VATICAN CITY (CNS): A Vatican delegation told Vietnamese officials that the Catholic Church’s religious activities there would not be conducted for political purposes.
Vatican undersecretary of state Monsignor Pietro Parolin led the delegation to Vietnam on February 16 and 17 for meetings with officials of the central government to discuss the possibility of establishing full diplomatic relations.
The Vatican officials also visited the government committee for religious affairs, the Catholic bishops’ conference, and the Thai Binh and Bui Chu dioceses.
In a statement on February 20, the Vatican press office said the latest round of talks showed that “positive progress has been made in the religious life in Vietnam”.
It expressed the hope that unsolved bilateral questions between Vietnam and the Holy See “could be settled with good will through sincere dialogue”.
Msgr Parolin told Vietnamese officials that the Vatican respected Vietnam’s independence and sovereignty and that the Church’s religious activities were not conducted for political purposes.
The Vatican official told them the Church “invites the faithful to be good citizens, working for the common good of the country”, the statement said.
The Vatican and Vietnam do not have diplomatic relations, but Vatican diplomats make annual visits to Vietnam to discuss Church-state relations and specific questions related to the appointment of bishops, seminary enrolment and the functioning of Catholic institutions.
There are continued restrictions on Catholic life in the country and the Vietnamese Government continues to insist on approving the candidates for bishop before the pope names them officially.
Last year, Vatican officials reported that the Vietnamese Government had restored to Church use the land surrounding the national shrine of Our Lady of La Vang.
After the Vatican intervened last February to discourage further Church-led protests on the grounds of the former apostolic nunciature in Hanoi, the Government returned the building to the Catholic Church.
