Page: 10543
The Hon. J. M. SAMIOS [10.18 p.m.]: Last Saturday I accepted the invitation of the President of the Caodaist Association of Australia, Chánh Giáo, and the board of the association to attend the opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Caodai Temple of New South Wales at the amphitheatre in Wiley Park, and afterwards at 114-118 King Georges Road, Wiley Park. On that occasion we had an opening ceremony and a short report on the building of the temple of the Caodaists at Wiley Park. We then had a procession to the temple, where prayers were delivered by invited religious leaders.
For the benefit of honourable members who may not be aware of the history of the Caodaism faith, I inform the House that on 27 October 1926, His Excellency Le Van Trung, who was a former elected official of the Colonial Council of the Cochinchina and who later became the Acting Pope of the religion, together with a leading group of the 27 Caodaists, who were the first disciples of Caodaism, signed the Declaration of the Founding of the Caodaism Religion and presented it to the French Governor of Cochinchina. The declaration also contained a list of the names of 247 believers.
On Thursday 18 November 1926 an inauguration ceremony took place at Tu Lam Pagoda, Go Ken in South Vietnam. From that auspicious beginning, Caodaism expanded and was welcomed with much ardour by the people of Vietnam. In the first four years the religion attracted half a million people. It is estimated that in currently in Vietnam approximately five million people are members of the faith. This demonstrates that the world was ready to receive the Third Amnesty into the hearts of the people. Caodaism communities are spread across Asia, North America, Europe and Australia. As I mentioned earlier, believers now number approximately five million.
The Holy City of Caodai is in Tay Ninh Province, which is the venue of the Caodaist Holy See. At the centre of this city stands the Great Divine Temple. As well as being a major centre of pilgrimage, the Caodaism Holy See is also one of Vietnam's major tourist attractions. There are also many splendid local temples throughout Vietnam and around the world. The fundamental principles of Caodaism from a moral point of view are that Caodaism reminds people of their duties towards themselves, their family, their society and humanity. From an ethical point of view, Caodaism encourages us to renounce our attachment to the material world while still maintaining a balance between our duties to humanity and the planet, and the following of the way.
From a spiritual point of view, Caodaism confirms, in harmony with all religions, the existence of ourselves and the spirit world. Furthermore Caodaism offers a step-by-step path that leads to full spiritual completeness. All this was indicated in a pamphlet that was distributed on the important occasion of the opening of the first Caodaism Temple in New South Wales, which is also the first Caodaism Temple in Australia. This fact epitomises the multireligious nature of our multicultural society. It also reflects the democratic nature of our multicultural society and the important role that the people of Vietnam in particular have played in the establishment of the faith in Australia. It is significant that Mr Christopher Hartney has produced a booklet to mark this important occasion which I believe will help the people of the Antipodes to gain a very lucid understanding of the importance of this religion. [Time expired.]