HOLY SEE READOUT ON VIETNAM PM VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000028 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/29/2017 TAGS: PREL VT VM SUBJECT: HOLY SEE READOUT ON VIETNAM PM VISIT REF: vatican 025 VATICAN 00000028 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Sandrolini, Charge d'affaires, EXEC, State. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Last week's meeting between the Pope and Vietnamese PM Dung went well, according to a Vatican diplomat. The initiative for the visit came from Dung, who considered the meeting very important. The GOV increasingly recognizes the value of the role the Church can play in the country. While diplomatic relations are still some way off, Vietnam has signaled its willingness to move in that direction. A possible next step is for the Holy See to name an informal papal representative. A Vatican diplomatic team will visit Vietnam in March. End summary. ¶2. (C) Charge d'affaires called on Monsignor Luis Montemayor, the Holy See's desk officer for Southeast Asia and Oceania, on January 29 for a readout on the recent visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (reftel). Montemayor (protect) spoke at length and was generally optimistic. He will accompany deputy FM Parolin to Vietnam in March, along with Monsignor Phuong of the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples. Highlights follow below. -- the Holy See has been working to improve relations with Vietnam for 17 years, and has sent fourteen delegations to Vietnam and received two in return prior to this one. Progress has been steady and the situation for the Church is now fairly good. For example, bishops can travel freely to Rome. Some issues do remain; Montemayor quipped in good humor that "communists always make things difficult". -- this visit was at Dung's initiative. Montemayor judges that he probably faced difficulty within the Politburo in getting approval. The trip was canceled earlier in January, along with stops in Italy and France; but was rescheduled at short notice by the Vietnamese, a reflection of the importance to Dung of meeting the Pope. Dung may have needed a good outcome from this visit as a means of demonstrating to the Politburo that the Holy See is an "impartial actor" -- i.e., neither hostile, nor an instrument of countries such as the U.S. -- For the Holy See, key issues to be addressed include restoration of Holy See property (particularly its two diplomatic buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and a Jesuit seminary in Da Lat) and greater freedom for students to enter seminaries in Vietnam. At present, there is no limit on ordination of those already in seminary, but with the exception of Hanoi, seminaries are limited in their intake of new candidates. -- Vietnam now appreciates the helpful role the Church can play in areas such as education and health care (especially HIV/AIDS and leprosy). Indeed, the regime recognizes that younger priests and bishops have skills (e.g., foreign language) which are needed by the nation and which the government itself may lack. -- The GOV and the Holy See have a working understanding on nomination of bishops whereby the Holy See informally vets its candidates with authorities prior to nominating them. Most of these are from the South, though that includes some born in the North; the government would like to see more Northerners, to which the Holy See responds that this will occur naturally as the climate for religion improves in the North. The strength of Catholicism in Vietnam is one reason why the government's attempt to set up a China-style Patrotic Association never succeeded; and the absence of such an organization helps account for the ability to reach a modus vivendi on bishops. -- Catholics make up at least ten percent of the population, though official estimates are lower; and in some areas are almost half. Historic tensions with Buddhists occasionally persist. The government does not like Protestants and treats Catholics as representative of all Christians. -- The GOV will want to move toward diplomatic relations incrementally; a likely next step is for the Holy See to name a special papal representative to Vietnam, who will not have diplomatic status. Montemayor hinted that even an eventual visit by the Pope is not out of the question, though by no means a sure thing. -- Montemayor declined to speculate on how long it might take to establish diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Vietnam, but the issue was discussed during Dung's visit and both sides are interested. Vietnam is mindful of China's interest in the issue, but at the same time does not wish to link its own progress with the Holy See too closely to that of China. -- Of the three top figures in the GOV, the PM and President seem favorable to the Church, while the Communist Party chief remains an unknown in this regard. Montemayor said of the President that during the war, his life had been saved by a priest and he had never forgotten that. VATICAN 00000028 002.2 OF 002 ¶3. (C) Comment: Montemayor was cautious to an extent, but clearly pleased with the way things are developing. He noted that the GOV seemed to have been happy with the communique issued by the Vatican following last week's meeting. We look forward to following up with him when he returns from his March visit to Vietnam. SANDROLINI