VFF leader extends greetings on Buddha birthday

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (M) ​visits the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (Source: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan on May 7 visited Buddhist dignitaries in Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of Lord Buddha’s 2561st birthday.  

Meeting with Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon, President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Executive Council, the VFF leader wished Buddhist dignitaries and followers a joyful holiday.

He lauded the VBS’s contributions to carrying on Buddha’s traditions and encouraging Buddhist followers to follow policies and guidelines of the Party and State, especially patriotic movements and those on pre-school education, social welfare, environmental protection and climate change response.

For his part, Nhon said as a member of the VFF, the VBS will take an active part in programmes and campaigns launched by the front as well as other social activities.

Visiting Tinh do cu si Phat hoi (the Pure Land Buddhist Home-Practice Association), Nhan affirmed that the Party, State and VFF will create the best possible conditions for religions, including the association, to practise their belief and contribute to national construction and development.

Nguyen Phuong Hieu, head of the Association’s Central Executive Board, said the association has actively contributed to social development, especially in public health care.

Vietnam is now home to more than 48,000 Buddhist monks and nuns who are practicing the religion in over 17,000 Buddhist sites of worship with each receiving up to 1,000 followers annually.-VNA