Catholics in Nghia Dan join hands to build their homeland

“Model Flag Line”

On holidays, Tet, and important anniversaries of the country and homeland, the road passing through Dong Tam A and Dong Tam B hamlets of Nghia An commune (Nghia Dan) is bright red with the national flag. This national flag route is more than 2 km long, from Dong Tam A hamlet through Dong Tam B hamlet and Dong Tam Parish Church with 86 flagpoles. The project is worth 14 million VND, of which Catholics from the two hamlets contributed 10 million VND, the remaining amount was supported by the Youth Union.

Now, hanging the national flag has become a beautiful cultural feature and national pride of the people in Dong Tam A and Dong Tam B hamlets, where 97% of the people are Catholics. Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong - Secretary of the Dong Tam A hamlet Youth Union, who was recently recognized by Nghe An Provincial Youth Union as a good Catholic youth in business and was awarded the Luong Dinh Cua Award for his contributions to the youth union work, said: “Previously, households in the two hamlets of Dong Tam A and Dong Tam B had not hung the national flag on holidays and Tet. The mass mobilization bloc of the Commune Party Committee has developed a plan to direct departments, branches and unions to meet with dignitaries, officials, union members and members who are Catholics to propagate and mobilize the hanging of the national flag. In 2022, the Nghia An commune Youth Union chose to build a model of "Model National Flag Road". Our Youth Union actively implemented the construction of the model of "Model National Flag Road", taking care of the roads in the hamlet. I, as well as the union members here, are very excited because we have contributed a small part to beautifying the landscape and space of the village and hamlet".

The implementation of the "Smart People's Mobilization" model in the religious area with the national flag road project in Nghia An commune has brought a more spacious image of the countryside. The youth union here also organized the planting and care of the flower road in Dong Tam B hamlet with a length of 200m. The above activities contributed to creating cohesion between religious and non-religious people in the area, joining hands to successfully implement the socio-economic development goals in the locality.

Building a strong political system

Tan Lap Hamlet, Nghia Loc Commune has 241 households, with 1,117 people, 100% of whom are Catholics (belonging to Van Ca Parish, Con Ca Parish, Nghia Loc). Before 2019, the hamlet did not have a Party cell, the activities of departments, branches and organizations were ineffective, the poverty rate in the hamlet was very high, leading to many movements, especially the construction of new rural areas, which did not create consensus among the people.

Faced with that situation, the Steering Committee of the emulation movement "Skilled mass mobilization" of Nghia Dan district selected Tan Lap hamlet to build a pilot model of "building a strong political system" for the period 2019-2021. In mid-2019, the hamlet party cell was established with the increase of commune cadres and civil servants in activities, thereby contributing to improving the quality of activities of the hamlet executive committee, the Front working committee and the youth unions and associations. The unified activities of the party cell, executive committee and the unions here have revived the emulation movements in Tan Lap hamlet.

Through propaganda and mobilization, Tan Lap residents have contributed more than 260 million VND to build 3km of rural concrete roads, more than 58 million VND to build corrugated iron roofs, sports fields, and walls surrounding the hamlet's cultural house. In addition, Tan Lap hamlet has received nearly 500 million VND from district and commune-level departments and organizations to build new rural areas and support poor households with interest-free loans, training in science and technology, and support for economic development. From 2019 to present, the hamlet has had 8 households escape poverty, reaching 160% of the set plan.

The study encouragement work has been given attention, and up to now, there has been no case of students dropping out of school. Over the years, the Party cell, executive committee, and organizations and unions of Tan Lap hamlet have always been classified as having fulfilled their tasks well and excellently. The results achieved in Tan Lap hamlet have contributed to the entire political system and people of Nghia Loc commune reaching the new rural destination in 2022.

The day we arrived at Tan Lap hamlet, Mr. Hoang Van Than - Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Van Ca Parish led us on a newly concreted road of more than 1 km long, he said: “Previously, this road was made of dirt, making it difficult to travel, and we had to mobilize the people many times but it was not completed. Now that the State has supported cement, with my responsibility, I have mobilized households in the Parish to contribute money to buy sand and gravel, and participated in hundreds of working days. The road has been completed, and the people's lives have been increasingly improved. Seeing the benefits, the people in the Parish are now continuing to contribute to build the remaining sections of the road.”

Comrade Nguyen Khanh Vy - Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Nghia Loc Commune, Secretary of the Tan Lap Hamlet Party Cell shared: “In 2019, when I was promoted to the position of Secretary of the Tan Lap Hamlet Party Cell, I was very worried because I had to “shoulder two shoulders” at once. But the task assigned by the Party, I was ready to accept and try my best. During the implementation of the task, I and the Party members, the hamlet executive committee and the mass organizations agreed that if we want the people to trust us, we must set an example first. That is to live in harmony, respect the people, and always maintain our prestige. From there, the people in the hamlet joined hands to carry out socio-economic development movements and achieved results.”

Nghia Dan district has 11,911 parishioners living in 6 communes and towns, accounting for 8.1% of the district's population, with 6 parishes, 13 chapels, and 10 dignitaries..With the active participation of propaganda and mobilization of Party committees, authorities, and organizations, Catholic people in the district join hands to build new rural areas and a strong political system.

Model of "Peaceful Parish"

Nghia Hoi commune has 2,212 households with 9,904 people, of which 293 are Catholic households with 1,386 people (accounting for 14.7%). There are 4 hamlets of the commune where Catholics live, including: Dong Bai, Dong Truong, Dong Tien and Dong Ao. Dong Len parish has 3 sub-parishes, currently led by Father Le Duc Bac. The lives of Catholics in the area are mainly farming and small-scale trading. The commune has many potential complications regarding security and order...

In 2022, the Party Committee, authorities and organizations will work with the dignitaries and officials of Dong Len Parish and hamlets with parishioners to build a model of "Peaceful parish without drug-related crimes, joining hands to build new rural areas". Currently, in the commune, the Commune Police advise on the establishment of self-management teams and people's patrol teams. In particular, in hamlets with religious followers, synchronous implementation has been carried out, with close coordination with the Parish Executive Committee. The self-management and people's patrol teams coordinate with the Commune Police force to organize patrols, fight against all types of crimes, and prevent violations of the law.

In order for the activities of the people's patrol team and self-management of the parish area to achieve high results, the Commune Police Department regularly coordinates with the Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, priests, the Parish Pastoral Council and 3 parishes to regularly propagate and disseminate the Law to parishioners, educate children not to fall into social evils...

For some parishioners' children in the area who show signs of deviation and listen to bad people's instigation, the Commune Police, together with the commune-level agencies and organizations, coordinate and discuss with the Priest, the Pastoral Council, the parish council and families to have a direction to manage, educate and help them not to violate the law, especially drug abuse. In 2022, the Commune Police sent 2 people in the Dong Len parish area to apply drug addiction treatment measures, and managed 1 person under post-drug addiction management. Currently, 100% of children under 18 years old do not show signs and symptoms related to drug abuse.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chinh - Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Dong Len Parish shared: “My family always advises our children and grandchildren to obey the law, study hard, work hard, live in solidarity and stay away from social evils. The Pastoral Council and parishes actively encourage parishioners to live a “good life, good religion”, contributing to building an increasingly better life”.

The model of "Peaceful parish without drug-related crimes, joining hands to build new rural areas" in Dong Len parish has achieved initial results, contributing to improving the effectiveness of the movement of the entire people participating in protecting national security in Nghia Hoi commune in particular and Nghia Dan district in general.