HANOI (UCAN): Vietnam’s communist leaders say they are likely to allow the Holy See to establish a permanent resident papal representative early next year, aiming to take their ties with the Vatican to the next level.
The timeline was given to Bishop Joseph Dinh Duc Dao of Xuan Loc, on December 21 by senior officials, led by deputy prime minister, Truong Hoa, during Christmas goodwill visits to Vietnamese Church leaders.
The disclosure reaffirmed an agreement reached at a meeting between Vietnamese and Holy See officials at the Vatican in August to have a permanent papal representative in Vietnam.
Communist Vietnam and the Vatican have never had full diplomatic ties and having a permanent representative would be one step short of appointing an apostolic nuncio to the country.
“Relations between the Vietnamese government and the Vatican developed well in 2019,” the state-run Tuoitre newspaper quoted Truong as telling Bishop Dao.
He said if conditions are favourable the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, will pay a working visit to Vietnam in early 2020 to establish, and then both sides will formally announce the move.
Other state-run newspapers reported that prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, had extended a formal invitation to Cardinal Parolin to visit the country next year.
Archbishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hanoi, reportedly welcomed the development during a visit by National Assembly chairperson, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, to his residence to offer Christmas wishes and flowers to the archbishop and local Catholics.
Archbishop Vu, who is deputy secretary-general of the Vietnamese Bishops’ Conference, said the local Church awaited Cardinal Parolin’s visit with interest and hoped it would open “a new era in diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Vietnamese state.”
However, where the representative would be based remains unclear. A local Church source said that Vietnam had planned to invite Cardinal Parolin to attend the inauguration of the resident papal representative’s new office, but both sides have yet to agree on where this would be.
“The office could be based in Ho Chi Minh City initially and moved to Hanoi in the future,” the source said.
Currently, the Vatican has non-resident representation, the lowest level of diplomatic ties, with Hanoi.
Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the apostolic nuncio to Singapore, currently serves as the non-resident papal representative to Vietnam. He succeeded Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli who represented the pope from 2011 to 2017.
Despite the positive outlook, sources said the two sides have failed to achieve much progress diplomatically over the years despite Vietnam making many promises to improve ties. They expressed hope “that this time around Vietnam keeps its promise.”
After taking control of South Vietnam in 1975, the communist government expelled the Vatican’s last nuncio, Henri Lemaitre, and severed all ties with the Vatican.
The former nunciature in Ho Chi Minh City, then called Saigon, was confiscated.
