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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed the Archbishop and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Holy See on his visit to Vietnam. |
During the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed the Archbishop and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Holy See to Vietnam and assessed that the first visit of a Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Holy See, especially after the establishment of a permanent representative office in Vietnam, is of great significance to the Vietnamese Catholic community, contributing to further strengthening the positively developing relationship between Vietnam and the Holy See. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his confidence that the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Holy See would be successful and would also provide an opportunity for the Minister to visit three Archdioceses and witness firsthand the development of the Vietnamese Catholic community.
Discussing the religious situation in Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that Vietnam is a multi-religious country with 27 million followers, accounting for 27% of the country's population, with the Catholic community thriving with over 7.2 million parishioners. He affirmed that the Vietnamese State consistently implements a policy of respecting and guaranteeing the freedom of belief and religion of its people, with an increasingly完善 system of policies and laws on belief and religion, ensuring a legal framework for religious activities.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his wish that the Vietnamese Catholic community would uphold the spirit of "respecting God and loving the country," and that "good Catholics are good citizens," living virtuous lives, actively participating in building and adhering to the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws, continuing to contribute to strengthening national unity and religious harmony; and that the Catholic Church in Vietnam would uphold the spirit of patriotism and the fine traditions of close ties with the nation, and continue to make positive contributions to the building and development of the country.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shared Vietnam's development achievements with the goal of a prosperous people and a strong nation, consolidating national unity, including the Catholic community, building a rule-of-law state by the people, for the people, and with people at the center, subject, goal, and driving force of development. Vietnam's achievements have been recognized and highly appreciated by the international community.
Expressing his pleasure at the recent progress in Vietnam-Holy See relations, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated the active maintenance of exchanges and contacts between high-level leaders, as well as the results of the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group; and the facilitation of the activities of the Holy See's Resident Representatives by Vietnamese authorities at all levels and localities. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that the upgrading of relations to Resident Representatives is an important milestone and the result of a positive exchange process based on respect, cooperation, and mutual understanding. He also demonstrated that the Vietnamese State always creates favorable conditions for the activities of religions, including Catholicism.
Archbishop and Foreign Minister Paul Richard Gallagher thanked General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong for his Easter greetings and regards to Pope Francis, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for his greetings to Prime Minister and Cardinal Pietro Parolin; expressed his admiration for Vietnam's socio-economic and foreign policy achievements, and his pride in the contributions of the Vietnamese Catholic community; and expressed his belief that the Catholic community desires and is capable of contributing even more to the prosperous development of Vietnam.
Archbishop Gallagher, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Holy See, expressed his delight at the positive development of Vietnam-Holy See relations through the maintenance of high-level contacts, as well as the active role of the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group; he hoped that the two sides would soon hold the 11th meeting in Hanoi; he thanked the Vietnamese authorities for their continued support and facilitation of the activities of the Holy See's Resident Representative in Vietnam in fulfilling the tasks assigned by Pope Francis; and he expressed confidence that with mutual understanding and sincere dialogue, Vietnam-Holy See relations will achieve new progress.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed with Archbishop and Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher on continuing to promote high-level contacts, including a visit to Vietnam by Pope Francis. On this occasion, the Archbishop and Secretary of State of the Holy See conveyed Pope Francis's greetings to the Vietnamese leaders and extended to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh an invitation to visit the Vatican from Cardinal and Prime Minister Pietro Parolin.
During his visit to Vietnam, Archbishop and Foreign Minister Paul Gallagher also held meetings and working sessions with Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Interior Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra, and visited the Archdioceses of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hue.
Manh Hung - Vietnam Communist Party's Electronic Information Portal
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