Pope to the President of
Vietnam: I see that we agree on our projects
2016-11-23
The President of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang, has made
his first visit to the Vatican. The pope changed his work schedule in order
to meet with him in the afternoon and he greeted him in French.
Pope
Francis and the president met behind closed doors for about 15
minutes.
Along with the president, the ten top officials also came to
Rome, including the General Secretary of the Communist Party and vice-ministers
of foreign and domestic affairs.
As an official gift, the president delivered a
miniature, old Vietnamese drum with a bronze base to the pope.
The pope gave him a medallion with this message: "The
desert will become a garden." He also gifted him his three major
documents: one on the program of his pontificate, one on the family and the
last on ecology.
The most expressive moment, however, was the cordial
farewell:
POPE FRANCIS
"Thank you very much for your visit. I see that we
agree on our projects and our work."
TRAN DAI QUANG
"I thank your Excellency for this meeting."
According to official Vatican communication, they underlined
the "good relations, supported by the common spirit of dialogue and
constant search for the most useful tools for their improvement." They
also spoke about "collaboration between Church and state in various spheres
of local society."
Vietnam has 89 million inhabitants; of these, 6.5 percent
are Catholics. Although the country does not maintain diplomatic
relations with the Holy See, they have accepted that the Vatican has a
"non-residential special envoy of the Holy See" to keep the channel
of dialogue open.
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