Cardinal Tagle's flight from Vatican City, Italy, landed at Noi Bai Airport around 16h. Archbishop Marek Zalewski, representative of the Holy See in Vietnam, along with Archbishops Nguyen Nang and Vu Van Thien, were there to welcome him.

Cardinal Tagle (holding flowers) was welcomed at Noi Bai Airport by Archbishop Marek Zalewski, representative of the Holy See in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference. Duc Dung

According to the schedule, on the morning of 1/7, Cardinal Tagle attended a private mass at the Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Hanoi. Later that day, he flew from Hanoi to Can Tho, then traveled to Ca Mau to pay a courtesy visit to the provincial authorities.

At 8h on 2/7, Cardinal Tagle presided over the beatification mass for Father Phanxico Truong Buu Diep at Tac Say Pilgrimage Center, acting as a Papal Special Envoy. After the ceremony, he returned to Hanoi for several activities before departing for Rome, Italy, on the afternoon of 4/7.

Cardinal Tagle's full name is Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, 69 years old, from the Philippines. He studied at the seminary in Quezon, pursued his doctoral dissertation in Washington, and studied abroad in Rome. In 2/1982, he was ordained a priest. In 2001, the Holy See appointed Father Tagle as Bishop of Imus Diocese, and later as Archbishop of Manila.

A year later, he was elevated to Cardinal and served the Holy See as President of Caritas Internationalis (International Charitable Commission). From 2019, the Holy See appointed Cardinal Tagle as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Vatican Holy See). In 3/2022, Cardinal Tagle assumed the position of Prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization.

An aerial view of the over 5-hectare campus hosting the beatification ceremony for Father Truong Buu Diep. Chuc Ly

The beatification mass for Father Truong Buu Diep took place in Ca Mau, with the attendance of over 70,000 people. According to Father Giusse Vo Van Hoai, parish priest of Tac Say, this marks the first time in nearly 500 years since Catholicism arrived in Vietnam that a beatification ceremony has been held domestically instead of at the Vatican.

In the Catholic Church, beatification is the official recognition of a person who lived a life of exemplary faith and is now in communion with God. This is the third stage in the canonization process: Servant of God - Venerable - Blessed - Saint.

Father Truong Buu Diep was born on 1/1/1897, in Con Phuoc parish (now part of An Giang province). After 27 years of study at Cu Lao Gieng Minor Seminary and Nam Vang Major Seminary, he was ordained a priest, and in 1930, he became the parish priest of Tac Say, in Can Tho Diocese.

During his ministry, he lived a simple life, dedicating himself to caring for his parishioners, especially the poor. In 3/1946, he was murdered while defending his parishioners amidst wartime conflicts. Decades later, his burial and reburial site at Tac Say Church became a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of thousands of people annually.

Dinh Van