President Vo Van Thuong visits the Vatican, meets Pope Francis, meets and talks with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin

NDO - On the afternoon of July 27 (local time), at the invitation of Pope Francis,President Vo Van Thuong and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, visited the Vatican.

President Vo Van Thuong meets with Pope Francis. (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting with Pope Francis, President Vo Van Thuong expressed his joy at visiting the Vatican and thanked the Pope and the Holy See for their warm welcome to the delegation. President Vo Van Thuong expressed his appreciation for the Pope's concern and affection for the Vietnamese people's struggle for independence in the past and for Vietnam today, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Vo Van Thuong highly appreciated the positive developments in Vietnam-Holy See relations through the two sides maintaining high-level contacts in recent years and effectively implementing the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group mechanism.

President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that the Party and State of Vietnam consistently implement the policy of respecting and ensuring freedom of belief and religion and constantly improving the legal framework to facilitate religious activities, including Catholicism. The President welcomed the positive contributions of the Vietnamese Catholic community in charitable activities,education , health care, and vocational training, and hoped that Vietnamese Catholics would continue to contribute to the country's construction and development.

Pope Francis welcomed the visit of President Vo Van Thuong, affirming that the visit of President Vo Van Thuong is an opportunity for the two sides to discuss the situation of Catholicism in Vietnam and the Vietnam-Holy See relationship. Pope Francis recalled the good memories of receiving high-ranking Vietnamese leaders in the past, sharing the Pope's affection for the country, people and special concern for the Vietnamese Catholic community.

President Vo Van Thuong highly appreciated and respected the instructions and teachings of the Pope and the Holy See to the Vietnamese Catholic community; he hoped that the Pope would continue to pay attention to instructing Vietnamese Catholic dignitaries and followers to continue to follow the direction of attachment and companionship with the State and people, for the development and prosperity of the country.

The President emphasized the role of the Holy See in global issues, maintaining peace , sustainable development, the environment, and ensuring human rights.

Pope Francis affirmed that the Holy See wishes for the Holy See-Vietnam relationship to develop better and better; emphasized that the Catholic Church in Vietnam needs to continue to better implement the guidelines of "accompanying the nation" and "good parishioners are good citizens"; and at the same time encouraged Catholic parishioners and dignitaries in Vietnam to actively contribute to the development of the country and the Church.

President Vo Van Thuong and Pope Francis assessed that the approval of the Regulations on the operation of the Permanent Representative and the Office of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam is an important step forward in the context of positive development of bilateral relations, and is the result of exchanges in the spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding. Both sides believe that the Permanent Representative will make positive contributions to the relationship between the Holy See and the Vietnamese Catholic community as well as to the Vietnam-Holy See relationship.

President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that Vietnam will facilitate the activities of the permanent representative, in accordance with Vietnamese law and the agreement between the two sides; expressed the wish that the Catholic Church in Vietnam will develop further and contribute more actively to the common development of the country. Pope Francis emphasized that the approval of the Regulations on the activities of the Permanent Representative and the Office of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam is a model of mutual trust and a basis for promoting and expanding relations further in the coming time.

* In the afternoon of the same day, right after the meeting with the Pope, President Vo Van Thuong and his wife along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation met with the Holy See's Prime Minister, Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the Vatican. At the meeting, the two sides discussed Vietnam-Holy See relations and the Catholic situation in Vietnam.

Sharing with the Prime Minister and Cardinal Parolin about Vietnam's foreign and religious policies, President Vo Van Thuong emphasized that the Party and State of Vietnam always create favorable conditions for religions to operate and develop in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and laws, including the Law on Belief and Religion, and continue to perfect the legal framework for religious activities of the people and religious organizations. President Vo Van Thuong expressed his hope that the Prime Minister and Cardinal Parolin, with their important responsibilities at the Holy See and who also understands and has good feelings for Vietnam, will continue to pay more attention to the activities of the Catholic community in Vietnam, thereby contributing to promoting the increasingly positive development of Vietnam-Holy See relations.

President Vo Van Thuong meets with Vatican Prime Minister, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister, Cardinal Parolin highly appreciated Vietnam's achievements in ensuring religious freedom for all religions, including Catholicism. The Vatican Prime Minister thanked and positively acknowledged Vietnam's contributions to the Catholic Church in Vietnam, especially in the fields of charity, education, health care, and vocational training. The Vatican Prime Minister welcomed the role of the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group in enhancing mutual understanding and trust; agreed to resolve differences through dialogue.

Prime Minister, Cardinal Parolin said that Vietnam has an increasingly important role in the Catholic Church with more than 7.2 million Catholics, affirming that the Holy See always encourages Catholics and dignitaries in Vietnam to follow the direction of "accompanying the nation", "good Catholics are good citizens", and actively contribute to the development of the country and the Church.

President Vo Van Thuong emphasized the importance of the Holy See's role in global issues and hoped that the Holy See would continue to promote its voice in contributing to conflict resolution, peacekeeping, sustainable development, and promoting solidarity, friendship, cooperation and development among peoples and religions in the world. The Holy See affirmed that in the spirit of supporting all peace-building initiatives in the world, the Vatican agreed to support the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister, Cardinal Pietro Parolin discussed the two sides' approval of the Regulations on the operation of the Holy See's Permanent Representative and Permanent Representative Office in Vietnam. The President said that Vietnam will continue to support the Holy See in completing the necessary procedures to open the Holy See's Permanent Representative Office in Hanoi and support the activities of the Permanent Representative in Vietnam.

At the end of the President's visit to the Vatican, the two sides issued a joint press release on the approval of the Regulations on the operation of the Permanent Representative and the Office of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam.

Joint press release on the adoption of the Agreement on the Regulations of Operation of the Permanent Representative and the Office of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam

On the occasion of the visit of President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong to the Vatican on July 27, 2023, based on the results of the 10th Meeting of the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group on March 31, 2023 at the Vatican, with the common desire to continue promoting relations between the two sides, the two sides officially announced that the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Holy See have approved the "Agreement on the Regulations of Operation of the Permanent Representative and the Office of the Permanent Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam".

At the meetings between President Vo Van Thuong with Pope Francis and the Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin on July 27, 2023, the two sides highly appreciated the positive developments in Vietnam-Holy See relations and the active activities of the Vietnamese Catholic community in recent times.

The two sides expressed their belief that the Permanent Representative of the Holy See will properly perform its functions and tasks in the Statute; support the Vietnamese Catholic community to operate in the spirit of respecting the law and the teachings of the Church, implementing the guidelines of "accompanying the nation", "good parishioners and good citizens", actively contributing to the development of the country; at the same time, promoting its role as a bridge to promote relations between Vietnam and the Holy See.

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