Vatican diplomat chief Paul Richard Gallagher to visit Vietnam
VOV.VN - Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher will pay a visit to Vietnam from April 9 to 14, according to the Office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam on April 3.
This is the first visit to Vietnam by the diplomatic chief of the Vatican, said Father Giuse Dao Nguyen Vu, Chief of the Office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam.
During his stay, the Vatican Archbishop is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and leaders of the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Committee for Religious Affairs.
He will call at the National Pediatric Hospital in Hanoi that has developed medical cooperation programmes with Rome’s Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital since 2005.
The Archbishop plans to hold mass at the cathedrals of Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as to meet with representatives of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam.
Relations between Vietnam and the Vatican have developed positive in recent times, especially since the two sides established a regular dialogue mechanism of the Joint Working Group in 2009.
Late last year Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Marek Zalewski as the first Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam. Earlier, both sides agreed on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam at the 10th session of the Joint Working Group between Vietnam and the Holy See.
