Vietnamese president to meet Pope Benedict in the Vatican
(December 7, 2009) The president of Vietnam will visit Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican
this week to strengthen ties between his country and the Holy See the Vietnamese government
has announced. Nguyen Phuong Nga, spokeswoman for Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said the president and Pope Benedict will discuss "measures to reinforce relations
between Vietnam and the Vatican," which she said have been progressing well. Vietnam
and the Holy See do not have diplomatic relations and Vietnamese Catholics continue
to protest their treatment at the hands of the communist government, particularly
against confiscation of Church property. Vietnam’s Communist authorities closely
monitor religious groups and insist on approving most church appointments. However,
relations between Vietnam and the Holy See have warmed in recent years with easing
of restrictions on the Catholic community. Earlier in 2007 Prime Minster Nguyen Tan
Dung made a historic visit to the Vatican. Earlier this year a senior Vatican official
led a delegation to the country to hold the first formal meetings with government
authorities to discuss establishing diplomatic ties. Vietnam has Southeast Asia’s
largest Catholic community after the Philippines, with some six million faithful,
or seven percent of the country’s some 86 million population.