This Date in History: Buddhism vs. Catholicism in Vietnam

August 17, 1963: Pope Paul VI appealed to President Diem of Vietnam to end the religious crisis that had been plaguing Vietnam through much of the year. Six Buddhist monks had set themselves on fire and thousands had rioted to protest the government's repression of Buddhism. Ultimately then repression does not end until the Diem government, controlled by a Catholic family, was overthrown in a coup in November, 1963.