Notable Religious Events in July 2026:
- Father Trương Bửu Diệp Beatified at Tắc Sậy
- Authorities Continue Harassing Followers of the Pure Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church
- Gia Lai Rejects Request to Return Sơn Ca Kindergarten to Chợ Đồn Parish
- Gia Lai Tries Four Independent Protestant Followers
- 119 People Penalized Over Alleged FULRO and Dega Protestant Links in First Half of 2026
Father Trương Bửu Diệp Becomes First Vietnamese Priest Beatified on Home Soil
On July 2, 2026, the Catholic Church celebrated a Mass beatifying Father Phanxicô Xaviê Trương Bửu Diệp at the Tắc Sậy Pilgrimage Center in the Diocese of Cần Thơ. It marked the first time a Vietnamese priest was beatified on Vietnamese soil and represented a major turning point for the Catholic Church in Việt Nam.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pope Leo XIV’s special envoy, presided over the Mass. More than 70,000 people attended, including dignitaries, worshippers, bishops, priests, and members of religious orders from Việt Nam and abroad.
During the opening ceremony, Cardinal Tagle proclaimed the pope’s apostolic letter, formally adding Father Trương Bửu Diệp to the Catholic Church’s register of the blessed.
According to Vatican News, the beatification recognizes the Vietnamese priest’s witness of faith and martyrdom while encouraging Catholics to follow his example of service, charity, and forgiveness.
In November 2024, Pope Francis issued a decree recognizing Father Trương Bửu Diệp as a martyr following a lengthy investigation.
Father Trương Bửu Diệp was born in An Giang in 1897 and ordained a priest in 1924. After serving the Vietnamese community in Cambodia and teaching at a major seminary, he was assigned to Bạc Liêu, where he established six new Catholic communities.
Amid unrest during the final years of World War II, Father Trương Bửu Diệp chose to remain with his parishioners despite being advised to leave. He was detained for questioning on March 12, 1946, and was confirmed killed several days later. After his death, his grave became a pilgrimage site where many worshippers prayed and reported receiving blessings.
Determining who was responsible for the death of Father Trương Bửu Diệp has remained controversial for years, with several competing accounts.
In November 2025, the Diocese of Cần Thơ rejected widely circulated claims that the Việt Minh was involved in his death, saying instead that two Japanese deserters were responsible.
In Catholicism, “blessed” is a title given to clergy or lay believers recognized as having lived with heroic virtue or who died as martyrs. Beatification is the third of four stages in the process leading to sainthood.
Efforts to secure Father Trương Bửu Diệp’s beatification were launched in August 2011, when the Diocese of Cần Thơ opened a diocesan investigation into his cause for sainthood. The investigation was completed, and a dossier containing tens of thousands of pages was submitted to the Vatican in 2017.
In 2019, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints confirmed that the dossier was valid and that the beatification process could proceed. In December 2025, the Vatican formally set and announced the ceremony date, more than a year after Pope Francis signed the decree recognizing Father Trương Bửu Diệp as a martyr.
Government Pressure Mounts on the Pure Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church
On July 3, 2026, the Pure Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church reported that its commemorations honoring Huỳnh Giáo Chủ (Huỳnh Phú Sổ), along with those organized by other independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist groups, continued to face interference from local authorities.
According to the Pure Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church, local authorities permitted the state-recognized Hòa Hảo Buddhist Executive Board to hold its major ceremony as planned. Independent groups, however, largely restricted themselves to conducting rituals in private homes or religious gathering places to preserve the church’s pre-1975 traditions. The organization said several ceremonial sites in Cần Thơ, Đồng Tháp, and An Giang were placed under surveillance, isolated, or prevented from receiving attendees.
On the 17th day of the fifth lunar month, authorities stopped several worshippers traveling to a ceremony at the home of Phan Văn Tài, deputy head of the Pure Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church’s Cần Thơ Executive Board, at the entrance to the alley. The incident led to an argument between worshippers and government personnel, even though local officials had previously told the family that it could hold a small gathering.
This was not the first such incident.
In January 2026, authorities in An Giang Province prevented worshippers from holding a major ceremony in Nhơn Mỹ Commune, Chợ Mới District, marking the 106th anniversary of Huỳnh Giáo Chủ’s birth.
The Pure Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church said the incidents demonstrate that independent religious organizations continue to face discrimination and are not fully guaranteed religious freedom. The church urged its followers to maintain their religious practices and expressed hope that Vietnamese authorities would expand freedom of religion and belief. It also called on the international community to continue monitoring Việt Nam’s implementation of its human rights and religious-freedom commitments.
Gia Lai Blocks Chợ Đồn Parish’s Bid to Reclaim Former School Site
In response to Chợ Đồn Parish’s request for the return of the former Sơn Ca Kindergarten site, the An Bình Ward People’s Committee in Gia Lai issued a written response on July 10, 2026, saying there was no basis for considering or approving the request.
The authorities said the parish’s request for the return of the 888.6-square-meter property was rejected because the state had managed and consistently used it for educational purposes for many years, in accordance with land and planning laws. The property remains in educational use, and funding has been allocated for repairs and upgrades in 2026 to serve local children. The authorities asked Chợ Đồn Parish to support the plan to continue renovating and using the site for education.
