Outlawed church group returns to Vietnam

A banned church in Vietnam has reappeared in the country’s northern Thanh Hoa province after many years with no presence or activities in the area, Vietnamese police said Tuesday.

The World Mission Society of the Church of God, also known as the Church of Mother God, has returned with 16 service locations, mainly in the city of Thanh Hoa, and around 500 followers, according to information on the provincial police website.

The embers in the group range in age from 18 to 50, and most are students and housewives, authorities said. They often promote their religion by approaching people in coffee shops, parks, and business workshops, especially at network marketing modeling events.

Freedom of religion is technically enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution, but the charter also allows authorities to override rights, including religious freedom, for the purposes of national security, social order, social morality, and community welfare.

The Church of God was established in 1964 by Ahn Sahng-hong, a South Korean minister whose followers believe he is the second coming of Jesus Christ. It has more than 3.3 million registered members in 175 countries, according to its website.

The group’s teachings depart significantly from mainstream Christian theology and it has been publicly criticized by former members and researchers for behaving like a cult by exerting control over its members.

RFA reported in March, police in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam ordered church members to stop following the religion.

Vietnam’s Religion and Belief Law requires religious groups to register their organizations and places of worship. Only organizations that have operated for at least five years can apply for registration. Once registered, organizations obtain the status of legal persons. However, many groups refuse to register out of fear of persecution or out of concern for their independence.

In December 2022, the United States placed Vietnam on a watch list of countries to be monitored for serious violations of religious freedom as the government continued to crack down on Christian churches and demolish Buddhist pagodas.

Translated by Anna Vu for Vietnamese FRG. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.