December 14, 2012 - Senior delegates gathered at the Plenary Assembly of the Federation
of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) have expressed appreciation for the spiritual
life in Vietnam. The comments were made at a meeting between the Vietnamese Government
Committee for Religious Affairs and FABC representatives that included Special Envoy
of Pope Benedict XVI, Filipino Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales and Cardinal Oswald Gracias,
FABC Secretary General, in Hanoi on Monday. FABC’s 10th Plenary is taking place in
Xuan Loc, Vietnam, Dec. 10 – 16. The two cardinals noted that FABC delegates were
touched by the friendship and openness of the Vietnamese people. They said that Pope
Benedict XVI knows of the Vietnamese Catholic community’s positive developments, and
appreciated the warming relations between Vietnam and the Vatican. Pham Dung, the
head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs noted that Catholicism has
made many contributions to the construction and development of the country. He asked
the delegation to convey his thanks to the Pope and the Vatican offices, wishing they
would pay more attention to the Catholic community in Vietnam. Being hosted for the
first time in Vietnam, the FABC plenary has brought together 122 participants including
cardinals, archbishops, bishops and church representatives from Asia, Europe, Australia
and the Vatican. In the past there have been tensions for decades between Catholics
and Vietnam’s Communist government over church property seized by the Communist and
other issues, such as appointments of Church personnel. But relations between Vietnam
and the Holy See have warmed in recent years with easing of restrictions on the Catholic
community and exchange of visits by top officials. Pope Benedict XVI received President
Nguyen Minh Triet of Vietnam in the Vatican on December 11, 2009, the first head of
the Southeast Asian nation to visit a Pope. The first round of Holy See-Vietnam talks
was held in Hanoi in February, 2009, and the last talks took place in the Vatican
in June, 2010. Vietnam's some 6 million Catholics are the second largest Catholic
community in Asia after the Philippines.