Catholic congress urges believers to develop production
Nam Dinh, Oct. 29 (VNA) -- The Catholic Church of Red River delta Nam Dinh province has urged followers to enhance production and business movements and build a good life, spiritually and materially.
The call was made at a congress held by the Nam Dinh provincial Committee for Solidarity of Catholics on Oct. 29
The congress, drawing the participation of 170 representatives from 287 dioceses across the province, set out five major targets for the 2002-07 period, calling for 75 percent of the dioceses to achieve the "Advanced Dioceses" title and 80 percent of the families to win the "Exemplary Catholic Family" title.
Nam Dinh Church is one of the biggest in Viet Nam with an almost 400,000-strong Catholic population.
Many Catholics in the province were praised at the congress as good examples in economic development. Nguyen Van Thach and two brothers Pham Van Tuyen and Pham Van Khoat at the An Phu diocese, for example, have made good money from maritime transport businesses, earning between 300 million and 400 million VND a month. Nguyen Van Thanh is another example by successfully running his export-oriented glove production establishment, thus providing jobs for more than 1,000 locals.
Most of the local Catholic families have been praised for actively joining the social movements. Out of the 287 dioceses, 267 won the title "Advanced Diocese" and 58,577 Catholic families were awarded the title "Exemplary Catholic Family" for their contributions to the "The entire people unite to build a new life style in residential quarters" movement.
Catholics in the Pham Ry, Tan Kha and La Dien dioceses have registered to achieve the standard for Catholic family trees free from drug, prostitution, social evils, and HIV/AIDS.
