The Vatican’s foreign minister met with the Vietnamese Prime Minister in Hanoi on April 10, marking the first high-level diplomatic visit by a church official to Vietnam since the Vietnam War.
April 19, 2024
Vatican Secretary of State Relations Archbishop Paul Gallagher (centre) meets with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (not shown) and other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi on April 9, 2024.
Courtney Mares
The Vatican’s foreign minister met with the Vietnamese Prime Minister in Hanoi on April 10, marking the first high-level diplomatic visit by a church official to Vietnam since the Vietnam War.
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for state relations, discussed with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh the possibility of Pope Francis becoming the first pope to visit the Southeast Asian country.
Vietnam’s official news agency reported that both Gallagher and the prime minister agreed on “the need to advance high-level contacts, including Pope Francis’ visit to Vietnam.”
During a six-day trip to Vietnam, Gallagher visited Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hue, celebrating public masses in the cathedrals of all three cities.
On April 9, Gallagher met with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on the first day of his visit to Vietnam. .
The high-level diplomatic visit comes as relations between the Vatican and Vietnam are heating up. Last year, Vietnam agreed to allow the Vatican to send an official papal representative to live in the country and establish an office in Hanoi.
In December 2023, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Marek Zalewski, a Polish Vatican diplomat, as the papal representative in Vietnam.
Zalewski’s appointment is a historic step toward the possibility of one day establishing full diplomatic relations. After the Communist takeover of Saigon in 1975, Vietnam severed ties with the Holy See.
With the new appointment, Vietnam becomes the only Asian communist country to have a permanent papal envoy. ——Central News Agency
