Vietnam - Vatican relations see great progress

At the meeting, the two sides exchanged views in the spirit of friendship, mutual understanding and respect on the situation of Vietnam - Holy See relations and issues related to the Vietnamese Catholic Church.

Deputy FM Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that Vietnam consistently implements the policy of respecting and ensuring the people's freedom of belief and religion, adding that administrations at all levels always pay attention to and create favorable conditions for the activities of religions, including Catholicism.

Hang asked the Holy See to pay attention and guide the Vietnamese Catholic community to stick with and accompany the State and people as a means of boosting the common development of the country, promoting good cultural and moral values of Catholicism, thereby contributing to the development of Vietnam - Holy See relations.

The Holy See's Deputy Foreign Minister Miroslaw Wachowski affirmed that the Holy See always wants the Catholic Church of Vietnam to operate under Vietnamese law and make positive contributions to the country's development in the spirit of the Church's teachings of “living the gospel amidst the nation” and that “a good Catholic must be a good citizen”.

The two sides assessed that the Vietnam - Holy See relationship has made many progress over the past time, including regular meetings and consultations, the exchange of high-level delegations from Vietnam and the Holy See, as well as regular pastoral visits of the two sides, including those made by Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Non-Resident Pontifical Representative and Special Envoy of the Holy See, to Vietnam.

They discussed and basically agreed on regulations on the operation of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See and the Office of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam.

On this occasion, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang and her delegation had a meeting with Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher.