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JOURNEY TO TAIWAN BY THE SACERDOTAL COUNCIL OF CAO DAI TAY NINH HOLY SEE (PART 1)

JOURNEY TO TAIWAN BY THE SACERDOTAL COUNCIL OF CAO DAI TAY NINH HOLY SEE (PART 1)

Updated 2013-07-27 13:48:31

(Reported from Taipei on July 20^th, 2013 by Archbishop Thai Con Thanh and Archbishop Ngoc Hong Thanh – Pictures taken by Nguyen Tri Luc- Translation by Tuan Em)

Part 1: This is the first time The Sacerdotal Council of Tay Ninh Cao Đai Holy See has accepted the invitation from Leaders of the Tao Yuan religion to attend the great ceremony in commemoration of the Seventh anniversary of the Tao Yuan Chapter and the 64^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Pre-Cosmic Salvationism –Tao Yuan – Taiwan Headquarters on July 22^nd, 2013 (Lunar calendar: June 15^th, year of the Snake).

DAY 1 - July 20^th, 2013

The Sacerdotal Council Delegation was headed by His Eminence Cardinal Thuong Tam Thanh and consisted of 8 delegates as follows:

· Archbishop Thai Con Thanh, Acting Principal Archbishop of the Taoist branch.

· Archbishop Huong Dat - Acting Principal Archbishop for Female Affairs.

· Archbishop Ngoc Hong Thanh, Chief of Cabinet of the Principal Archbishop of the Confucianist branch, and Head of the Ministry of Interior for Male Affairs

· Archbishop Huong Cung, Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Interior for Female Affairs

· Deacon Thuong Em Thanh, in charge of the Cardinal’s Security Office.

· Adept Nguyen Tri Luc, Photographer.

· Deacon Thuong Canh Thanh, Official Representative of Cao Dai overseas.

· And Mr. Vo Thanh Cong, Deputy Director of the Department of Interior Affairs from the Tay Ninh provincial government, also joined the delegation to assist with diplomatic affairs.

The delegation set off from Tay Ninh at 2am on July 20^th, 2013 (Lunar calendar: June 13^th, year of the Snake), and arrived at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 4:30 am. Seeing off the delegation at the airport, there were Acting Principal Archbishop Thuong Nguyen Thanh, Acting Principal Archbishop of the Confucianist branch Thuong Nguyen Thanh and other female dignitaries from the Female Cardinal’s office. Also, Archbishop Thuong Minh Thanh - Representative of the Sacerdotal Council in Ho Chi Minh City, other Dignitaries and around 20 followers in Ho Chi Minh City Parish were present to see off the Delegation.

After checking in, the delegation boarded Flight VN.572 of Vietnam Airlines. The plane took off at 7:30am and landed in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 11:30am.

The delegation, after going through Immigration and Customs clearance and reclaiming the luggages, was warmly welcomed by Mr. Chen Chao Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of the Tao Yuan Chapter, and fellow Senior Dignitaries at the arrival gate with waving white flags (featured with a red swastika in the center, symbol of the Tao Yuan religion). Besides, there were two representatives of Yi Quan Dao religion coming to welcome the Cao Dai delegation.

After exchanging greetings, Mr. Chen Chao Cheng introduced Tao Yuan’s Dignitaries to the Sacerdotal Council delegation. Then, in return, Archbishop Ngoc Hong Thanh introduced the Cao Đai delegates to the host. After that, the CEO of Tao Yuan welcomed the Cao Đai delegates to Taipei and invited the delegation to a welcome dinner at 6:30 pm on the same day.

The Sacerdotal Council delegation got on a bus to Taipei center and stayed at Hope City Fushing hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, they noticed that on the bulletin board in the hotel lobby, there was a welcoming sentence: “Welcome the Caodai Sacerdotal Council of Viet Nam”.

At 6:15pm, the Cao Đai delegation went to Spring restaurant (Thien Xuan) where Mr. Chen Chao Cheng, CEO of the Tao Yuan and fellow Dignitaries were present to welcome and guide the delegation to a special welcoming room.

On this very special moment, His Eminence Cardinal Thuong Tam Thanh and Mr. Chen Chao Cheng exchanged some religious affairs information and ate dinner together in a very friendly manner.

The CEO of Tao Yuan introduced senior leaders of Tao Yuan including Madam Director of the Moralistic School of Taiwanese Tao Yuan. After the dinner, on behalf of the Cao Đai delegates, His Eminence extended his thanks to Mr. Chen Chao-Cheng and fellow leaders of Tao Yuan for their sincere affection and warm welcome to the Sacerdotal Council delegation.

Apart from the warm welcome by Tao Yuan, tomorrow on Sunday 21^st July, 2013, the Sacerdotal Council delegation also will pay a visit to the Headquarters of Yi Quan Dao per their invitation in order to tighten the mutual relationship. Further information about this journey will be updated in the following days.

(To be continued)