Vatican’s top diplomat begins a 6-day visit to Vietnam aimed at normalizing relations

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The Vatican’s top diplomat has begun a six-day visit to Vietnam as part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations between the two sides. Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, will meet with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son later Tuesday and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and visit a children’s hospital in the capital, Hanoi, state media Vietnam News Agency reported. Vietnam and the Vatican still don’t have full diplomatic relations. Their ties were severed in 1975 after the Communist Party established its rule over the entire country following the end of the Vietnam War. Relations have been strained ever since, although the two sides have had regular talks since at least the late 1990s.