International News

VATICAN CITY, Nov 24, (APP/AFP) – Pope Francis hosted Vietnamese
President Tran Dai Quang at the Vatican as the two work towards warming long-strained ties, a press release from the Holy See said.
The two men “discussed the good relations which exist between the
Holy See and Vietnam, reinforced by a common spirit of dialogue” over the course of a 15-minute meeting Wednesday, the statement said.
The Vatican said the states were “constantly searching for ways to
develop relations even further”, but did not comment on the possible re-establishment of diplomatic ties.
Vietnam’s communist regime broke off diplomatic ties with the Vatican
in 1975, but both sides have been working towards reconciliation since 2007, including a meeting between the prime minister and the pope two years ago.
The papal nuncio in Singapore, Leopoldo Girelli, has been the
Vatican’s “non-resident pontifical representative” to Hanoi since 2011.
The vast majority of Vietnam’s 93 million inhabitants say they follow
Buddhist traditions, but about seven percent of the population say they are
Catholic.