In 2007, Viet Nam will boost external religious activities together with intensifying the fight against the abuse of religions to undermine national unity.
The Government Commission for Religious Affairs during a conference convened in Ho Chi Minh City on Jan. 18 defined these two tasks as its key task this year.
These tasks should be done in combination with widespread dissemination of information on the Party's policies and viewpoints concerning religious issues and the State's laws, the commission said.
It will also promote the training of officials in charge of religious affairs, and cooperate with other ministries and agencies in the implementation of religious activities.
The year 2006 was a year of remarkable religious events. Among those activities were the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha, the establishment of the Therevada Khmer Buddhist Institute in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, and the publishing of a "white book" on religions.
Also in 2006, Vietnamese authorities granted certificates for the operation of five religious organisations. The country was also removed from the US's list of countries of particular concern for religious freedom.
The year 2006 witnessed as well the ordination of 1,188 clerics and the appointment of 1,051 others of the six big religions, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestanism, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddhism and Islam. In addition, 896 places for religious worship were built or repaired.
At the conference, the Government Commission for Religious Affairs also reviewed three years of implementing the Government's action plan guided by the ninth Party Central Committee Resolution 25/NQ-TW on religious work.
It acknowledged important and obvious changes in religious affairs, including the promulgation of a system of laws, policies and mechanisms for religious activities and the active participation of religious followers in social and cultural activities.
Source: VNA