Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng (R) and Monsignor Miroslaw Wachowski, Under-Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States, at the meeting in the Vatican. VNA/VNS Photo

ROME – The Việt Nam - Holy See Joint Working Group held the 10th-round meeting in the Vatican on March 31 under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng and Monsignor Miroslaw Wachowski, Under-Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States.

In the spirit of friendship, mutual understanding, and respect, the two discussed the Việt Nam - Holy See relations and issues related to the Việt Nam Catholic Church.

Hằng affirmed Việt Nam’s consistent policy of respecting and ensuring people’s freedom of belief and religion, and that administrations at all levels have always paid attention to and created favourable conditions for activities of religions, including Catholicism.

She proposed the Holy See pay attention to and guide the Catholic community of Việt Nam to stay attached to and stand side-by-side with the State and people, contribute to the country’s development, and bring into play the fine cultural and ethical values of Catholicism, thereby helping to promote the Việt Nam - Holy See ties.

Wachowski noted that the Holy See always hopes that the Việt Nam Catholic Church operates in line with the country's law and actively contributes to the country’s development in conformity with the Church’s teachings of “living the gospel amidst the nation” and that “a good Catholic must be a good citizen”.

At the meeting, the two sides shared the view that the relations between Việt Nam and the Holy See have recorded much progress in the recent past as seen in the regular meetings and consultations, high-level delegation exchanges, and frequent pastoral visits by Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Non-Resident Pontifical Representative and Special Envoy of the Holy See, to Việt Nam.

They also discussed and basically agreed on the working regulations for the Holy See’s Resident Representative and Resident Representative Office in Việt Nam.

On this occasion, Hằng had a meeting with Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher. VNS