Vietnam's premier to meet with pope at Vatican in highest-level meeting ever
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will meet with Vietnam's premier Jan. 25 at the Vatican in the highest-level meeting ever between the Holy See and Hanoi's Communist government.
Vatican officials described the pontiff's scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as a further sign of improving relations after decades of tensions, particularly over Hanoi's insistence on having the final say in most church appointments.
The Vatican-affiliated news agency Asia News said the Jan. 25 meeting "might be the prelude to full normalization" of diplomatic relations.
Since becoming pope in 2005, Benedict has made it clear that he is intent on formalizing ties in Asia with countries without diplomatic relations with the Holy See, especially Vietnam and China.
Recent signs of hope for the Vatican include the ordination in 2005 of dozens of priests in Vietnam in a ceremony led by a top Vatican cardinal.
Vietnam, with 6 million Catholics has Asia's second-largest number of Catholics. The Philippines has the largest Catholic community in Asia.
In a speech Monday to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Benedict hailed Vietnam's adhesion to the World Trade Organization. Vietnam, which has one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, officially joined the WTO on Thursday.
The Associated Press - January 11, 2007.
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