President Truong Tan Sang addresses the 6th Congress of the Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics

(VOVworld) President Truong Tan Sang has praised the Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics at the sixth congress of Vietnamese Catholic representatives in Hanoi on Wednesday. The event attracted nearly 500 delegates, Catholic dignitaries and followers from nationwide. He noted that since its establishment 30 years ago, the Committee has successfully performed its vision of uniting and encouraging Catholics to become actively involved in the patriotic emulation movements, boosting socio-economic development, reducing poverty, and promoting the importance of cultural and religious values within communities, contributing to local security and social order.

In recognition of the hard work and efforts of the Catholic community and in the interests of development, President Sang pledged that the Party and State would continue to provide care and offer the best possible conditions for religious activities to succeed: “The Vietanmese Party guidelines and State policies always aim at respecting and ensuring the right to freedom of belief, religion and non-belief, and non-religion for all people. The Party and State always facilitates religious organizations to practice according to the Chapters and regulations that are recognized by the State and in line with law. The Party and State encourages religious organizations, dignitaries and followers to harmonize a secular life with the practice of faith, actively participate in national construction and defense, and contribute to realizing the goal of building Vietnam into a country of peace, independence, unity, territorial integrity, rich people, prosperity, democracy, equality and civilization and eliminating all prejudices regarding the past, classes and differences for the national common interest. We should uphold the national spirit, the tradition of humanity and compassion to unite all people”.

The President asked the Committee to promote its role as a bridge linking religious and secular life, and encourage people to respond to the Party guidelines and state policies as well as actively participate in patriotic emulation movements.