Historic visit between Pope and Vietnam's Communist leader

January 22, 2013: Tuesday morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong. Subsequently, the Secretary-General and his entourage met Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States.

It’s the first time that a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam met the Pope and senior officials of the Secretariat of State. In the cordial conversations were treated topics of interest to Vietnam and the Holy See, expressing the hope that soon some pending problems can be resolved and that could strengthen the existing good cooperation.

Although the Communist Vietnamese government and the Holy See do not maintain full diplomatic relations, the two states have established a Joint Working Group to discuss the start of full relations, and the Vatican has a non residential representative.