Vietnam Religious Records

Asia Vietnam

Buddhism from India and Taoism from China were introduced in ancient times. They merged with traditional Confucius thought and elements of original folklore to create a complex melange of faith and ceremony uniquely Vietnamese. Most people consider themselves to be Buddhists, which claim 75% of the population. 6% belong to the Hoa Hoa sect (a break off from Buddhism), and 8% belong to the Caodai Union, a synthesis of Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. About 4% maintain native animist religions. The Christian community was fairly large prior to unification. Current membership figures are less certain. Catholics are estimated at 5% of the population, and Protestant groups about 1%. There are also Muslim and Hindu minorities.

Christianity was brought to Vietnam by Catholic missionaries from Portugal, Spain, and France during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1700 there were nearly one million Catholics, most of them concentrated in the Cochin China region in the south. The 18th century was a time of indiscriminate persecution of Catholic missionaries and converts, and their numbers declined significantly. After France established firm control of Vietnam in the 1880s the Catholic Church found itself strongly supported by the government. By the end of the French period there were approximately two million Catholics in the country, with almost half of them in the North. When the communist regime gained control in the North, most of the Catholics fled South.