This morning (April 5), at Vietnam Quoc Tu, the official session of the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Congress, term 2026-2031, solemnly took place. This is an event designated by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha as the first pilot Congress among 34 provinces and cities nationwide.
Quang Lam proving and directing the congress was Great elder Venerable Thich Tri Quang - Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. Also attending were elder Venerable Thich Thien Nhon - Deputy Supreme Patriarch, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha; elder Venerable Thich Thien Phap, elder Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu - Standing Vice Chairman of the Executive Council and dignitaries.
On the government side, there was the participation of Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee; Head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Vu Hoai Bac; Mr. Duong Anh Duc - Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Committee and representatives of central and local agencies.
After the National Flag and Dao Ky salutation ceremony, the Organizing Committee approved the regulations and participants with about 600 delegates. Speaking at the congress, Great Venerable Thich Tri Quang - Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha expressed his emotion when recalling the journey of more than 40 years of growth of the city's Buddhism.
Sending his faith to the congress, the Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha wished all monks, nuns, and Buddhists to continue to promote the spirit of service to contribute more to the country and the Dharma, worthy of the enthusiasm that the predecessors have painstakingly built. At the same time, he also placed expectations on the direction of elder Venerable Thich Thien Nhon for Ho Chi Minh City Buddhism to continue to develop strongly in the new term.
Speaking at the Congress, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City said that city leaders acknowledged and highly appreciated the significance of this Congress. This is the first "point" Congress of the country, taking place in the context that the City has just completed the arrangement of administrative units. The fact that Buddhism in the City accompanies and joins hands with the government to implement major policies has shown the spirit of solidarity and high responsibility for common development.
According to Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc, in the past term, City Buddhism has achieved very commendable results, creating an important foundation of spiritual and moral values for the community. The city especially praised activities that are not superficial but go into depth such as: programs towards sea and island borders, participating in environmental protection, developing green trees and social security models.
These results are the concretization of the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and especially Uncle Ho's teachings about national unity," Mr. Loc expressed.
On this occasion, the Congress trusted and unanimously elected the new Executive Committee for the term 2026 - 2031, including: the Proofing Committee 19 members; Advisors 4 members; Executive Committee members 105 members, including (Standing Committee 35 members, Members 60 members and Alternate 10 members) under the leadership of Venerable Thich Le Trang as Head of the Committee.
