President Vo Van Thuong meets Pope Francis at the Vatican, July 27, 2023. (Photo: VATICAN NEWS)

Meeting Pope Francis during a visit to the Vatican this week, President Thuong affirmed that Vietnam consistently pursues a policy of respecting and ensuring the freedom of belief and religion, saying Vietnam has constantly fine-tuned its legal framework to facilitate the practice of religions, including Catholicism.

He praised contributions by the Catholic community in Vietnam to charitable activities, education, health care and vocation training.

President Thuong highly valued guidelines and teachings of Pope Francis and the Vatican for the Catholic community in Vietnam and underlined the Vatican’s role in global issues, especially in maintaining peace, sustainable development, the environment and ensuring human rights.

Pope Francis said that the Vatican hopes for stronger relations with Vietnam.

The two shared the view that the conclusion of the Agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam is an important step in the development of bilateral relations.

Pope Francis stressed that the approval of the agreement was a model of mutual trust, and a foundation to further promote relations between Vietnam and the Vatican in the time ahead.