The Government Committee for Religious Affairs (GCRA) held a national conference on one-year implementation of the Law on Belief and Religion 2016 on January 18 in Hanoi.
The conference was chaired by Chairman of the government religious committee Vũ Chiến Thắng and Vice Chairmen of the GCRA Bùi Thanh Hà and Trần Tấn Hùng, and attended by representative leaders of the provincial religious committee of all 63 provinces and cities in the country, and all officials and staff of the GCRA.
Dr. Vũ Chiến Thắng, Chairman of the GCRA speaks at the conference
The Law on Belief and Religion enacted in 2016 and its guiding Decree 162 promulgated in 2017 took effect in January 2018.
As reported at the conference, the new law on belief and religion reaffirms the right to freedom of belief and religion and its implementation in the real life contributed to make administrative procedures in the field of belief and religion simpler with shortened times, improve relations between religious organizations and state authorities at various levels, as well as better mobilizes religious resources for social development.
The implementation of the Law on Belief and Religion and the government decree No. 162/2017/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the new law since it took effect on January 1, 2018 has created a stable legal corridor, as well as has brought favorable conditions for religious practices by religious organizations and individuals.
These results were also attributed to efforts of the state sector on religious affairs as well as of religious individuals and organizations throughout the country in the dissemination work and strict observance of the new legal framework on religion.
The conference also pointed out difficulties and challenges in the implementation of the new belief and religious law in localities, including remaining different interpretations of concepts of ‘religious organization’, ‘dependent religious organization’, distinction between ‘religious dignitary’ and ‘religious deacon’, the difficulties in practically defining the locality of religious operation’ and obtaining the judicial certification, etc.
On the occasion, Chairman of the government religious committee Vũ Chiến Thắng presented certificates of recommendation to 79 groups and 163 individuals from provincial-level religious committees for their outstanding contributions to the state administration on religion in 2018.
Presenting certificates of recommendation to outstanding groups and individuals
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