Vietnam, Vatican relations record progress: officials

The Vietnam - Holy See Joint Working Group held the 10th-round meeting in the Vatican on March 31 under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang and Monsignor Miroslaw Wachowski, Under-Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States.

Hang affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of respecting and ensuring people’s freedom of belief and religion, and that administrations at all levels have always paid attention to and created favorable conditions for activities of religions, including Catholicism.

She proposed the Holy See pay attention to and guide the Catholic community of Vietnam to stay attached to and stand side by side with the State and people, contribute to the country’s development, and bring into play the fine cultural and ethical values of Catholicism, thereby helping to promote the Vietnam - Holy See ties.

Wachowski noted that the Holy See always hopes that the Vietnam Catholic Church operates in line with Vietnam’s law and actively contributes to the country’s development in conformity with the Church’s teachings of "living the gospel amidst the nation" and that "a good Catholic must be a good citizen."

At the meeting, the two sides shared the view that the relations between Vietnam and the Holy See have recorded much progress in the recent past as seen in the regular meetings and consultations, high-level delegation exchanges, and frequent pastoral visits by Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Non-Resident Pontifical Representative and Special Envoy of the Holy See, to Vietnam.

They also discussed and basically agreed on the working regulations for the Holy See’s Resident Representative and Resident Representative Office in Vietnam.