ROME— For a country that has never been visited by a pope, hopes that Pope Francis will visit Vietnam are “far greater,” according to a Catholic prelate.
Bishop Louis Nguyen Anh Tuan of Ha Tinh, a newly established diocese in the country’s north, expressed optimism about a historic papal visit in the future.
“The expectation for the pontiff’s arrival in the country is strong,” Tuan told AsiaNews, the news agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions or PIME.
Tuan was recently in Rome for the second and final session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, which took place from October 2 to 27.
In April, the Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other top officials in Hanoi, further fueling speculation of a papal visit.
The trip marked the first visit by a high-level Vatican official to southeast Asian nation since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
Gallagher earlier said he was also optimistic that a papal trip will happen down the line.
“I think it will [happen]”, he said. “But there’s a few further steps to be taken before that would be appropriate.”
“I think the Holy Father is keen to go, certainly the Catholic community in Vietnam is very happy to want the Holy Father to go, and I think it would send a very good message to the region,” he added.
Relations between the Vatican and Vietnam were severed in 1975, after the Communist Party established its rule over the entire country following the end of the Vietnam War.
Despite ongoing tensions, the two sides have engaged in regular talks since at least the late 1990s.
In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed a non-resident pontifical representative, and in 2023, the two parties established a statute for a resident representative.
Pope Francis has prioritized trips to places never visited by a pope, or where Christians are a minority. He has recently visited Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore in September.
Synod’s hope
Bishop Tua is optimistic that the just concluded synod will benefit the Church in Vietnam, describing the month of meetings in the Vatican as a “great opportunity.”
“The hope is that it can bear fruit,” he said, emphasizing the need to ensure that all people, especially those on the margins, feel included and supported.
Vietnam has the fifth-largest Catholic population in Asia, with an estimated seven million Catholics, making up about seven percent of the total population of around 97.5 million.
The Church in Vietnam is served by 41 active bishops and 8,000 priests, spread across 3,000 parishes, more than 7,000 other facilities, and 11 seminaries.
