The hope of Catholics in Vietnam to gain national acceptance was forever lost with the fall of the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem following the assassination of the leader in Nov. 1963. Being a Catholic, Diem extended a number of concessions to his fellow Catholics during his term, such as government assistance, labor exemptions, political favors and preferential policies. This special treatment of the hundreds of thousands of Catholics who fled to the North out of fear of the Viet Minh angered South Vietnamese Buddhists, who were mainly responsible for the collapse of Diem's regime.