President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man and a delegation of the VBS (Source: tapchimattran.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man hailed the constructive response of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) to patriotic movements and campaigns launched by the VFF.
At a meeting with a delegation of the VBS in Hanoi on November 30, Man expressed his hope that the VBS will pay more attention to intensifying solidarity among Vietnamese Buddhist followers, contributing to building the great national unity bloc.
He said the Law on Belief and Religion, which was approved at the second plenary session of the 14th National Assembly and took effect since January 1, 2018, has affirmed guidelines and policies of the Party and State on ensuring belief and religious activities in line with political and socio-economic conditions of the country, and upholding the role and potential of religious organisations and individuals in national construction and defence.
Most Venerable Thich Thien Duc, General Secretary and Vice President of the VBS’s Executive Council, informed Man about outcomes of the eighth congress of the VBS that took place in Hanoi from November 19-22, 2017.
The congress re-honoured Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue as Supreme Patriarch of the VBS, and elected 96 members of the Patronage Council and 225 official members of the Executive Council, he said.
The VBS has chapters in all 63 cities and provinces, and Associations of Vietnamese Buddhists in 11 countries worldwide. There are four Buddhism universities, eight college-level training programmes and 34 primary Buddhism schools.
Buddhist followers number nearly 40 million in Vietnam, making up more than 40 percent of the nation’s population.-VNA
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