The Vatican’s appointment of Archbishop Marek Zalewski as its first resident papal representative in Vietnam will contribute to further promoting the relationship between the Holy See and the Vietnamese Catholic Church, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry made the statement after the Vatican on Saturday announced the Pope Francis’s appointment of Archbishop Zalewski as the first resident papal representative in Vietnam.

Zalewski, 60, who is currently non-resident papal representative to Vietnam, is expected to arrive in Vietnam at the end of January 2024 for the new position, according to Archbishop Nguyen Nang, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam.

Archbishop Zalewski once worked at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State before being appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Zimbabwe in 2014.

In 2018, he assumed the role of Apostolic Nuncio in Singapore and non-resident papal representative of the Holy See in Vietnam.

During his time as non-resident papal representative to Vietnam, Zalewski, in coordination with Vietnamese authorities, visited and carried out pastoral activities in most dioceses of the Catholic Church.

He also contacted representatives of ministries and local authorities throughout the country.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam-Vatican relations have experienced notable advancements, particularly since the establishment of a regular dialogue mechanism through the Vietnam-Vatican Joint Working Group in 2009.

Over the past years, there have been many meetings between senior leaders of Vietnam and the Holy See. Notably, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, State President Nguyen Minh Triet, and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held meetings with Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, 2009, and 2013, respectively.

Furthermore, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung had a meeting with Pope Francis in 2014, and State President Tran Dai Quang also met with Pope Francis in 2016.

The latest bilateral contact was the meeting between State President Vo Van Thuong and Pope Francis in the Vatican on July 27 this year, when the two sides concluded and announced the ‘Agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam.”

In a joint statement issued the same day, State President Thuong and Pope Francis assessed the agreement as an important step in the context of the positive development of Vietnam-Vatican relations.

The resident papal representative “will be a bridge to advance relations between Vietnam and the Holy See,” the statement concluded.

The flourishing relationship between Vietnam and the Vatican is the outcome of a constructive exchange process marked by a spirit of respect, cooperation, and mutual understanding, as remarked by the foreign ministry.

This also demonstrates the State of Vietnam’s policy of respecting and ensuring freedom of belief and religion, the ministry said, adding that the Vietnamese government always creates favorable conditions for activities of all religions, including Catholicism, in the country.

Pope Francis as well as his predecessor Benedict XVI have issued teachings, messages, and letters to the Vietnamese Catholic Church, emphasizing the spirit of ‘good Catholics are good citizens,’ advising and encouraging Catholics to accompany the nation and actively contribute to its socio-economic development, the ministry stressed.

Among the current 16 different religions in Vietnam, Catholicism has the second-largest number of followers with over seven million Catholics, after Buddhism with more than 14 million, according to the white paper 'Religion and Religious Policy in Vietnam,' released by the Government Committee for Religious Affairs.

The other religions include Protestantism, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddhism and Islam, to name a few.

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