VATICAN News: Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal PHAM MINH MAN are IN SYNC with VN Communist Government
Julie (English only!)
In diplomatic breakthrough, Pope Benedict meets Hanoi president
National Catholic Reporter
by Thomas C. Fox on Dec. 12, 2009
NCR Today
In a Vatican and Socialist Vietnam first ever, Pope Benedict met with
President Nguyen Minh Triet Dec. 11.
For decades, going back to the early 1960s, there have been two
Catholic approaches to Vietnamese communism, the hard line anti-
communists who have argued there can never be any negotiations or
cooperation between Catholics and communists; and those who have been
open to negotiations and cooperation, especially on social issues.
Generally speaking the southern Vietnamese Catholics who have had
consistently good leadership in key episcopal appointments, especially
in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the fastest growing dioceses in the world,
have argued for accommodation. Cardinal Pham Minh Man, of Ho Chi Minh
City, has tried to find ways to cooperate with the communist
government, often walking a diplomatic tight rope. Northern Vietnamese
Catholics, almost all of whom were living in North Vietnam during the
Second Vatican Council and never were exposed to the reforms that
resulted from the council, and who lived under communism in some of
its more Soviet manifestations, have been more opposed to working with
any socialist government.
It is clear that the southern approach, pushed by Cardinal Man, has
had the favor of the Vatican, especially under Pope Benedict, who sees
much good coming out of better Vietnamese-Vatican ties. Benedict would
very much like to visit Vietnam and it will not surprise me if, in the
not too distant future, the Vatican and Hanoi will announce a papal
visit to Vietnam.
You can be assured that crowds of proud Catholics would fill the
streets wherever Benedict showed up - much to Catholic delight and
apparently to Hanoi officials who want to show their increased
tolerance toward religion, though their record, in fact, is a bit more
spotty.
To Friday's Vatican visit is historic and something to be cheered and
supported and applauded.
The following is the Vatican news release issued by the Vatican press
office following the visit.
"This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Nguyen
Minh Triet, president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The
president subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of
State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was accompanied by Archbishop
Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.
"This was the first meeting of a president of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam with His Holiness and with high-ranking officials of the
Secretariat of State.
"The Holy See expressed its pleasure at the visit, a significant stage
in the progress of bilateral relations with Vietnam, and expressed the
hope that outstanding questions may be resolved as soon as possible.
"The cordial discussions provided an opportunity to touch upon certain
themes concerning co-operation between Church and State, also in the
light of the Message the Holy Father sent to the Church in Vietnam for
the opening of the current Jubilee Year. Attention likewise turned to
the current international situation, with particular reference to the
commitment of Vietnam and of the Holy See in the multilateral field".
---
Thomas C. Fox's blog