Nghe An provincial leaders received a courtesy call from a non-resident representative of the Vatican in Vietnam.

The delegation included Bishop Alphonsus Nguyen Huu Long - Bishop of Vinh Diocese and a number of priests and dignitaries of Vinh Diocese.

On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee: Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province, Ngoc Kim Nam - Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Commission; and representatives of leaders of a number of departments and branches.

Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung welcomed Archbishop Marek Zalewski - Non-resident representative of the Vatican in Vietnam to visit and work. Photo: Thanh Duy

On behalf of the provincial leaders, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province Nguyen Duc Trung welcomed Archbishop Marek Zalewski - Non-resident representative of the Holy See of the Vatican in Vietnam to visit and work in Nghe An; wishing him a successful visit and work.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province highly appreciated that over the past years, the Vatican, as well as the Archbishop himself, have always paid attention to the activities of the Catholic Church in Vietnam in general, and Vinh Diocese in particular.

Overview of the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Thereby, creating conditions and encouraging Bishops, dignitaries, priests, monks and Catholics to operate in accordance with doctrine and canon law and together with the government and community to realize the socio-economic development goals of the country as well as of the locality.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung also introduced some basic features of the situation in Nghe An province and the results of the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic. There are currently two main religions operating in the province: Catholicism and Buddhism, of which there are about 290,000 Catholic followers, accounting for 9% of the province's population.

The head of Nghe An province affirmed: The province always facilitates freedom of religion and belief. Religious activities are supported and facilitated by authorities at all levels. The legitimate needs of religious people, including Catholics, are taken care of and resolved by the government. The province also pays great attention to building an environment of solidarity among Catholics with the government and people in the province.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung talks with Archbishop Marek Zalewski. Photo: Thanh Duy

Therefore, in recent years, under the leadership of Party committees and authorities at all levels, with the unity and solidarity of the community and religions, Nghe An province has achieved very positive achievements in socio-economic development. Currently, the scale of the economy has reached over 5 billion USD.

In that general result, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province affirmed: The activities of the Vinh Diocese Bishop's Office and Catholics in the area all followed the Church's orientation, doctrine, and canon law and made very positive contributions to the province's socio-economic development.

Bishops, dignitaries and priests have led Catholics to properly implement the government's policies and guidelines in their activities. Catholics have also made positive contributions to social security activities; the prevention of Covid-19 and natural disasters.

Bishop Alphonsus Nguyen Huu Long and dignitaries and priests of Vinh Diocese attended the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

Talking with Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung acknowledged the contributions of Catholics in Nghe An province in recent times.

In the coming time, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee hopes that Archbishop Marek Zalewski and Bishop of Vinh Diocese Anphong Nguyen Huu Long will continue to lead Catholics in the province to join hands with the Party Committee, government, and community to build and develop Nghe An in the right direction: "Living the Gospel in the heart of the nation", and the motto: "A good Catholic is also a good citizen".

Archbishop Marek Zalewski talks with Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung. Photo: Thanh Duy

Archbishop Marek Zalewski - Non-resident representative of the Holy See in Vietnam thanked the provincial leaders for their warm welcome to him and his delegation.

After a period of interruption due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Archbishop Marek Zalewski said that his visit to Vietnam this time is to review activities as well as convey the Pope's message to the Catholic Church in Vietnam and the central and local governments.

Provincial leaders attended the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

The Archbishop also said that the cooperative relationship between the Vatican and Vietnam is increasingly progressing and hopes that in the near future a permanent representative of the Vatican will be established in Vietnam instead of a non-permanent representative as at present.

Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung presents a souvenir to Archbishop Marek Zalewski. Photo: Thanh Duy

Provincial leaders and Archbishop Marek Zalewski and the delegation took a souvenir photo. Photo: Thanh Duy

Based on the spirit of mutual understanding, Archbishop Marek Zalewski hopes that the cooperative relationship between the two sides will increasingly develop, thereby contributing not only to the development of the Catholic Church but also to the development of Vietnam.