The Vietnam War has been explained, explained away and debate endlessly in terms of foreign policy, economics, military strategy humanitarian concern. Ironically, what has been all but overlooked is one oi the most important components of the complex Vietnam problem: the role which religion plays, both North and South, in that tortured country.
In an effort to inform the Western reader of the religious dimensions of Vietnam. Piero Gheddo, an Italian priest-journalist, has written The Cross and the Bo-tree. He bases his book on personal observations and on hundreds of interviews with religious figures, Buddhist, Catholic and Protestant. He is concerned to show that in addition to the contending giants there is a third force-the Buddhist and Catholic populuce, whose commitment to their faith runs far deeper than their loyalty to any ideology or their allegiance to any political regime. Unless both military and political strategists take into account this religious "force”, Gheddo maintains, a real end to the war is impracticable and an enduring peace illusory.