Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and a Government delegation pay tribute to Deputy Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha's Discernment Council Most Venerable Thich Thanh Sam. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and a Government delegation on March 14 paid tribute to Deputy Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha's Discernment Council Most Venerable Thich Thanh Sam who passed away on March 13 in Bac Ninh province at the age of 90.
Writing on the funeral book, Deputy PM Binh showed his deep sorrow, stating that Most Venerable Thich Thanh Sam was a good example of a dignitary who devotedly cared for the development of Buddhism and the nation.
“He was a vivid evidence of the close ties between Buddhism and the nation,” Binh wrote, stressing the Most Venerable’s passing is a great loss to the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, monks and Buddhist followers both at home and abroad.
Most Venerable Thich Thanh Sam became a monk when he was 13.
He joined the revolution against the French colonists and was arrested and detained by the enemy in 1952. When peace was resumed in 1954, he engaged in teaching farmers in Cao Duc commune, Gia Binh district of Bac Ninh to read and write.
He became a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1962.
Most Venerable Thich Thanh Sam was an active member of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha since the organization was formed in 1981. He was elected as Vice President of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha at the fifth national congress of the organization in 2002, and then Deputy Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Discernment Council in the next congress.
In 2004, he was elected as a member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.
He made numerous contributions to Buddhism and the nation and had been conferred with the first and third class Independence Order, the second class War Resistance Order, among others.
The dignitary’s funeral will be held on March 16 in Kinh Bac ward, Bac Ninh city in Bac Ninh province.
Earlier, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Secretariat and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation Truong Thi Mai, and representatives of many ministries, sectors and localities as well as Buddhist followers also paid homage to the deceased.-VNA
VNA
