Hue Archdiocese has kicked off a year of celebrations marking 170 years as a Catholic Church jurisdiction at a ceremony held on January 1.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee (VFF) in collaboration with the Government Committee for Religious Affairs (GCRA) held on December 31 an exchange meeting on the two-year implementation of the Law on Belief and Religion and its guiding Decree 162.

A reviewing conference for Buddhist affairs in 2019 of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) was held on December 30 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The street festival and “con” worshipping ceremony, as part of the sixth Vietnam-Laos-China ‘con’ throwing festival, kicked off in Muong Te district, the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau on December 29.

The Ministry of Home Affairs held on December 27 a national online conference in Hanoi.

A workshop discussing a plan for organising a “festival for peace” in the central province of Quang Tri, took place in local Dong Ha city on December 27, attracting the participation of managers, experts and researchers on culture and history nationwide.

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The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee (VFF) held on December 26 a seminar on the communication and advocacy work of the VFF amongst the Khmer community in Southwest region.

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s central committee for social charities on December 23 inagurated a rural bridge and presented charitable houses to two disadvantaged families in Ben Tre province’s Mo Cay Nam and Chau Thanh districts.

The Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Chapter in Bac Ninh province held on December 25 a meeting for reviewing its performance 2019 and outlining plans 2020.

Nam Dinh currently has 47,000 Catholics, accounting for 25% the provincial population, residing in 199 out of 229 communes and towns.

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The Almighty God Caodai Church held on December 24 a solemn ceremony in Can Tho city for celebrating its 45^th founding anniversary.

The event taking place Tay Thanh oratory in Ninh Kieu ward saw the presence of Director of the Caodai Affairs Department under the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Đinh Quang Tiến, representatives from other Caodai setcs and local authorities, and large numbers of deacons and members of the Almight God Caodai Church.

At the ceremony, the Almighty Caodai Church recalled its history as well as reviewed its activities in 2019.

As reported at the event, over the past year, the Church spent nearly one billion VND on construction and repairs of worshipping establishments and contributed over 500 million VND to social charity programs.

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The first certified Halal convenience store was put into service in Ho Chi Minh City on December 25, giving Muslimsin the southern metropolis more food choices.

The store, located at district 1’s Phan Chu Trinh Street and run by Saigon Trading Corporation, is certified by the representative board of the Muslim community in the city. 

With more than 300 Halal products, it is expected to be a shopping and culinary destination for visitors in HCM City in general and the Muslim community in particular.

Along with over 8,000 Muslims who have taken up residence, the southern economic hub welcomes an increasing number of Muslim tourists every year, leading to the birth of streets with shops exclusively serving the community around the Ben Thanh market.

Economists suggested businesses register for certification as it is a sign that tells halal customers their products are suitable for them.

They pointed out that halal market would be worth trillions of dollars as the Muslim population is expected to increase from 1.5 billion in 2010 to 2.7 billion by 2050./.

Source: en.vietnamplus.vn

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