Vatican City (AsiaNews) The visit of a Hanoi government commission to the Vatican closed today with "the hope of swift progress" towards "normalization" of links between the Holy See and Vietnam.
A statement issued by the Secretary of the Vatican State said "some aspects of the activity of the Catholic Church in Vietnam" were examined throughout the meeting, which started on 27 June, in "a climate of cordial respect and profitable dialogue focusing on developments recorded since the last meeting". This was in Vietnam in April May last year.
Among members of the Vietnamese government commission, which is back in the Vatican after its first visit in 1992, there were two officials from the government and the Foreign Affairs Ministry other than representatives of the Commission for Religious Affairs.
"Placed in the context of bilateral meetings which have now taking place for years, the scope is to promote ties between the Church and the State: this has also allowed the Vietnamese party to know more directly and deeply the reality of the Holy See."
During the visit, the Vietnamese representatives also went to the headquarters of Vatican Radio, where they met the people running the Vietnamese section and they also went to the Pontifical Urban College 'De propaganda fide', where they greeted a group of youths from their country.
On 29 June they attended mass celebrated by Benedict XVI.
