Vatican
City, 14 June 2013
(VIS) – The Working Group Meeting between the Holy See and Vietnam
met for the fourth time from 13 to 14 June, in the Vatican. The
meeting was co-chaired by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary
for Relations with States, and by Mr. Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam's
vice-minister of Foreign Affairs.
As
reported in a press release, the two sides informed each other about
their respective situation and reviewed and discussed Vietnam –
Holy See relations and other issues related to the Catholic Church in
Vietnam.
The
Vietnamese side stressed the consistent implementation and continuous
improvements in policies by the Party and State of Vietnam related to
the respect and assurance of freedom of religion and religious
beliefs, as well as continued encouragement of different religions,
and the Vietnam Catholic Church in particular, in taking active part
in the national construction and socio-economic development process.
The Holy See side expressed appreciation and gratitude for the
attention given by various levels of Government to the activities of
the Vietnam Catholic Church, particularly the 10th Plenary Assembly
of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences held in Xuan Loc
and Ho Chi Minh City in December 2012, as well as the pastoral visits
of the non-resident Papal Representative, Archbishop Leopoldo
Girelli. The Holy See stressed the desire to develop further Vietnam
– Holy See relations and underlined the need to have as soon as
possible a Papal Representative resident in the country, for the
benefit of all concerned.
The
two sides believe that Vietnam – Holy See relations have progressed
in a spirit of goodwill, constructive exchange and respect for
principles in the relationship. In this spirit, and in view of the
commitment to develop further mutual relations, the work of the
non-resident Papal Representative will be facilitated in order to
allow him to carry out his mission even more fruitfully. The two
sides agreed to meet for the 5th Round of the Joint Working Group
between Vietnam and the Holy See in Hanoi. The time of the meeting
will be arranged through diplomatic channels.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment