A forgotten sacred army: the birth of the Vietnamese chaplaincy in the state of Vietnam's army

Purpose This article examines the delayed establishment and limited operation of Catholic chaplaincy in the State of Vietnam's Army during the First Indochina War (1945–1954). It seeks to explain why, despite the significant presence of Catholic soldiers, pastoral care remained marginal until the final phase of the conflict. By situating military chaplaincy within broader processes of state-building and Vietnamization, the article aims to demonstrate how the absence of timely spiritual support affected military morale and reflected deeper structural limitations of the State of Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a historical analysis based on Vietnamese government archival materials, including documents from the Prime Minister's Palace Record Group, official regulations and correspondence involving ecclesiastical authorities, alongside selected secondary scholarship. These sources are analyzed within the broader historiography of the First Indochina War and the State of Vietnam. The article combines institutional history with analysis of religious and military dynamics to assess the relationship between chaplaincy, morale and state legitimacy. Findings The article finds that the creation of Catholic chaplaincy in 1953 occurred too late to address the spiritual needs of Vietnamese soldiers, many of whom had already experienced prolonged moral and ideological strain. Although Catholics constituted roughly ten percent of the army, pastoral care remained limited and uneven. This failure was not merely administrative but reflected enduring colonial hierarchies and the constrained autonomy of the State of Vietnam. The chaplaincy's restricted scope limited its capacity to influence morale or loyalty within the armed forces. Originality/value By focusing on military chaplaincy, this article offers a novel perspective on the First Indochina War that integrates religion into analyses of warfare and state formation. It contributes to existing scholarship by demonstrating how religious institutions shaped, and were constrained by, colonial legacies within ostensibly national military structures. The study highlights the importance of spiritual care in sustaining military morale and provides new insights into the structural weaknesses of non-Communist state-building efforts in late colonial Vietnam.