Archbishop Gallagher meets Vietnam’s Prime Minister in Hanoi
The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations is in Vietnam until April 14. During his visit, he held cordial talks with the Prime Minister and other government officials. Meetings with the Vietnamese Catholic community are planned in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City.
By Vatican News
On the afternoon of April 10, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Bishop Paul Richard Gallagher, met with representatives of the Vietnamese government in Hanoi. These include Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn and Minister of the Interior Ms. Phạm Thị Thanh Trà.
The interviews took place in a very friendly atmosphere. Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said relations between Vietnam and the Holy See are very positive and were further strengthened with last July's agreement on the resident pontifical representative, an agreement defined as an important step in the history of bilateral relations. The Prime Minister highlighted that Vietnam is a multi-faith country with 27 million believers, or 27 percent of the population, with a rapidly growing Catholic community of more than 7.2 million faithful.
Archbishop Gallagher also expressed satisfaction with the good bilateral relations, hoping that the next meeting – the eleventh – of the Vietnam-Holy See Joint Working Group could take place soon. He also expressed his joy for the contribution that the Catholic community offers to the development of Vietnamese society. During the interviews, the visit of Pope Francis to Vietnam was also mentioned.
The program of Bishop Gallagher's visit (April 9-14) also includes a Eucharistic celebration at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi, a meeting with students of the Major Seminary of Hue with a mass at the “Phu Cam” Cathedral, a another Eucharistic celebration at “Notre-Dame” in Ho Chi Minh City, and finally a meeting with the Vietnamese Episcopal Conference.
In a letter to the Asian nation's Church last September, Pope Francis invited the Catholic faithful to live as “good Christians and good citizens,” testifying to God's love “without distinction of religion, race and of culture “. Relations between the Holy See and Vietnam were interrupted in 1975 but experienced encouraging developments from 1990. In 2011, Benedict XVI appointed a non-resident papal representative. Last December, Pope Francis appointed Polish Archbishop Marek Zalewski as resident papal representative in Vietnam.
