A report at the eventsaid that patriotic movements among the national Catholic community havebecome stronger and more effective in 2014, the first year that thecommittee has implemented the regulations and resolutions issued duringits sixth National Congress.
Local committees inprovinces and cities launched various movements designed to suit thespecific characteristics of each locality, such as the drive to build“model parishes” in Hanoi, Quang Ninh and Ha Nam, a movement encouragingCatholic parishes and families to join hands in building new-stylerural areas in Nam Dinh, and a campaign promoting the role of Catholicmothers in Dak Lak.
Religious dignitaries, parishesand Catholics nationwide have contributed tens of billions of VND andhundreds of thousands of working days to build infrastructure in theirlocalities in response to the national campaign to build new-style ruralareas.
In addition, charity continued to be afocus in the Catholic community’s activities, the report said,highlighting such examples as Father Huynh Cao Thuong in Ben Treprovince’s Giong Trom district who donated more than 500 million VND tocharity besides giving out one tonne of rice each month to the needy, orFather Phan Van Dien in Nam Dinh province who helped raise donations tobuild 50 houses and drill 20 water wells for the poor while providing100 lonely elderly people in the province each with 100 kg of rice everyyear.
In 2015, the committee plans to continueenhancing patriotic movements among the community, and organize thefourth national congress to honour role models among the Catholiccommunity.
Addressing the event, Vice President ofthe Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Le Ba Trinh laudedthe community for its active role in promoting patriotic movements, aswell as the pioneering role of the committee’s members in the movements.
He said he hopes the committee continues tocoordinate more closely with the VFF as well as other relevant agenciesin order to convey the legitimate wishes of the Catholic community tothe authorities, while popularising policies and laws of the Party andState as well as socio-economic plans to the churches, religiousorganisations, priests and followers, thus enhancing social consensusabout the cause of national construction and defence.
The VFF leader pledged that the VFF will support and create allpossible favourable conditions for the Catholic community to implementpatriotic movements, helping raise the role and social prestige of theCommittee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics in the nation and amongCatholic community.-VNA