Abstract
This paper examines the digital transformation of religious governance through a comparative study of the Catholic Church in Poland and the Buddhist Sangha in Vietnam. Both countries share a socialist legacy, yet their trajectories diverge significantly: Poland’s Catholic Church has maintained autonomy and public influence, while Vietnam’s Buddhist Sangha has been institutionalised under state supervision. Drawing on secondary sources, including legal documents, policy frameworks, and scholarship on digital religion, the paper analyses how digital technologies are integrated into religious management and public presence. Findings suggest that in Poland, digitalisation strengthens religious autonomy and fosters public dialogue, whereas in Vietnam, it enhances state capacity for centralised control while promoting Buddhism as a vehicle for cultural and ethical education. The study contributes to broader discussions on the interplay between religion, politics, and digital society in post-totalitarian contexts.
This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
References
- Ban Tôn giáo Chính phủ [Government Committee for Religious Affairs]. 2020. Báo cáo tổng kết công tác quản lý nhà nước về tôn giáo năm 2020 [Annual Report on State Management of Religion, 2020]. Hanoi: Government Committee for Religious Affairs.
- Ban Tôn giáo Chính phủ [Government Committee for Religious Affairs]. 2021. Ứng dụng công nghệ thông tin trong quản lý tôn giáo [Applying Information Technology in Religious Governance]. Hanoi: Government Committee for Religious Affairs.
- Borowik, Irena. 2002. ‘The Roman Catholic Church in the Process of Democratic Transformation: The Case of Poland’. Social Compass, 49(2), pp. 239–252. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768602049002008
- Byrnes, Timothy A. 1996. Politics and the Catholic Church in Poland. New York: Routledge.
- Campbell, Heidi A. and Golan, Oren. 2011. ‘Creating Digital Prayer Worlds: Constructing Online Religious Experience on the Israeli Web’. Information, Communication & Society, 14(8), pp. 1212–1230. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2011.597416
- Campbell, Heidi A. and Evolvi, Giulia. 2020. ‘Contextualizing Current Digital Religion Research on Emerging Technologies and Religion’. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7, Article 15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00580-5
- Campbell, Heidi A. and Tsuria, Ruth (eds.). 2021. Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in Digital Media. 2nd ed. London-New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429295683
- Casanova, José. 1994. Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226190204.001.0001
- Davie, Grace. 2000. Religion in Modern Europe: A Memory Mutates. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198280651.001.0001
- Garton Ash, Timothy. 1984. The Polish Revolution: Solidarity. New York: Scribner.
- Helland, Christopher. 2005. ‘Online Religion as Lived Religion: Methodological Issues’, in Højsgaard, Morten T. and Warburg, Margit (eds.). Religion and Cyberspace. London: Routledge, pp. 205–219.
- Kurtz, Lester R. 1996. ‘The Vietnamese Buddhist Struggle and the Politics of Self-Immolation, 1963’. Sociology of Religion, 57(3), pp. 275–290. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3711947
- Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam [Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee]. 1981. Nghị quyết về công tác tôn giáo [Resolution on Religious Mobilization]. Hanoi: VFF Central Committee.
- National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 2016. Law on Belief and Religion (No. 02/2016/QH14). Hanoi.
- Nguyễn Lang. 1994. Việt Nam Phật giáo sử luận [A History of Vietnamese Buddhism]. Ho Chi Minh City: Nhà Xuất bản Văn học [Literature Publishing House].
- Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn. 2016. Nhà nước và tôn giáo ở Việt Nam [State and Religion in Vietnam]. Hanoi: Nhà Xuất bản Tôn giáo [Religious Publishing House].
- Phạm Quỳnh Phương. 2009. Hero and Deity: Trần Hưng Đạo and the Resurgence of Popular Religion in Vietnam. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1355/9789812308877
- Porter-Szűcs, Brian. 2011. Faith and Fatherland: Catholicism, Modernity, and Poland. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Standing Committee of the National Assembly (Vietnam). 2004. Ordinance on Belief and Religion [Pháp lệnh Tín ngưỡng, Tôn giáo]. Hanoi.
- Taylor, Charles. 2007. A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Thích Nhật Từ. 2010. Phật giáo và xã hội đương đại [Buddhism and Contemporary Society]. Ho Chi Minh City: Nhà Xuất bản Tôn giáo [Religious Publishing House].
- Weigel, George. 1992. The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195071603.001.0001
- Zubrzycki, Geneviève. 2006. The Crosses of Auschwitz: Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226993058.001.0001
- Żuk, Piotr. 2012. The Catholic Church and Politics in Poland. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
