To express our deepest condolences on the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, an outstanding leader and a great intellectual who devoted his entire life to serving the Fatherland and the people, the Standing Committee of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has requested the Venerables of the Central Committee, the Central Institute of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the Executive Committees of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in provinces and cities to organize a memorial service and set up an altar to worship the General Secretary's portrait in a sacred place for monks, nuns, Buddhists and people to chant sutras and burn incense in memory.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets voters in Hai Ba Trung district (Hanoi, October 15, 2022). Photo: Tri Dung/VNA

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha requests that religious organizations with rituals appropriate to their religion organize memorial ceremonies at the same time as the Visitation and Memorial Services for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong according to the regulations of the Funeral Organizing Committee: The Visitation Services begin at 7:00 a.m. on July 25, 2024. The Memorial Services will be at 1:00 p.m. on July 26, 2024.

The memorial ceremony will be held at the headquarters of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Executive Committee at all levels; the summer retreat centers where the summer retreat is held; pagodas and monasteries on July 25-26. At exactly 7:00 a.m. on July 25 and 1:00 p.m. on July 26, the bell and the Prajna drum will be rung three times, and sutras will be chanted to pray for the deceased according to traditional Buddhist rituals.

Following the Special Announcement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front on organizing the funeral for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong with the State funeral rites, in recent days, many pagodas have held requiem ceremonies and set up altars for people to come and burn incense in memory and express gratitude to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

On the afternoon of July 24, at the main hall of Quan Su Pagoda (Hanoi), the headquarters of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, a large number of monks, nuns, and Buddhists chanted sutras to pray for the deceased and commemorate General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Quan Su Pagoda will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. for Buddhists and people to burn incense and express their respect and condolences to the General Secretary, until the end of the State funeral.

Previously, Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon, Deputy Supreme Patriarch of the Patriarchal Council, Chairman of the Executive Council, on behalf of the Standing Committee of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, sent a letter of condolences on the news of the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. In the letter, Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon shared that monks, nuns, and Buddhists of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha at home and abroad were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on July 19, 2024.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is an outstanding leader, a great intellectual, an outstanding thinker and culturalist of our country. He has devoted his entire life to serving the Fatherland and the people. In his thoughts and instructions, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has always loved the people, closely attached to the people and always emphasized that building the great national unity bloc is the responsibility of the entire political system and the whole society, with the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, including religious organizations, as the core.

The passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is an irreparable loss to all Vietnamese people. In this moment of infinite sorrow, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and with the special affection and appreciation of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch of the Patriarchate Council, President of the Central Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, all Vietnamese monks, nuns, and Buddhists at home and abroad would like to express our deepest condolences to the Central Committee of the Party, the President, the National Assembly, the Government, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the family of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The monks, nuns, and Buddhists of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha will, together with the people of the whole country, turn sorrow into the strength of great national unity, continue to promote the invaluable legacies left by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and steadily move forward to build a strong and prosperous Vietnam, increasingly enhancing its position and position, achieving the goal of a rich people, a strong country, democracy, fairness, and civilization.

According to baotintuc.vn