Archbishop Gallagher makes 6-day visit to Vietnam
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for State Relations, begins a diplomatic visit to Vietnam, which will include meetings with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as well as meetings with the local Church.
By Vatican News
On April 9, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, began his trip to Vietnam, where he will stay until Sunday, April 14.
The Secretariat of State's X account, @TerzaLoggia, published its schedule at the time of the departure of the archbishop of English origin.
The program includes meetings with Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính.
He will also hold diplomatic meetings at the Ministry of the Interior and preside over a Eucharistic celebration at St. Joseph Cathedral in Hanoi.
Bishop Gallagher's program includes a visit to the ecclesiastical province of Hue to meet students of the Major Seminary and preside over a mass at the “Phu Cam” cathedral in Hue.
Announcement of the trip
Archbishop Gallagher himself spoke about his visit to Vietnam on January 18, following an audience that Pope Francis held with representatives of the Vietnamese Communist Party at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.
Speaking after the event, the archbishop expressed his appreciation for the meeting and his hope that the Vietnamese Catholic community will benefit from this advancement in bilateral relations, as well as other important diplomatic achievements.
In December, the Holy See and Vietnam reached an agreement to appoint a resident papal representative to Vietnam, the apostolic nuncio to Singapore, Polish-born Archbishop Marek Zalewski.
The agreement was signed in July 2023, during President Vo Van Thuong's visit to the Vatican, based on the tenth session of the Vietnam-Holy See Joint Working Group, which took place on March 31, 2023 in Rome .
Archbishop Gallagher also hinted at a possible visit to the country by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin during the year and expressed optimism about a possible future visit by Pope Francis.
He highlighted the importance of Vietnam and its status as an “economic miracle in many ways.”
Letter from Pope Francis to the Vietnamese Church
Vietnam and the Holy See severed diplomatic relations in 1975, but positive developments began to occur after 1990.
In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed a non-resident papal representative and in 2023, the two parties established a statute for a resident representative.
Pope Francis also sent a letter to the Church in Vietnam in September 2023, urging the Catholic faithful to live as “good Christians and good citizens.”
He called them to bear witness to God's love “without distinction of religion, race or culture” and stressed the importance of “recognizing convergences and respecting differences.”
This approach, the Pope noted, embodies the identity of Catholics as good Christians and citizens by animating their Church and spreading the Gospel in daily life.
Where there are “favorable conditions for the exercise of religious freedom,” he said, the witness of Catholics can help promote dialogue and hope for Vietnam.
