Provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity will open the 7th Catholic Congress on National Construction and Defence for the 2013 and 2018 tenure at the hall A of provincial People’s Committee on September 12 ahead. This is an important event for the Catholic community in the province, marking contributions made by the local Catholic dignitaries and followers to the process of national construction and defence, contributing to building the national great unity bloc. 

Provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity presenting gifts to poor patients

The Catholic community in Binh Duong now has 80 facilities of worship with 2 bishops, 414 priests, 51 parishes and more than 93,340 followers. Over the past years, especially in the 2007 and 2013 tenure, provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity actively mobilized Catholic dignitaries and followers to effectively respond to movements and campaigns launched by Fatherland Front Committees and authorities of all levels.

Particularly, provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity promoted the campaign of “The entire people consolidate to build up a cultural life in residential quarters” among the local Catholic community. The majority of residential quarters crowded with Catholic followers reached the titles of cultural quarters and hamlets. Noticeably, many parishes, namely My Hao in TDM city’s Chanh My commune; Chanh Toa in TDM city’s Phu Cuong ward; Vinh Son in TDM city’s Phu Hoa ward; Vong Phan, Hoang Chau, Canh Lam in Tan Uyen district’s Lac An commune; Bung in Thuan An town’s Hung Dinh ward… achieved the cultural titles for five consecutive years.

The local Catholic community also actively took part in the campaign of “Studying and following late President Ho Chi Minh’s exemplary morals” and responded to the campaigns to support “beloved Truong Sa”…They always lived and worked in accordance with the Constitution and the law; actively got involved in crime prevention, contributing to maintaining social order and security…

Under the movement of “helping each other in economic development, eradicating hunger and reducing poverty” to contribute to realizing the goal of “prosperous people, strong nation”, the local Catholic followers in the last tenure mobilized many sources to offer mutual help with more than VND7.5bln. Noticeably, Thuan An town-based Catholic parishes contributed more than ND5bln to creating jobs, providing loans for economic development.

The lives of Catholic followers in rural regions of the province, including districts of Phu Giao, Tan Uyen, Ben Cat and Dau Tieng were improved considerably. The rural face of these districts is changing day by day on the impetus of the province, creating an optimistic atmosphere among the local people. The local Catholic community also contributed more than VND5.3bln to making public welfare works, urban rejuvenation, rural roads…in residential quarters.

In addition, provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity encouraged Catholic followers  to actively get involved in social and charity activities with more than VND11.739bln subscribed while mobilizing them to respond to the movements of the local health and education development, contributing to raising the intellectual standards of the local people and better caring for their health. The local Catholic community in the last tenure contributed more than VND8.4bln to study promotion and talent promotion work; paid more attention to public healthcare with such significant activities as providing free medical check-ups for poor patients, setting up free medical cabinets…with a total expense of more than VND4.68bln.

The Catholic community in Binh Duong is actively participating in national construction and defence in accordance with the propaganda and guidance of provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity with the motto of “good life and good religion” and “Worshiping god and loving the country”. With orientations mapped out, it is believed that provincial Committee for Catholic Solidarity and the Catholic community in the province will reap many new successes in the 2013 and 2018 tenure.

Reported by Thao Hien-Translated by K.T