Hanoi archbishop: Prime minister's informal visit was 'positive sign'

Published: 2008-01-04

HANOI, Vietnam (CNS) -- Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi called Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's informal visit to him and the former apostolic nunciature a "positive sign" of the government's concern about religious issues. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported Jan. 3 that on the morning of Dec. 30 Dung unexpectedly visited Archbishop Kiet at his residence and also went to the former nunciature nearby. In mid-December, Archbishop Kiet urged local Catholics to pray for the government to return the former nunciature, which the communist government confiscated in 1959. Thousands of Catholics have marched in processions to the compound since Dec. 18. "I was very surprised that the prime minister unofficially visited us," Archbishop Kiet told UCA News. He said that after Mass he had returned to his residence next to the cathedral, not knowing about the visit, when Dung arrived at the cathedral accompanied by his guards and saw Catholics walking to pray in front of the former nunciature.

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