State President Luong Cuong on May 10 sent a message of congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost on being elected as the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of its Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilisation Nguyen Trong Nghia has sent a letter of condolences to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam following the passing of Pope Francis.

VOV.VN - The faithful from parishes and communities across the Archdiocese of Hanoi are gathering at St. Joseph’s Cathedral on April 24-25 to offer prayers and pay their final respects to the late Pope Francis.

Vietnam highly appreciates Pope Francis’ role in promoting the relationship between Vietnam and the Vatican, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang said at the ministry’s regular press conference in Hanoi on April 24.

VOV.VN - Do Van Chien, president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, has extended condolences to the Vietnam Episcopal Council and the Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics, over the recent passing of Pope Francis.

VOV.VN - On April 21, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed heartfelt condolences to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin following the death of Pope Francis.

The Catholic community in Vietnam is always put at the centre of the Vietnam-Vatican relationship, heard a workshop held in Hanoi on July 23 on Pope Francis’s letter to the community on the occasion of the adoption of the Agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam.

VOV.VN - Competent Vietnamese agencies will support the Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam to successful complete his duty, contributing to promoting relations between Vietnam and the Vatican, as well as between the Holy See and the Vietnam Catholic Church.

Pope Francis’s appointment of Archbishop Marek Zalewski as the first Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam marks a historic moment in the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Vatican, said Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Vu Chien Thang.

President Vo Van Thuong visited the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam at its office in Ho Chi Minh City on August 7, the first by Thuong to the conference as the State President.