Vietnam: Christians Face New Hurdles In Establishing Churches

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Christians in Vietnam now face new hurdles in planting churches as the government has issued Decree 95, a law which requires religious groups to submit financial records and allows officials to close down religious activities for unspecified “serious violations,” Christianity Today reports.

In a statement, Nguyen Ti Dinh of Vietnam’s religious affairs committee said Decree 95 will assist the government to implement uniform measures for the 2018 Law on Belief and Religion, which requires religious groups to register with the authorities. “Observers believe the decree is Vietnam’s attempt to demonstrate to the international community that it is trying to increase religious liberty and to get off the US State Department’s Special Watch List for countries engaged in religious freedom violations,” Christianity Today noted in its report.

Vietnam was placed on the US Special Watch List in 2022 after the State Department determined, among numerous other things, that: “For the fourth year in a row, authorities did not recognize any new religious organizations, including chapters of larger, previously approved groups. During the year, the Vietnam Baptist Convention (VBC) filed approximately 40 registration requests for collective religious practice in northern mountain provinces, but few were successful.”

In a website statement about Christian persecution in Vietnam, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization reported: “While historical Christian communities, like Roman Catholic churches, enjoy some freedom, both non-traditional Protestants and those who convert from indigenous religions face intense pressure and violence for their faith…there has also been an increase in violent attacks on church buildings, and in the number of church leaders arrested.”

Buddhist-majority Vietnam ranks 35 on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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