Archbishop Zalewski appointed resident papal representative in Vietnam

Vatican News

Pope Francis has appointed the apostolic nuncio to Singapore, Archbishop Marek Zalewski, a 60-year-old native of Poland and titular archbishop of Africa, also as the resident papal representative in Vietnam.

Agreement reached at meeting with the President of Vietnam

On 27 July the Holy See and the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam reached an Agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative of the Holy See in Vietnam.

The understanding was signed during President Vo Van Thuong's visit to the Vatican, fruit of the 10th session of the Vietnam-Holy See Joint Working Group held on 31 March at the Vatican, held with the desire of continuing to advance bilateral relations.

During the talks between the Vietnamese President and Pope Francis, and later with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, a joint communiqué reported that "the two sides had expressed great appreciation for the significant progress in bilateral relations and the positive contributions made so far by the country's Catholic community."

The Pope's Letter to the Vietnamese Church

In a Letter to the local church last September, Pope Francis called on the Catholic faithful to live as "good Christians and good citizens," witnessing to God's love "without distinction of religion, race or culture."

Following an interruption in relations in 1975, encouraging developments began in 1990 leading to the appointment in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI of a nonresident Papal Representative to the nation.