On Wednesday Pope Francis met Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang at the   
   Vatican for a meeting largely focused on collaboration between the   
   Church and State, as well as how to move forward in cementing better   
   relations.    
      
   In the course of the cordial talks, specific mention was made of the   
   good relations existing between the Holy See and Vietnam, which are   
   supported by a common spirit of dialogue and of the constant search for   
   the most appropriate tools so they can further advance, a Nov. 23   
   communique from the Vatican read.   
      
   Collaboration between the Church and the State in various levels of   
   local society was also emphasized.   
      
   President Dai Quang arrived to the Vatican around 5p.m. local time, and   
   was accompanied by a delegation of 10 people.    
      
   After their private discussion, Dai Quang gifted the Pope a small drum   
   with a bronze base, while Francis, for his part, gave the Vietnamese   
   president a medal of his pontificate as well as a copy of his   
   environmental encyclical Laudato Si, his Apostolic Exhortations Amoris   
   Laetitia and Evangelii Gaudium.   
      
   Following his meeting with the Pope, President Dai Quang met briefly   
   with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vaticans   
   Secretary for Relations with the States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.   
      
   While the Vietnamese presidents visit to the Vatican is significant, it   
   is not the first time a head of state has made such a gesture. In 2009,   
   former president Nguyen Minh Triet traveled to the Vatican to meet with   
   Pope Benedict XVI, marking the first such visit by a Vietnamese head of   
   state to the Vatican.   
      
   Vietnam is currently one of 15 States in which the Holy See does not yet   
   have full diplomatic relations.    
      
   Diplomatic relations between the two states were dissolved in 1975 when   
   the communist north overran South Vietnam. However, since then, the   
   visits of more than 20 Vatican delegations eventually led to the 2007   
   visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Benedict XVI.   
      
   After the 2007 meeting, the Holy See and Vietnam began talks to   
   re-establish diplomatic ties, and to this end a joint working group was   
   established in 2009. In 2008, after decades, the Holy See was finally   
   able to appoint seven new bishops in Vietnam, and the bishops ordained   
   hundreds of priests.   
      
   Talks eventually led to the appointment of Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli   
   as non-resident special envoy to Vietnam in 2011. A year later, Nguyen   
   Phu Trong, secretary of the Vietnamese communist party, visited   
   Benedict, showing the desire on the part of Vietnamese authorities to   
   normalize diplomatic ties.   
      
   The sixth and most recent meeting of the working group took place Oct.   
   24-26 at the Vatican, where talks centered on the recent reform of the   
   religious freedom bill in Vietnam, which has been under discussion since   
   2013, when the Vietnamese constitution was revised.   
      
   The law guaranteed freedom of belief to people, and formally guarantees   
   religious freedom. However, Catholic communities have experienced   
   several limitations under the communist regime that took power in 1976.   
      
   In the October working group meeting, Vietnams representatives   
   underscored the efforts made to improve a religious freedom bill, while   
   the Holy See showed appreciation for these efforts and reiterated the   
   Churchs freedom to carry forward its mission.   
      
   With 6 million adherents to the faith  nearly 7 percent of its entire   
   population  the Church has a notable impact on Vietnamese society, a   
   fact acknowledged by the government's desire to dialogue with the Holy   
   See.On Wednesday Pope Francis met Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang at   
   the Vatican for a meeting largely focused on collaboration between the   
   Church and State, as well as how to move forward in cementing better   
   relations.    
      
   In the course of the cordial talks, specific mention was made of the   
   good relations existing between the Holy See and Vietnam, which are   
   supported by a common spirit of dialogue and of the constant search for   
   the most appropriate tools so they can further advance, a Nov. 23   
   communique from the Vatican read.   
      
   Collaboration between the Church and the State in various levels of   
   local society was also emphasized.   
      
   President Dai Quang arrived to the Vatican around 5p.m. local time, and   
   was accompanied by a delegation of 10 people.    
      
   After their private discussion, Dai Quang gifted the Pope a small drum   
   with a bronze base, while Francis, for his part, gave the Vietnamese   
   president a medal of his pontificate as well as a copy of his   
   environmental encyclical Laudato Si, his Apostolic Exhortations Amoris   
   Laetitia and Evangelii Gaudium.   
      
   Following his meeting with the Pope, President Dai Quang met briefly   
   with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vaticans   
   Secretary for Relations with the States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.   
      
   While the Vietnamese presidents visit to the Vatican is significant, it   
   is not the first time a head of state has made such a gesture. In 2009,   
   former president Nguyen Minh Triet traveled to the Vatican to meet with   
   Pope Benedict XVI, marking the first such visit by a Vietnamese head of   
   state to the Vatican.   
      
   Vietnam is currently one of 15 States in which the Holy See does not yet   
   have full diplomatic relations.    
      
   Diplomatic relations between the two states were dissolved in 1975 when   
   the communist north overran South Vietnam. However, since then, the   
   visits of more than 20 Vatican delegations eventually led to the 2007   
   visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Benedict XVI.   
      
   After the 2007 meeting, the Holy See and Vietnam began talks to   
   re-establish diplomatic ties, and to this end a joint working group was   
   established in 2009. In 2008, after decades, the Holy See was finally   
   able to appoint seven new bishops in Vietnam, and the bishops ordained   
   hundreds of priests.   
      
   Talks eventually led to the appointment of Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli   
   as non-resident special envoy to Vietnam in 2011. A year later, Nguyen   
   Phu Trong, secretary of the Vietnamese communist party, visited   
   Benedict, showing the desire on the part of Vietnamese authorities to   
   normalize diplomatic ties.   
      
   The sixth and most recent meeting of the working group took place Oct.   
   24-26 at the Vatican, where talks centered on the recent reform of the   
   religious freedom bill in Vietnam, which has been under discussion since   
   2013, when the Vietnamese constitution was revised.   
      
   The law guaranteed freedom of belief to people, and formally guarantees   
   religious freedom. However, Catholic communities have experienced   
   several limitations under the communist regime that took power in 1976.   
      
   In the October working group meeting, Vietnams representatives   
   underscored the efforts made to improve a religious freedom bill, while   
   the Holy See showed appreciation for these efforts and reiterated the   
   Churchs freedom to carry forward its mission.   
      
   With 6 million adherents to the faith  nearly 7 percent of its entire   
   population  the Church has a notable impact on Vietnamese society, a   
   fact acknowledged by the government's desire to dialogue with the Holy   
   See.    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
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