GCRA Chairman receives Holy See’s non-residential envoy to Vietnam

09/12/2018

Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs (GCRA) Vũ Chiến Thắng hosted a reception in Hanoi on September 10 for Archbishop Marek Zalewski, New Holy See’s non-residential envoy to Vietnam.

Joining the reception included Vice Chairman of the GCRA Dương Ngọc Tấn and representatives from the GCRA’s departments of Catholic affairs, international relation and the committee office.

During the reception, Chairman Vũ Chiến Thắng exchanged with the guests the religious life in the country in general and Catholicism in particularly. The GCRA leader affirmed that the Vietnamese State always respects and guarantees the right to freedom of belief and religion for every people, creates favorable conditions for religious practices and ensures equality of religions before the law. The state of Vietnam highly appreciates Catholics’ contributions in social welfares, poverty reduction, health, education and human charitable activities, he added.

The GCRA Chairman expressed hope that the archbishop new non-residential envoy to Vietnam would make positive impacts on Vietnamese Catholics’ close attachment and accompany with the Vietnam nation, contributing to boost the relation between Vietnam and Vatican.

Archbishop Marek Zalewski conveyed greetings of Pope Francis to the leader of the GCRA and thanked Vietnam’s authorities for creating favorable conditions for the Vietnam Catholic Church over the past years. He also shared about his duties and responsibilities during his working mission as the non-resident special envoy of the Holy See to Vietnam and expressed hope for strengthened dialogue, contributing to develop the Vietnam – Vatican relation.

Vietnam Catholic Church currently has 26 dioceses with over seven millions followers.

Posing for group photo

PH