Ben Tre (VNA) – Cao Dai churches and organisations nationwide have teamed up for charity activities and improved religious practice, a conference in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre heard.
At the March 27 conference to review outcomes of coordination between the Cao Dai churches and organisations, it was noted that in 2015, 52 billion VND (2.34 million USD) was raised for charity activities, doubling the figure recorded before the establishment of the collaboration.
Hailing the results, Nguyen Dac Tuan, head of the Caodaism Department under the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs, said the Party’s and State’s policies and laws, particularly those on land, environmental protection and good deeds, should be popularised more in the sect’s publications.
He also called for greater efforts to encourage Cao Dai followers to observe the State’s guidelines, policies and laws, and actively take part in new-style rural area building and production.
A joint organisation of legally recognised Cao Dai churches and organisations was established eight years ago with the aim to strengthen their solidarity, and support each other in religious practice and social activities.
Founded in 1926 in the southern province of Tay Ninh, Cao Dai is one of the major religions in Vietnam with more than 2.5 million followers, 10,000 dignitaries and 1,000 places of worship.
The religion worships the Divine Eye, known as the eye of heaven and a symbol of its supreme being. Cao Dai’s doctrine honours the Divine and the miraculous quality of supreme spirits, and considers them a means for humans to unify with God.-VNA
