A ceremony to close the Catholic Church of Vietnam Jubilee Year 2010 was held at the La Vang parish, Hai Lang district, in the central province of Quang Tri on January 5.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan stressed the significance of the successful organisation of the jubilee year closing ceremony at the La Vang Parish, which affirmed the strength of the Catholic Church in Vietnam as well as the policy of respecting religious freedom of the Vietnamese Party and State.

“This shows the world the concord between religions and the nation in Vietnam,” he said.
The State of Vietnam always respects and ensures the people’s right to freedom of belief and religions, the Deputy PM said, affirming this is a consistent policy to meet the legitimate right and interest of believers and different religions.

The State of Vietnam highly valued Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching while meeting with a delegation of the Vietnam Bishop Council in 2009, Deputy PM Nhan said.

The closing ceremony of Jubilee Year 2010 is a major activity of the Catholic Church of Vietnam, drawing the participation of dignitaries and followers nationwide and representatives from the Catholic churches of France, the US, the Philippines, Malaysia, Italy, the Republic of Korea and Canada.

Prominent among those was Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The Jubilee Year 2010 was held to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary the Vietnamese Hierarchy and the 350th anniversary of establishing the two Apostolic Vicariates. The year-long event began with an opening ceremony at the So Kien parish in the northern province of Ha Nam on November 24, 2009. It was followed by the Congress of God’s People at the Pastoral Centre in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2010. The closing ceremony was held at La Vang, a place of pilgrimage of the Catholic Church of Vietnam.

The ceremony will end on January 6 with a ritual to place the first stone to build the La Vang basilica.