Peace of Loc My parish

The model has become the nucleus contributing to stabilizing security and order in the area, effectively serving the development task of Catholics in particular and the people of Nghi Quang commune in general.

Located in the area of ​​2 all-Catholic hamlets and ½ hamlet with mixed parishioners, accounting for 50% of the total population of Nghi Quang coastal commune, the 2 parishes of Loc My and Duc Vong of Loc My parish have about 3,000 parishioners, currently led by Father Truong Van Truong as parish priest since January 2015. The life of the parishioners in the area is mainly fishing and aquaculture.

In 2016, to build and effectively and practically implement the movement of the entire people to protect the national security in the area, with the attention of Party committees and authorities at all levels and the consensus of dignitaries, officials and parishioners in the two parishes, the Party committee and government of Nghi Quang commune coordinated to launch and implement "Peaceful parishes without lawbreakers and social evils".

Loc My Parish Church, Nghi Quang (Nghi Loc). Photo: source Loc My Parish

Currently, in the commune, there are 2 Catholic hamlets that have established self-management teams, people's patrol teams and 1 parish order team with 32 members performing the function of ensuring security and order in hamlets, parish areas and coordinating with the commune police force to organize patrols, fight against all types of crimes and violations of the law.

In order for the activities of the people's patrol and self-management teams to achieve high results, in addition to the help of the Party Committee, the government, the commune police force and mass organizations in the area, the Priest himself, the Parish Pastoral Council, and the two parishes regularly coordinate to propagate to the parishioners to strictly comply with and implement Directive No. 01/2015/CT-TTg dated January 9, 2015 of the Prime Minister on organizing the mass movement to protect territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation; Propagating to the people about prohibited acts according to Decree No. 71/ND-CP dated September 3, 2015 of the Government on the activities of people and vehicles in the border areas of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; at the same time, educating the children of the two parishes not to fall into social evils such as drugs, alcohol, fighting, causing complications in security and order, etc.

Notably, thanks to good propaganda and mobilization work, parishioners in the area voluntarily handed over 13 homemade alcohol air guns and 20 knives and swords of various types.

Regarding the children of parishioners in the area who have shown signs of deviation, listening to bad elements' instigation, in coordination with the police force, the parish order committee, and the two parishes, they have directly met, learned, explained, and mobilized a number of individuals to give up their violations, work hard, and contribute to stabilizing their lives; not allowing bad elements to take advantage of and assist evils to invade and be present in the area, causing instability in the political, economic, and social situation.

Every year, to strengthen and increase solidarity, mutual understanding and better perform the task of ensuring security and order in the area, periodically or on important holidays of the church and the country, the parish priest, the parish pastoral council, the parish committees and the authorities at all levels have organized cultural and artistic exchange activities, visited and exchanged gifts.

Before Christmas, the parish proactively connected with the Party Committee, the government and the units performing defense and security duties in the area to organize sports exchanges at the parish church yard... The exchange activities took place in a joyful and exciting atmosphere and left many special impressions, tightening and connecting the relationship between the Church and the government as well as the military-civilian relationship in the area.

Images of cultural and artistic activities at Loc My parish. Photo: source Loc My parish

In the first 6 months of 2018 alone, thanks to the spread of the peaceful parish model and the harmonious coordination and consensus of the Priest, the Parish Pastoral Council, the parish, and the Parish Order Committee have coordinated with the commune police to conduct over 30 patrols in the parish area and hamlets where parishioners live.

There was only one incident of fighting, causing injuries and one case of illegal drug use. After the two incidents occurred, the Parish Order Committee and the two parishes actively coordinated and assisted the Commune Police in preparing the case file to handle it in accordance with the law.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the "Peaceful parish without lawbreakers and social evils" over the past 2 years, Mr. Nguyen Van Trung - Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Loc My parish, member of the Steering Committee for building the model said: "Thanks to the peaceful parish model and the close attention of the Party Committee and the commune government, which is often the Steering Committee for building and implementing the model of the commune, the security and order situation in Nghi Quang commune in general and Loc My parish in particular has changed positively. If in the past there were a number of major law violations in the parish, now they have almost been pushed back. That makes Catholics in the area extremely happy and excited".