Vietnam

The Government Committee for Religious Affairs released the white book on religions and religious policies in Vietnam at a conference held by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications in Hanoi on March 9.

A 132-page book consists of three chapters, providing introduction to basic information about religions in Vietnam, its religious policies as well as achievements, challenges and advantages in ensuring the right to freedom of belief and religion.

The book introduces 16 popular religions in Vietnam, including Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Caodaism, and Hoa Hao Buddhism, among others.

It also presents the Communist Party of Vietnam's view on beliefs and religions during the renewal period, the right to freedom of belief and religion stipulated in the country’s Constitution, regulations on religious activities in current legal documents.

The first Constitution in 1946 and its revised editions always affirm that, the right to freedom of belief and religion is one of the fundamental rights of human beings. The 2013 Constitution specifies that, the right to freedom of belief and religion is a right of all people.