An estimated 100,000 pilgrims — including people from other faiths from Vietnam and abroad — attended the National Marian Congress to mark the feast of the Assumption of Mary Aug. 15.
The three-day congress with the theme "Living the Spirit of Fatima Message" was held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in Quang Tri Province, central Vietnam.
During the event, pilgrims attended Masses, joined Eucharistic adoration processions, went to confession, prayed the rosary and watched cultural performances.
The Blessed Mother is believed to have appeared in La Vang in 1798 to console persecuted Vietnamese Catholics. In 1961, the bishops of Vietnam declared the site as the national Marian shrine.