The Commission on Charitable and Social Action – Caritas Vietnam under the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Vietnam solemnly held its 2013 annual conference themed “Brothers: Feed them yourselves” at Xuan Loc diocese in the southern province of Dong Nai on November 27-29.
The November 27 opening ceremony saw the presence of Bishop Dominic Nguyễn Chu Trinh, Chairman of Caritas Vietnam; Bishop Joseph Nguyễn Văn Yến, Vice Chairman of Caritas Vietnam; and Bishop Joseph Đinh Đức Đạo – Auxiliary Bishop of Xuan Loc diocese; as well as representatives from the Committees on Evangelization, Migration, and Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Vietnam, and Caritas of 26 dioceses, male and female Catholic orders, and social experts from Caritas Vietnam.
Representatives from the authorities included Mr. Phạm Dũng, Deputy Minister of Home Affair cum Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs; Mr. Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Deputy Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilization; Mr. Dương Ngọc Tấn, Vice Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs together with representatives from some departments of the Committee and agencies of Dong Nai province.
This year’s event marked the 5th anniversary of the re-establishment of Caritas Vietnam. It also aimed to review what the committee has done over the past five years and map out its future orientations.
By the authorization of the Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, Mr. Dương Ngọc Tấn, Vice Chairman of the Committee, affirmed that since its re-establishment five years ago, Caritas Vietnam has seen stable operations and made practical contributions to charitable activities as defined in its motto “Living the Gospel amid the nation, promoting love, compassion and fellowship among all people in the society, and providing emergency aid to those in need in cases of natural disasters and epidemics." He expressed his hope that Caritas Vietnam will continue upholding its fine traditions, together with the all-level authorities, to help people with difficulties and carry out charitable activities in line with the guidelines of the Vietnam Catholic Church and the policies and law of the State, thus proving the Christ’s mission of “loving and serving” amidst the nation./.
Some images at the conference:
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