Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday with both saying they were committed to restoring diplomatic relations.
The country’s communist regime broke off diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1975, but both sides have been working on warming relations since 2007.
‘IMPORTANT STEP’
The meeting marked “an important step in the process of reinforcing relations between the Holy See and Vietnam,” the Vatican said in a statement after the meeting.
The Vatican said it welcomed the support of the Vietnamese authorities for the Catholic community, which makes up about 7 percent of the country’s population of 89 million.
During a five-day visit to South Korea in August — his first trip to Asia — the pope called for communist countries Vietnam and China, which do not have formal ties with the Vatican, to accept a “dialogue” with Rome.
The Catholic Church did not view Asia with the mentality of “conquerors,” the pope said.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS
The Vatican had earlier hailed “positive developments” from talks between the two sides held in Hanoi on Sept. 10 and 11.
Papal nuncio in Singapore Leopoldo Girelli has been the Vatican’s “non-resident pontifical representative” to Hanoi since 2011.
The pope is keen for the church to tap into Asia, a continent where the number of Catholics, now at only 3.2 percent, is rocketing.
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