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email: all the catholic church in the vietnam war The Catholic church played an instrumental role in supporting the government of South Vietnam during the Vietnamese War by feeding, clothing, and providing spiritual support the Vietnamese people. Historically the people of Vietnam were of a Buddhist background, until the Roman Catholic French missionaries introduced Catholicism inthe 1600 s into the early 1800 s. France decided to take complete control of the country 1867, in part because of religious persecution against the missionaries, and ruled until 1954. In the century preceding what has come to be called the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese people were subjected to invasion by the French and the Japanese, with each powerful nation trying to maintain colonial power. By 1954, the Vietnamese people were successful in driving the French colonialists from their land. Following the withdrawal of the French from Vietnam, struggle for regional power took place among the various military and political groups that had arisen in opposition to the French.
In the north, Ho Chi Minh, an ardent communist rose tower, while in the south the Catholic capitalist Ngo Dinh Diem took control of the civil and military apparatus. In the north, the choice of religion was guaranteed by the communist constitution. Religion of any type was not well received by the communists, however. Diem used the historical intolerance of religion, for which the communist were known worldwide, to exploit the fears of the Catholic Vietnamese living in the north. As many as 800, 000 North Vietnamese migrated to the south where they were integrated into the South Vietnamese society (World Book 292).
This strengthened Diem s nation by increasing the population with reliable Catholics that opposed communism, and weakened the empire of his opposing force. It also galvanized the American Catholics in supporting the South Vietnamese because this was such a massive exodus of Catholics fleeing a communist environment. In South Vietnam, Diem was closely aligned with the Catholic church. A close relative was bishop in South Vietnam who had close ties with the Church leadership inthe United States. The Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy was interested in shoring up the South Vietnamese government from the dangers of the communist north.
President John F. Kennedy ordered a step-up in military advisors, in military aid, including the increase of American advisers, technicians, pilots, and planes. By February, 1962, about 2, 700 U. S. advisers had arrived. By November, 1963 when Kennedy was assassinated there were about 16, 300 U.
S. military men in South Vietnam (World Book 293). Much of the support and sympathy from the United States was originally expressed through CRS, or Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief agency of the Catholic Church in the United States. Initially the project was funded internally through collections and appeals, with the aid going to the impoverished citizens of South Vietnam. With the passage of time however, politics in Vietnam and in the United States came to play a much larger role in how aid was raised and distributed. President Kennedy figured he could help the South Vietnamese more by giving aid in the form of food and medical supplies, than he could by supplying military goods.
The CRS already being stationed there and contributing generously, influenced his decision heavily. The step of directing this food supply to the South Vietnamese Government s local military forces and families was undertaken by CRS as a wage increase to the soldiers requested by U. S. General William Westmoreland (Quigley 102). The evolution of the CRS, from a non- political relief agency to basically a tools the U. S.
government and the Catholic Church in their efforts to influence the war results, is a significant and telling development in the politics of this war. Historically, the church has been against war involving the killing of any people, soldiers and civilians alike. In certain circumstances however, The Catholic Church felt war could be justified and deemed appropriate if it was seen as necessary to save a people or land. War can be just only if employed to defend a stable order, or morally preferable cause against threats of destruction or the rise of injustice (Long 24). Eventhough the CRS was originally a conduit for strictly humanitarian aid, the United States and The Church recognized it s value to provide additional support to the military of South Vietnam in it s endeavor to gain an advantage over the North. The Catholic Church supported the American involvement of troops in Vietnam because they felt its justified, and necessary in order to retain peace and suppress the growth of the communists in the north (Drinan 72).
The American Catholics, through the CRS, and influenced by the U. S. political forces, were gradually increasing their influencing in a military confrontation halfway around the world. The money that was being offered in collection baskets on Sunday was not being directed to the humanitarian assistance that it was intended for. The Catholic Relief Services distributed over half of its food and rations in Vietnam to the South Vietnamese Militia. CRS chose to increase pay by means of food to South Vietnamese soldiers before feeding refugees, orphans, and school children (Quigley 102).
Even as the American Catholics through the CRS were providing assistance to the military of South Vietnam under the guise of humanitarian aid, other Catholic Relief agencies opposed the position of attempting to influence the war s outcome, or choosing to help only one side in the conflict. Within the Catholic Church many felt that the aid being collected for Vietnam should be directed toward a more neutral recipient, such aside peasant population in both the North and South. The CRS maintained that aid could only be delivered safely to the South. As the bishop who is the executive director of CRS has said with regard to helping suffering civilians in North Vietnam, It would be apply and just thing to do. But it is simply impossible. (Quigley 102).
Perhaps the only impossible, or missing, component was the resolve of the involved parties, as is evidence the fact that other Catholic relief agencies were successful in providing aid to North Vietnam. The action of the relief agency of the American Church stands in contrast to Caritas Internationalists, the Vatican based relief body, which has sent medical supplies to North Vietnam (Quigley 102). Because of the long history of unrest in the country, the limited educational opportunities, and limited available resources, the people of Vietnam were dependent onthe aid provided by the Catholic Church. The CRS took advantage of the starving peasants in Vietnam by only aiding, through food and medicine, those who became baptized and aligned with the Catholic Church.
Thus the church was recruiting rice bowl Catholics to help it strengthen it s influence in, and the outcome of, politics in Vietnam. The Catholic Church of America, through the CRS, crossed a boundary when they chose to pick sides in the Vietnam War, and deny any assistance to the North. Itwasn t their place to decide who was deserving of humanitarian aid. Pope Paul quoted St.
Ambrose in his encyclical on the development of nations, referring to the attitude ofthe early Church fathers regarding the duties of those with superfluous goods in these words: You are not making a gift of your possessions tothe poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given to all, andnot to the rich (Drinan 103). The importance, power and potential influence of the Catholic Church is bigger than the changing politics of nations. The reason that the Church has survived to provide the many good works that exist today is because it has historically looked beyond choosing sides in nationalist political issues.
The humanitarian works of the church have supported the oppressed and needy of the world, and the holy work of the past have been tainted by the actions of the CRS in choosing to withhold assistance from innocent victims of war in order to influence the outcome of the war. The CRS and other Catholic relief services intended to comfort and aid the Vietnamese who were being adversely effected by the war. Gradually their assistance was directed tothe soldiers to bolster the efforts of one side in the conflict. This assistance allowed the South to continue fighting longer than it otherwise might have been able to do.
It ironic that the initial intentions to provide humanitarian assistance to a struggling peasant people backfired against them. Thus the overall effect of the diverted assistance was to prolong the fighting, and cause more death to the Vietnamese people, both North and South, and to the U. S. soldiers that were 34 c
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