HONG KONG CARDINAL VISITS HCMC

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001391

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM CH HK
SUBJECT: HONG KONG CARDINAL VISITS HCMC



1. (SBU) On December 13, PolOff met with the Vicar General
of the HCMC Archdiocese to discuss the December 3 visit of
the Bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze Kiun, to Ho
Chi Minh City. This was the first visit of Cardinal Zen to
Vietnam since his investiture in February 2006 and only his
second post-1975. (According to the Vicar General, the
Cardinal had visited northern Vietnam in 2002 to attend the
ordination of a colleague.) Cardinal Zen was a member of a
delegation that included Cardinal Telesphore Placidus
Toppo, Chairman of the Indian Bishops' Council, and
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila. The
cardinals were invited by HCMC Cardinal Pham Minh Man to
celebrate the 500th birthday of Saint Francisco Xavier, one
of the founders of the Jesuit order and perhaps the first
Catholic missionary in East Asia.


2. (SBU) According to the Vicar General, the cardinals'
visit was a long-standing objective of HCMC Cardinal Man,
who wished to improve ties and coordination among the
Church's Asian dioceses. Earlier efforts to organize such
a visit were rebuffed by the Communist Party, the Vicar
General said. However, earlier this year the HCMC?s
Cardinal Man raised the idea again with officials from the
Central Committee for Religious Affairs, who sanctioned the
initiative. Former HCMC Party Chief Nguyen Minh Triet also
blessed the proposal shortly before he assumed Vietnam's
Presidency.


3. (SBU) HCMC Party Secretary and Politburo member Le Thanh
Hai officially received the visiting Cardinals at HCMC
Party headquarters on December 3. According to the Vicar
General, Cardinal Zen described for Secretary Hai the
difficulties the Catholic Church faces in China and
expressed his hope that the Chinese would adopt the
Vietnamese model of Church-State cooperation. Hai did not
respond directly, but visibly broadened his smile when
Cardinal Zen said that religious freedom conditions are
better in Vietnam than China. Secretary Hai praised the
role of the Catholic Church in working with the government
to combat HIV/AIDS in HCMC. The meeting was covered by all
major HCMC newspapers.

Improving Vatican-GVN relations
--------------


4. (SBU) The Vicar General said that, concurrent with the
visit of the three Asian cardinals, a high-level Catholic
Church delegation from France was touring Vietnam. These
visits are part of the process of normalization of ties
between the Vatican and the GVN, he said. The Vatican is
ready to fully normalize ties now, he said, but is waiting
for the GVN to make the next official move.


5. (SBU) Although the GVN still insists that it approve
the selection of bishops and other key personnel, in
reality, that process has become more streamlined and more
cooperative. In the past, the GVN required that the
Vatican submit a list of three alternatives for any one
position to be filled; the GVN would then select among the
three. Moreover, the selection process could drag on
interminably. More recently, however, the Vatican has been
able to submit only one name. The ongoing process to find
a replacement for the recently-deceased Bishop of the
northern Bac Ninh diocese is a case in point, the Vicar
General said. In September, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Quang
Tuyen died while undergoing cancer treatment in Portland,
Oregon. The Vatican has been able to work quickly and
effectively through the Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy to
identify a replacement. Additionally, the Catholic Church
now finds it easier to send seminarians overseas to study,
including to the United States. It is distinctly possible
that in the near future one of the next Vietnamese bishops
will be U.S.-trained, an unimaginable outcome only a few
years ago.


6. (SBU) Comment: Secretary Hai is a careful and effective
politician. Religion is a "sensitive" issue, as is the
topic of relations with China. He and the Party would have
deliberated on whether and how to receive the outspoken
Cardinal Zen. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the
HCMC Archdiocese would view the cardinals' official welcome
at Party headquarters as a positive signal about the
prospects for full normalization of relations between the
GVN and the Vatican. End Comment.

WINNICK