State President Nguyen Minh Triet and other senior State and Party officials sent flowers to a workshop to commemorate the late Archbishop Phaolo Nguyen Van Binh on the 100th anniversary of his birth on September 1.

Almost 400 priests, nuns, Catholics and researchers came to the event to remember the first top cleric of the Sai Gon-Ho Chi Minh City archdiocese.

Cardinal Pham Minh Man, the current HCM City church Archbishop, emphasised the need to look to the past in an effort to conserve and innovate the common house for the current and future generations.

He called on Catholics to live in the spirit of, “A good Catholic is a good citizen”, to join hands in building a home for the family of everyone, a home for the community, a home for religions and a home for society, as four strong poles of a firm foundation.

All this should be done in the service of national development and the happiness of compatriot fellows and human beings, said the cardinal.

On the same day, a mass was held at the Jesus grand seminary oratory in commemoration of the 100 th anniversary of the birth of the late Archbishop, in the presence of municipal senior officials, including municipal People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan.

Duong Quan Ha, Chairman of the city’s Fatherland Front Committee, recalled the late Archbishop as a kind-hearted and generous cleric, who had led the municipal Catholic community to develop in harmony with the city’s growth.

He also recalled the late Archbishop’s great contributions to municipal stability and development.

One day earlier, the municipal Committee for Catholic Solidarity held a mass for the same purpose and a prayer for “The national peace and people’s happiness” on the 65th National Day./.