The authorities also said Chợ Đồn Parish had been allocated more than 5,700 square meters of religious land despite having just over 1,200 parishioners—nearly twice the local land-allocation limit for religious organizations. The response cited several parishes with less land but larger congregations: An Sơn Parish has 4,804 square meters for 2,113 parishioners, Kon Thụp Parish has 3,298.2 square meters for 1,041 parishioners, and Phú Yên Parish has 3,518 square meters for 4,240 parishioners.
The authorities added that the parish still has unused land. If some of its buildings have deteriorated and it needs additional facilities for religious activities, new construction may be carried out in accordance with the law.
On March 17, 2026, Chợ Đồn Parish submitted a petition to several levels of the Gia Lai government requesting the return of Sơn Ca Kindergarten’s former campus. According to Chợ Đồn Parish, the parish built the property in 1952 to educate local children. After 1975, the new government took control of the site for public education, but the parish maintains that the transfer was only temporary and did not constitute a donation of the property to the state.
The parish also cited minutes from a 2007 meeting in which the parties agreed to consider returning the property once it was no longer used for education. Sơn Ca Kindergarten has since constructed a new and modern campus, while several parish buildings have deteriorated, and the church lacks space to serve its congregation. The parish therefore petitioned the authorities to return the former site.
While awaiting a response, however, the parish said local authorities demolished part of the wall separating the school from the church, prompting objections from some parishioners.
On the afternoon of July 29, representatives from the Gia Lai Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs met with the Kon Tum Bishop’s Office regarding the property, which originated with Chợ Đồn Parish. During the meeting, the parish renewed its request for the relevant authorities to return the site based on the historical records and legal documents it had provided. The parish also asked the authorities to preserve the property’s current condition while the case remains under consideration.
Gia Lai Jails Four Independent Protestants for Up to 11 Years for “Undermining National Unity”
On July 23, 2026, the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Court opened a first-instance trial of four independent Protestant adherents charged with “undermining the national unity policy” under Article 116 of the Penal Code.
The four defendants were Rôh, Thông, Siu Di, and Đinh Yum. Siu Di and Đinh Yum are currently living abroad. The authorities alleged that the defendants exploited ethnic and religious issues to build a separatist force in the Central Highlands.
Specifically, the authorities accused them of joining Bahnar Đêga Kon Kông, an organization that officials have classified as reactionary and operating under the cover of religion.
Investigators alleged that between 2023 and September 2025, the defendants received instructions from people abroad to conduct propaganda, recruit residents into the organization, establish religious gathering groups in Gia Lai, compile membership lists, and send information overseas. They were also accused of receiving money and goods from abroad to sustain their activities.
At the conclusion of the trial, the court sentenced Siu Di and Đinh Yum to 11 years in prison each, Rôh to 10 years and Thông to seven years and six months. All four were also given two years of post-release supervision.
According to authorities, Bahnar Đêga Kon Kông is an offshoot of Dega Protestantism, which was established by exiled individuals seeking to create a separate religion and state for the Bahnar people in the Central Highlands.
The Vietnamese authorities have tightly controlled independent Protestant organizations in the Central Highlands for years. Following the attacks in Cư Kuin, Đắk Lắk, many worshippers reported harassment, restrictions on religious activities, and, in some cases, detention. This indicates that the authorities increasingly treat independent religious groups—particularly those operating in ethnic minority communities—as security concerns rather than as matters of religious freedom.
Gia Lai Targets 119 People Over Alleged FULRO and Dega Protestant Ties
On July 19, 2026, Gia Lai Provincial Police reported that the authorities had taken action against 119 people allegedly linked to FULRO and Dega Protestantism during the first six months of the year. Police also opened two criminal cases involving four defendants.
Provincial police also said they had advised the Provincial Party Committee’s Standing Committee to issue Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU, which strengthens the community-level “management and education” of people identified as having links to FULRO. The measure indicates that authorities continue to regard activities associated with these organizations as security threats connected to separatism in the Central Highlands.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), “Dega Protestantism” is a term used by the Vietnamese government to describe movements that it accuses of combining Protestant worship with political objectives. Human rights organizations, however, say the label is used to criminalize or undermine the legitimacy of ethnic minority religious communities.
CSW also cited a case publicized by state media in April 2026, when Gia Lai police announced that they had dismantled a group of more than 200 Bahnar people accused of involvement with FULRO and recommended prosecuting four of them.
Commenting on the developments, CSW founder and president Mervyn Thomas said Việt Nam was increasingly harassing and prosecuting religious groups through allegations involving FULRO or Dega Protestantism. He called on the government to end actions that CSW considers violations of religious freedom.
Gia Lai authorities said they had persuaded 41 people to return to Việt Nam from Thailand and had intensified efforts to prevent unauthorized border crossings. Meanwhile, a 2025 Radio Free Asia report said many of the roughly 1,500 Vietnamese asylum seekers in Thailand were Montagnards from the Central Highlands and H’Mông followers of independent Protestant denominations.
Some refugees told the BBC that they had fled Việt Nam after the authorities pressured them to renounce their faith or harassed them over their religious activities. The Vietnamese government has consistently denied such allegations and maintains that the law protects freedom of religion and belief.
Thiện Trường wrote this Religion Bulletin in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 10, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated this article into English.
