VATICAN (CNS): In a move indicating improved relations with the Holy See, Vietnam will allow a papal representative to reside in the country and open an office there to support Vietnam’s estimated 6.5 million Catholics. Since 2011, the Vatican has had a nonresident papal representative.
Vo Van Thuong, the president of Vietnam, visited the Vatican on July 27 where he had a half-hour audience with Pope Francis before meeting with other officials including Pietro Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.
During those meetings, the two sides “expressed high appreciation for the noteworthy progress in the relations between Vietnam and the Holy See, and the positive contributions by the Catholic community of Vietnam thus far,” the Vatican said in a joint communiqué after the meeting.
It said that the papal representative will “provide support to the Vietnamese Catholic community in their undertakings in the spirit of the law and, always inspired by the magisterium of the Church, to fulfill the vocation of ‘accompanying the nation’ and to be ‘good Catholics and good citizens,’ and contribute to the development of the country.”
The statement also noted that the presence of a papal representative in Vietnam “will be a bridge to advance relations between Vietnam and the Holy See.”
Vatican News reported that Cardinal Parolin spoke of how “the opening of relations with Vietnamese Authorities dates back to 1989, when Roger Cardinal Etchegaray, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, was able to make an official visit to Vietnam.”
the papal representative will ‘provide support to the Vietnamese Catholic community in their undertakings in the spirit of the law and, always inspired by the magisterium of the Church, to fulfill the vocation of ‘accompanying the nation’ and to be ‘good Catholics and good citizens,’ and contribute to the development of the country
The cardinal added, “John Paul II’s desire was to open paths of dialogue through the themes of justice and peace, characteristic of the Church’s daily teaching and witness.”
The Holy See then began the practice of an annual visit “devoted partly to contacts with the government and partly to meetings with diocesan communities,” he recalled.
Vo’s visit to the Vatican was followed up on the 10th session of a Vietnam-Holy See working group which met at the Vatican in March, in which the two sides said that they were “essentially in consensus” on an agreement establishing a resident papal representative in Vietnam.
The agreement is the result of efforts that began in 2009 with the first meeting between Vietnamese and Vatican officials in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Bishop’s Conference said in a statement after the agreement was announced.
“The regular presence of the apostolic vicar will help the people of God in Vietnam feel in communion with the Holy Father more concretely, to live and bear witness to the gospel among the people more actively,” the statement said.
The late Pope Benedict XVI met with then Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, in 2007, and the president, Nguyen Minh Triet, in 2009.
John Paul II’s desire was to open paths of dialogue through the themes of justice and peace, characteristic of the Church’s daily teaching and witness
Cardinal Parolin
After continuing talks, Vietnam agreed to let the Vatican name a nonresident papal representative to the country in 2011, which was seen as a major step in an ongoing process to normalise relations.
Catholics in Vietnam expected the new agreement to usher in more religious rights and open new avenues for them to engage in social activities to serve the nation, UCAN reported on July 31.
“We are ecstatic about the deal,” said Peter Ta Dinh Vui, head of the Couples for Christ in Ho Chi Minh City. He described it as “the first step for the two sides to start synodality in the spirit of mutual understanding, respect and dialogue.”
Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Nang of Ho Chi Minh City, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, said on July 28: “The permanent presence of an apostolic vicar will help the people of God in Vietnam feel concrete communion with the Holy Father, live out and bear witness to the Gospel among the nation more actively.”
The archbishop looked forward to welcoming “the pope to visit us one day.”
