If the visit takes place, this will be the first time Pope Francis has come to Vietnam in his new position, marking a development in Vietnam - Vatican relations.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Vatican Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher on April 10 - Photo: VGP
On the afternoon of April 10, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Archbishop and Secretary of State of the Vatican Paul Richard Gallagher on the occasion of his visit to Vietnam.
At the reception, the Prime Minister assessed that the first visit to Vietnam by a Vatican foreign minister is of great significance to the Vietnamese Catholic community, especially after the Holy See established a permanent representative in Vietnam, believing that this will contribute to further strengthening the relationship between Vietnam and the Vatican, which is developing positively.
The head of the Government also believes that the visit of the Vatican Secretary of State will be a great success, and will also be an opportunity for him to visit three archdioceses and witness firsthand the development of the Vietnamese Catholic community.
Promoting Pope Francis' visit to Vietnam
For his part, Vatican Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher thanked General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong for the Easter greetings and greetings sent to Pope Francis and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for his counterpart, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
He expressed his impression of Vietnam's achievements in socio-economic development and foreign affairs, and was proud of the contributions of the Vietnamese Catholic community.
According to him, the Catholic community wishes and has the ability to contribute more to the prosperous development of Vietnam.
The Vatican Secretary of State also expressed his delight at the good development of bilateral relations and wished that the two sides would soon organize the 11th meeting of the Vietnam - Vatican Joint Working Group in Hanoi.
On this occasion, he thanked the Vietnamese authorities for continuing to support and facilitate the activities of the Holy See's permanent representative in Vietnam to successfully complete the tasks assigned by Pope Francis.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed with Holy See Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher on continuing to promote high-level contacts, including Pope Francis' visit to Vietnam.
If this happens, this will be Pope Francis' first visit to Vietnam since he was elected head of the Vatican in 2013.
On this occasion, the Holy See's Foreign Minister also conveyed Pope Francis' greetings to the Vietnamese leaders, and conveyed to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh the invitation to visit the Vatican from Cardinal and Prime Minister Pietro Parolin.
Pope Francis - Photo: REUTERS
Vietnam always creates favorable conditions for religions.
Earlier, during the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also discussed the religious situation in Vietnam with the Vatican's Foreign Minister. He said that Vietnam is a multi-religious country with 27 million followers, accounting for 27% of the country's population, of which the Catholic community is growing strongly with more than 7.2 million followers.
The Prime Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese State implements a consistent policy of respecting and ensuring people's freedom of belief and religion with an increasingly complete system of policies and laws on belief and religion, ensuring a legal corridor for religious activities.
Speaking more about Catholicism, the head of the Government expressed his wish that the Vietnamese Catholic community would promote the spirit of "respecting God and loving the country", "good parishioners are good citizens", living a good life and following the religion, actively participating in building and implementing the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, and continuing to contribute to strengthening the great national unity and religious unity.
The Prime Minister also hopes that the Catholic Church of Vietnam will promote patriotism, fine traditions of solidarity, accompany the nation and continue to actively contribute to the cause of national construction and development.
He believes that with mutual understanding and sincere dialogue, the Vietnam - Vatican relationship will achieve new progress.
Panorama of the reception for Vatican Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher - Photo: VGP
The Head of Government then shared with the Vatican Foreign Minister that Vietnam's development achievements have been recognized and highly appreciated by the international community.
Expressing his delight at the recent progress in the Vietnam-Vatican relationship, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the two sides' active maintenance of exchanges and contacts between high-ranking leaders as well as the results of the activities of the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the two sides' upgrading of relations to resident representatives is an important milestone and the result of a positive exchange process in the spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding.
This also shows that the Vietnamese State always creates favorable conditions for the activities of religions, including Catholicism.
Tuoitre.vn
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