. 1984- Jan. 1985), pp. 36-38. 37. The Times (London) Feb. 14, 1984. See also Amnesty International, "Arrest and Trial of Priests and Lay Catholics in Viet Nam;" London, Aug. 1983. 38. Jean Mais, "Church-State Relations in Vietnam," Pro Mundi Vita: Dossiers, Belgium, No. 4, 1985, p. 25. 39. "Intelligence" section of Far Eastern Economic Review, July 30, 1987, p. 7. 40. Lien Lac (Manila) Dec. 1982. 41. Text of his statement published in Duc Me, May 1988; English translation in Indochina Journal Fall 1988, p.. 13-15. 42. Documents concerning the arrest of Fr. Tin and Mr. Lan were published in Indochina Journal, Spring-Summer 1990, pp. 24-28; and Indochina Journal, Christmas 1990 (one of the three repentance sermons), pp. 19-25. The Hanoi broadcast condemning Fr. Tin and Mr. Lan was issued by Hanoi Domestic Service May 17, FBIS-EAS 90-097. 43. Eglise d'Asie, April 16, 1991. See also Asia Focus, March 20, 1991. 44. This is according to Msgr. Nguyen Minh Nhat, bishop of Xuan Loc province and president of the Vietnamese Episcopal Council, with Eglise d'Asie, No. 101, Dec. 16, 1990, Annex Document. 45. Published in Duong Song, July 1991: pp. 40-42. 46. Reg Reimer, "Evangelicals in Vietnam: We Are Living by Faith," Indochina Issues, April 1987, pp. 8-9. 47. Reg Reimer, op cit. 48. Randy Frame, "Canadians Question Vietnamese Government on Imprisoned Pastors," Christianity Today, Sept. 5, 1986, p. 50. 49. List published in Indochina Journal, Christmas 1991, p. 3. 50. Reimer, Indochina Issues, op cit.