Nghe An Provincial leaders received the Archbishop of the Vatican

(Baonghean) -On the afternoon of December 6, comrades Ho Duc Phoc - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, Thai Van Hang - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the province and representatives of a number of departments, branches and sectors had a meeting and worked with His Excellency Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli - Non-resident Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam on the occasion of His Excellency Archbishop's visit to Nghe An.

Accompanying the Archbishop were Bishop Phaolo Nguyen Thai Hop - Bishop of Vinh Diocese; priest Nguyen Van Vien - Vicar General of Vinh Diocese and a number of dignitaries.

Comrade Ho Duc Phoc welcomed Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli.

At the meeting, comrade Ho Duc Phoc welcomed and thanked Mr. L. Girelli for his attention to Nghe An during his visit to Vietnam this time. He introduced to the Archbishop and the delegation the socio-economic situation of Nghe An province. The leaders of Nghe An province highly appreciated the contributions of Catholics to the cause of building socialism in Vietnam in general and Nghe An province in particular. At the same time, they affirmed the consistent implementation of the policy of the Party and State of Vietnam to always respect the freedom of belief and religion of the people in the spirit of great national unity. In recent times, the Party committees and authorities of Nghe An have always created favorable conditions for religious activities, meeting the legitimate religious needs of religious people. The lives of Catholics have increasingly developed, the poverty rate has decreased to 13%, over 70% of Catholic households have achieved the title of Cultural Family, 400 residential areas have been recognized as advanced residential areas; Over 60 villages have been recognized as cultural villages at district and provincial levels; places of worship are increasingly receiving attention and creating favorable conditions for construction, facilitating people's religious activities...

Speaking at the meeting, Archbishop L. Girelli thanked the leaders of Nghe An province for their warm welcome, and appreciated the respect and favorable conditions of the Nghe An government for religious activities in the province in the past time, hoping that in the future the relationship between the church and the government will continue to be strengthened and become increasingly better.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Duc Phoc expressed his hope that through the Archbishop, he would guide the parishioners to continue to implement the guidelines of "living a good life and a good religion", "living the gospel in the heart of the nation" to serve the happiness of compatriots, raise awareness of exercising the rights and obligations of citizens, comply well with the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws and local regulations, contributing to building Nghe An homeland to be increasingly rich, beautiful and civilized.

Khanh Ly