The union of Cao Dai churches and organisations held a meeting on November 8 in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre to review its operations over the past five years and map out plans for the future.

The event was attended by Dinh Quang Tien, deputy head of the Cao Dai Department at the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, representatives from the boards for religious affairs of Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An and Tay Ninh provinces as well as dignitaries and followers from 16 Cao Dai organisations nationwide.

Addressing the meeting, Tien lauded the effective operation of the union, the new model that is only seen in the Cao Dai religion, and urged the leaders of Cao Dai churches to make more efforts to enhance the solidarity and unity in the union.

One of the activities that the Government Committee for Religious Affairs will implement in 2015 is to collect comments on the Law on Religion, he said, calling for opinions from the Cao Dai churches and organisations.

Over the past five years, the Cao Dai churches and organisations have actively participated in various social and charity activities, raising over 177.6 billion VND for the needy, while standing side by side with the State in ensuring social welfares and reducing poverty.

During the meeting, participants agreed on the union’s future orientations, including launching more activities to help poor people and joining the Government’s efforts in poverty reduction and the new-style rural area building programme.-VNA