At the reception

Joining the reception included Counsellor at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Vietnam Bakeeva Ekaterina.

During the reception, while appreciating the warm welcome of the GCRA for the visiting delegation, Bishop Metropolitan Pavel shared with the host about the Russian Orthodox Church, with its followers currently account for nearly 80 percent of the Russian Federation’s population. Bishop Pavel also expressed hope that the GCRA would pay due attention and create favourable conditions for religious practices of Russian Orthodox followers in Vietnam, contributing to strengthen bilateral relations between Vietnam and Russian Federation.

At the event, Vice Chairman Nguyễn Ánh Chứng informed the guests the belief & religious life in Vietnam, stating that Vietnam currently has 43 religious organizations recognized or registered for religious operation by the state, with over 30,000 religious worshipping places, people worshipping belief & religious accounting for about 95 percent of the country’s population, with over 500,000 belief places and about 13,000 traditional festivals, including several festivals with foreign origins. The GCRA official affirmed that the country’s consistent policy is to respect the freedom of religion and belief of the people, with many state policies and laws relating to belief & religion have been promulgated, including the Decree 95 dated December 29, 2023 detailing articles and measures to implement the law on belief & religion 2016 replacing the Decree 162 dated December 30, 2017.

According to the vice chairman, religious organizations in Vietnam have also regularly participated in domestic and foreign seminars and conferences, and proactively contributed to socio-economic development, national construction and defense in the country.

Nguyên Hải