CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, embarked on a six-day visit to Vietnam on April 9, aiming at fully normalizing diplomatic relations between the communist country and the Holy See.
Archbishop Gallagher will meet with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, according to Vatican News.
Archbishop Gallagher is the most senior official to visit Vietnam since it first established its communist regime and broke diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1975, according to a report from France24 that noted that the country’s government has historically perceived Vietnamese Catholics “as having close links with former colonial power France.”
However, relations between the two states began to resume in 1990, during Pope St John Paul II’s pontificate. The upward trend continued in 2011, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed a non-resident Pontifical representative. Twelve years later, in December 2023, the Vatican negotiated to establish the Polish-born Archbishop Marek Zalewski as the first resident Vatican representative in the country.
Gallagher’s complete schedule lists diplomatic encounters at the Ministry of the Interior and a Eucharistic procession at the Cathedral of St Joseph in the capital city of Hanoi.
The Vatican representative will also travel to the ecclesiastical province of Hue, where he will visit the Major Seminary and preside over a Eucharistic celebration at the Phu Cam Cathedral. He will then finish the visit in the ecclesiastical province of Ho Chi Minh, where he will meet with members of the Vietnam Episcopal Conference and preside over a Eucharistic celebration at the city’s Notre Dame Cathedral.
The head of AsiaNews, Giorgio Bernadelli, told AP News that Gallagher’s visit is an “important moment” that signifies continuing relationships between the two states while they “wait for an upgrade to full diplomatic relations.”
Gallagher announced he would visit Vietnam after Pope Francis’ audience with representatives of the country’s Communist Party on Jan. 18 at the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The top Vatican diplomat also hinted at possible visits to the country by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and even Pope Francis himself, Vatican News reported.
