Closer relations between the Vatican and Vietnam have raised eyebrows over why the Catholic Church is making friends with a state where religious organizations are tightly under the thumb of the communist authorities.

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While Catholics account for just 6% of Vietnam’s population, they represent around half of all Vietnamese who identify as being religious, according to a 2019 census.

But Vietnam has been accused of flagrantly violating the rights of religious organizations and groups, especially congregations of the country’s ethnic minorities, who are adherents of various Buddhist sects, Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as a number of religions deemed illegal by the communist government.

In December 2022, the United States put Vietnam on a special watch list on religious freedom for “having engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom.” Months later, the communist authorities released a white book on religious policies that purported to outline a “comprehensive” policy for guaranteeing religious freedom.

In early 2018, Vietnam passed a law requiring religious communities to register their organizations and places of worship with the government before they are allowed to engage in religious activity.

However, a report by the US State Department in 2022 noted that the authorities had not recognized any new religious organizations, including chapters of larger, previously approved groups, in the previous four years.