Vietnam sends condolences to Vatican over Pope's death
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on Sunday sent a message of condolences to the Vatican's Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano over the death of Pope John Paul II.The same day, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Dung extended Vietnam's condolences over the death of Pope John Paul II.
In response to correspondents' queries on Vietnam's reaction to the pope's death, the spokesman said: "We'd like to extend our deep sympathies to the Vatican, the Catholic community in the world and the Catholics in Vietnam as well." Meanwhile, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee (VFF CC), Pham The Duyet also sent a message of condolences to the Episcopal Council of the Vietnam Catholic Church over the death of Pope John Paul II.
The message said: "The death is a great loss to the world Catholic community, including the Vietnam Catholic Church's Episcopal Council. On behalf of the VFF CC, I would like to extend deep sympathies to the President of the Episcopal Council, all bishops and Catholics in Vietnam." Pope John Paul II was the religious leader who had made great contributions to promoting peace and reconciliation, condemning genocide and war crimes and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, Mr Duyet said.
Many Catholics gathered at churches nationwide on Sunday to mourn for Pole John Paul II. They paid respects to the Pope and expressed deep sorrow over his death.
Radio "Voice of Vietnam" - April 4, 2005
Communist Vietnam offers sympathy, praise for Pope
HANOI - Pope John Paul, the most travelled pontiff in history, never visited Vietnam but his name is everywhere in the communist country, be it in praise by the leadership, stories by state-run media or just on the street. Like giant neighbour China, Vietnam has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican, although its eight million Catholics make the Southeast Asian country the second-biggest Catholic community in Asia after the Philippines.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent a message of condolence to the Vatican for the death of a pope who travelled the equivalent of 30 times the circumference of the earth and visited Communist Cuba, but never set foot in Vietnam and China. News of the Pope's death on Saturday appeared within hours on the front page of the online edition (www.nhandan.org.vn) of the Vietnam Communist Party's mouthpiece daily, Nhan Dan. Today, the party's umbrella organisation, the Fatherland Front, praised his efforts in a condolence message sent to the Vietnam Bishops Council which appeared on the daily's front page.
''Pope John Paul II was a religious leader who contributed much to advocating peace and reconciliation, to condemning the crime of genocide, war criminals and the threat of the HIV/AIDS pandemic,'' said Pham The Duyet, chairman of the organisation. Duyet called on Vietnam's bishops to follow ''the moral example of the Pope''.
An official of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs said Hanoi had made preparations for churches nationwide to hold mourning rites, and church officials ''could go to the Vatican at their will'' for the funeral. Archbishop Monsignor Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet told Reuters he and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, appointed by the pontiff in 1998, would attend the funeral. He said John Paul ''loved Vietnam in a special way''.
In 1988, he canonised 117 Catholic Vietnamese and European missionaries executed for their beliefs by reigning emperors in the 18th and 19th centuries. Kiet said John Paul had wanted to visit Vietnam and he hoped that his successor would do so. One tenth of Vietnam's 82 million population is Catholic, and Catholicism is one of six religions recognised by the officially atheist state. Ties have warmed recently between Hanoi and the Vatican. Last year, diplomats said talks had begun on establishing formal relations.
Reuters - April 4, 2005
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