He hosted a reception for representatives from the new Patronage Council andthe new Executive Council of the VBS in Hanoi on November 23.
Listening to the outcomesof the congress, he expressed his hope that the Patronage Council and theExecutive Council in the 2017-2022 term will work to encourage monks, nuns andfollowers to join in soundly implementing Party guidelines and policies andState law while performing their citizen duties and responsibilities.
They should also work to promote unity and harmony between Buddhism and otherreligions and people of all walks of life, he added.
He noted that the Party, State and people have always treasured and highlyvalued concrete contributions of the VBS and its monks, nuns and followers tothe national great unity bloc and the nation-building effort.
The Party and State have over the past years consistently pursued the policy ofrespecting and safeguarding the right to belief and religion of people whilecreating conditions for religions to exercise their faith practices incompliance with law and preserve and promote their good values.
The success of the eighth National Congress of the VBS reflected the care ofthe Party, State, relevant ministries and localities to Vietnam Buddhism, hesaid.
The VBS’s eighth congress concluded in Hanoi on November 22, with MostVenerable Thich Pho Tue re-honoured as Supreme Patriarch of the VBS.
The event wasattended by 1,250 Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers both at homeand abroad.
The congress alsoelected 96 members of the Patronage Council with Most Venerable Thich Pho Tueas the Patriarch of the council’s standing board, along with 225 officialmembers and 45 alternate members of the Executive Council headed by MostVenerable Thich Thien Nhon for the 2017-2022 tenure.
The VBS has chaptersin all 63 cities and provinces, and Associations of Vietnamese Buddhists in 11countries worldwide. There are four Buddhism universities, eight college-leveltraining programmes and 34 primary Buddhism schools. -VNA