Notable Religious Events in March 2026:
- Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn Passes Away
- USCIRF: The Vietnamese Government Has Intensified its Repression of Independent Religious Groups
- Thái Nguyên Province: Authorities Prevented Followers of the World Mission Society Church of God from Holding Religious Activities
- The 16th National Assembly Has Only 10 Deputies Who Identify with a Religion
- Some Bàni Followers Oppose Changes to Their Name
Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn Passes Away
On March 22, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn, former archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saigon, died at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Saigon at the age of 92, after receiving treatment for several serious illnesses.
The cardinal’s career closely tied him to a distinctive period in relations between the Vietnamese state and the Vatican.
In 1998, he was appointed archbishop and held the position for 16 years. The Vietnamese government’s acceptance of the Holy See’s appointment opened a period of improved cooperation between the two sides and ended more than 20 years of friction.
Previously, tensions had escalated when the Holy See unilaterally appointed Bishop Huỳnh Văn Nghi as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Saigon without prior consultation with the Vietnamese government.
As a leader of the Catholic Church in Việt Nam, and later as a cardinal from 2003, he represented a generation of clergy operating within a framework of “conditional adaptation”: expanding the space for religious activities, but always within limits set by the state.
The death of Cardinal Phạm Minh Mẫn closes a notable chapter of leadership in Việt Nam’s post-Đổi Mới Catholic Church, marked by his organizational legacy and the Church’s social role in a context where state-religion relations gradually stabilized toward the institutionalization of control.
USCIRF: Việt Nam Intensifies Repression of Independent Religious Groups
On March 4, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a press release stating that the Vietnamese government has increasingly intensified its repression of independent religious communities.
Among those most affected are religious communities of ethnic minorities and religious organizations not affiliated with the state. Specifically, the statement noted that arrests, prosecutions, and convictions continued in 2025, targeting various groups: independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist followers, Khmer Krom people, Protestant pastors, and Montagnard Protestant believers in the Central Highlands.
USCIRF’s list of victims shows that many people are still serving lengthy prison sentences, while new arrests continue. Some prison terms extend to nearly a decade, indicating that the punishment is not merely deterrent in nature but also aimed at eliminating the capacity for organization.
Notably, the authorities have not only used legal measures but also applied forms of administrative and social pressure, including surveillance, harassment, forced renunciation of faith, and pressure on religious groups to join state-recognized organizations such as the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha or Protestant organizations.
The statement also said that the Vietnamese government has exerted influence over other countries to control or target exiled religious activists, including accusing them of terrorism in exchanging communications with foreign organizations, applying pressure that leads to extradition, and interfering with religious activities and gatherings. The case of Y Quỳnh B’đắp, extradited from Thailand in November 2025, serves as a typical example.
As in USCIRF’s previous statements, the Vietnamese government uses the 2016 Law on Belief and Religion to maintain a mechanism for managing religious activities.
At the same time, the authorities also broadly apply provisions of the Penal Code, particularly Articles 116, 117, and 331, to criminalize individuals engaged in independent religious activities or those who speak out about freedom of belief.
Overall, USCIRF said the environment for religious freedom in Việt Nam remains dominated by the state’s tightly controlled management model, in which independent and minority religious groups continue to be the most vulnerable.
As in previous instances, the Vietnamese government continues to reject the commission’s statement, asserting that it was based on assessments that lacked objectivity, carried “malicious intent,” and contained inaccurate information about the situation of freedom of religion and belief in Việt Nam.
Authorities Prevent World Mission Society Church of God Follower From Practicing Religion in Thái Nguyên Province
In March 2026, the authorities in Thái Nguyên Province prevented a follower of the World Mission Society Church of God from engaging in unauthorized religious activities.
The World Mission Society Church of God is a South Korea-based Christian new religious movement founded by Ahn Sahng-hong in 1964. It teaches that Ahn is the Second Coming of Christ and that Zahng Gil-jah represents “God the Mother,” a doctrine that distinguishes it sharply from mainstream Christianity.
This religion reportedly arrived in Việt Nam around 2001, initially through South Koreans entering Việt Nam and some Vietnamese workers returning from South Korea.
