Bringing the Law on Belief and Religion into life
(Baonghean) - The Law on Belief and Religion was passed by the 14th National Assembly on November 18, 2016, and took effect from January 1, 2018.
Implementing Decree 162/2017/ND-CP detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Belief and Religion, the Religious Affairs Committee - Department of Home Affairs advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Plan No. 275/KH-UBND to implement the Law on Belief and Religion in the province.
Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Luu Cong Vinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Home Affairs, Head of the Provincial Religious Committee about this issue.
PV:Could you please tell us about the initial results of disseminating, propagating and implementing the Law on Belief and Religion in Nghe An province?
Mr. Luu Cong Vinh:With its functions and tasks, the Religious Affairs Committee - Department of Home Affairs determines that disseminating the law to all classes of people, especially religious dignitaries, officials, and followers, is very important to deploy and bring the Law into life.
Therefore, the Religious Affairs Committee - Department of Home Affairs has proactively advised and the Provincial People's Committee has issued Plan No. 275/KH-UBND dated May 20, 2017 on implementing the Law on Belief and Religion in Nghe An province. Since then, local authorities and sectors have seriously implemented this Plan.
The Provincial People's Committee alone organized a conference to disseminate the Law on Belief and Religion for 200 delegates who are provincial and district-level officials in the province, and the Religious Affairs Committee - Department of Home Affairs organized 2 conferences to disseminate religious laws and policies for nearly 400 Catholic dignitaries and officials in the province. In 2018, it continued to organize conferences to disseminate and propagate the Law on Belief and Religion and Decree 162/ND-CP.
Up to now, 1 conference has been organized for more than 200 delegates who are key leaders and officials working in religious affairs at the provincial and district levels; 4 conferences for nearly 800 Buddhist dignitaries and officials in the province; 4 conferences with 600 delegates for officials working in religious affairs at the district and commune levels (full-time and part-time).
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| Vu Lan ceremony at a pagoda in Vinh city. Photo: Hai Vuong |
At the above conferences, 2,400 documents related to laws on beliefs and religions were distributed to officials, civil servants working in religious affairs and religious dignitaries and officials in the province to facilitate research and implementation.
In addition, sectors and localities, with the help of the Religious Affairs Committee - Department of Home Affairs, have developed plans and organized conferences to disseminate and deploy to civil servants, religious dignitaries and officials in their units and localities. At the same time, the Religious Affairs Committee has helped to give lectures and disseminate the Law on Belief and Religion to districts, cities and towns in the province. Mass media agencies such as Radio and Television, Nghe An Newspaper have developed columns to propagate and disseminate the content of the Ordinance and Decree to all classes of people.
As a result, the work of propagating and disseminating the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's laws on religion has contributed to raising awareness, responsibility and proper implementation of the provisions of the Law on Belief and Religion among civil servants working in religious affairs. The majority of religious dignitaries, officials and a large number of religious people are confident and basically comply with the Law on Belief and Religion in religious activities.
PV:The process of putting the Law on Belief and Religion into practice must have encountered many difficulties and shortcomings, sir?
Mr. Luu Cong Vinh:The process of putting the Law on Belief and Religion into practice has been basically smooth but there are still many difficulties and shortcomings. Specifically:
- Some localities have not really paid due attention to the propaganda and dissemination of the Law on Belief and Religion, so the implementation is slow and the implementation is not widespread among all classes of people.
- Religious work is a narrow field of expertise, so it is difficult for reporters and propagandists to propagate and disseminate. The forms of propaganda at the grassroots level are not diverse, so the spread is limited.
- Some religious dignitaries and officials do not have high responsibilities so they do not attend the Conference to disseminate the Law on Belief and Religion. Some even prevent officials and parishioners from attending.
Besides, there are still some regulations in the Law on Belief and Religion that are not consistent with other Laws, especially land; some contents are regulated for the first time, so their application in practice is still difficult and confusing.
PV:So, to effectively bring the Law on Belief and Religion into life, what specific solutions need to be implemented, sir?
Mr. Luu Cong Vinh:To effectively bring the Law on Belief and Religion into life, we need to implement the following specific solutions:
The first,Party committees and authorities at all levels continue to pay more attention to leading and directing the work of disseminating and popularizing the Law on Belief and Religion. The Councils for Dissemination and Education of Laws of units and localities need to develop programs and plans for disseminating and popularizing the Law suitable for each target group and actual conditions.
In implementation, it is necessary to actively and proactively review issued documents related to the field of beliefs and religions to detect shortcomings, to recommend and propose competent authorities to amend, supplement, replace, and abolish documents with inappropriate content. Promote the role of key and leading cadres in inspecting, urging, guiding, and removing difficulties and problems that arise; summarize and draw lessons to improve the quality and effectiveness of propaganda, dissemination, and implementation of the Law.
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| A large number of Buddhists and people from all over attended the Buddha's Birthday ceremony at Dai Tue Pagoda. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
Monday,Strengthen training and capacity building for the team of reporters and propagandists of the Law on Belief and Religion to meet the requirements of the task. This is the core force, deciding the effectiveness of the work of propagating and disseminating the Law. Therefore, localities, levels and sectors need to do a good job in selecting this force; giving priority to prestigious people in the community, religious dignitaries and officials for training and fostering.
Organize training to improve knowledge, provide full professional guidance documents, relevant laws so that the reporting team can grasp the Law, beliefs, customs, practices of people in regions, characteristics of religious doctrines, canon laws, rituals and propaganda skills and methods. In addition, pay attention to creating conditions to ensure good service for the work of propaganda and dissemination of the Law.
Wednesday,Close coordination between levels and sectors in disseminating and popularizing the Law, especially implementing and influencing so that dignitaries and officials can recognize and voluntarily participate in conferences, self-study and strictly comply with the Law on Belief and Religion.
PV:Thank you!
The Law on Belief and Religion was passed by the 14th National Assembly, 2nd session on November 18, 2016, effective from January 1, 2018, including 9 chapters, 8 sections and 68 articles. The Law has many new and progressive points, demonstrating openness, democracy, transparency, in accordance with the spirit of the 2013 Constitution.
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