According to the authorities, the follower was a student studying in the province. Officials said they required the person to sign a pledge to leave the World Mission Society Church of God. At the same time, the authorities coordinated with the school to take appropriate measures for monitoring and guidance.
The authorities have regularly accused the World Mission Society Church of God of being a heretical group that uses the name of religion to spread superstition, recruit followers, divide families, and seek personal gain.
The 16th National Assembly Has Only 10 Deputies With Religious Affiliations
On March 21, the authorities announced the names of the 500 people elected as deputies to the 16th National Assembly. However, only 10 of them have religious affiliations, accounting for just 2% of all deputies.
This group includes five Buddhist deputies, among them four dignitaries of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and one lay follower; four Catholic deputies, including two priests and two lay followers; and one Brahmin deputy.
Notably, most of these individuals had served in the National Assembly in previous terms, except for three Catholic deputies who were elected for the first time.
This low proportion of National Assembly deputies with religious affiliations is not unique to the 16th legislature. In the previous term, the 15th National Assembly, the number of Buddhist dignitaries was significantly higher than Catholic representatives, pointing to a notable imbalance in the structure of religious representation.
This disparity has led to some interpretations that Buddhism holds a special position in the structure of state-religion relations, even being viewed by some as a form of Việt Nam’s state religion.
Such interpretations show how the state manages religion and reflects the power structure. However, the authorities have rejected this argument, affirming the principle of equality among all religions.
Nevertheless, one undeniable reality is that while more than a quarter of Việt Nam’s population is religious, the proportion of National Assembly deputies with religious affiliations remains very low and largely symbolic of allowing freedom of religion.
This presence does not adequately reflect the religious composition of society; instead, it points to the selective and limited model of representation.
Some Bàni Adherents Object to the Official Renaming of their Faith
On March 9, authorities in Lâm Đồng Province issued Official Dispatch No. 404-CV/BTGDVTU, which standardized the name of the Bàni faith as Bàni Islam. However, some followers have opposed this designation.
According to the dispatch, the authorities claimed that the standardization of the name stemmed from the wishes of the majority of religious dignitaries.
From a management perspective, standardizing the name would avoid setting a precedent for recognizing an additional new religion, given that this entity has already been recorded and managed in the national data system.
However, from the perspective of some Chăm followers, Bàni is not considered Islam in the conventional sense. They emphasize that the community’s religious life has its own distinct characteristics, rooted in the history, identity, and specific cultural and social structures of the Chăm people.
Therefore, placing Bàni under the label of Islam has created a sense of being subsumed into a belief system they do not fully share, thereby obscuring the distinctiveness of their religious identity.
According to Luật Khoa Magazine research, although Islam has influenced Bàni, it has undergone a profound process of transformation.
Many basic pillars of Islam are not fully practiced; the scriptures used are simplified for ritual purposes. Its organizational system and rituals also differ significantly from orthodox Islam.
At the same time, Bàni strongly integrates elements of indigenous Chăm belief, as reflected in the combination of worship of Allah with ancestor worship and the veneration of deities, along with many traditional rituals.
In addition, the Bàni community has almost no connection with the international Islamic world, nor does it follow Islam’s universal norms. Therefore, attaching the Islamic designation could lead to inaccurate understandings of its nature.
At the same time, it is important to note that many followers affirm that Bàni is the traditional name and accurately reflects the community’s identity. Adding the term “Islam” would be viewed as an external imposition, with the risk of diluting that identity.
Conversely, the authorities argue that the designation “Bàni Islam” is appropriate from both scientific and legal perspectives. According to this view, the term is not intended as an administrative imposition but as an academic designation used to identify a branch of Islam that has been deeply localized in Việt Nam.
This perspective holds that the term “Bàni Islam” both reflects its origins in Islam and also recognizes the Chăm community’s distinct cultural and religious characteristics, in line with contemporary approaches in religious studies.
This is not merely a question of terminology but a question of who has the authority to define a religion.
Thiện Trường wrote this Religion Bulletin in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on April 16, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine owns the copyright for this English translation.
