Category Archives: Vietnam Catholic Bishops

POPE MODIFIES CHURCH LAW ON PERSONAL PRELATURES – VIETNAM’S PRESIDENT MEETS WITH CATHOLIC BISHOPS IN HO CHI MINH CITY – “ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PEACE,” THEME IF 57TH WORLD DAY OF PEACE MESSAGE

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Some interesting news today for personal prelatures (so far Opus Dei is the only such prelature in the Catholic Church). Today’s motu proprio is the 66th of Pope Francis’ pontificate: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio.index.html)

And very positive news about the future for the Catholic Church in Vietnam!

POPE MODIFIES CHURCH LAW ON PERSONAL PRELATURES

Pope Francis issues a motu proprio to modify two canons of Church law related to the treatment of personal prelatures. A personal prelature is made up of a particular group of faithful and is structured in a hierarchical manner, with a prelate who is its head and source of unity and with priests and deacons who assist him. The Pope’s motu proprio goes into force, today, 8 August, the Feast of St. Dominic, with its promulgation in L’Osservatore Romano, and later, inclusion in the official commentary of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

The new legislation says that given recent Church law updates, especially Art. 117 of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium (19 March 2022), in which the competence over personal prelatures was transferred to the Dicastery for the Clergy, upon which public clerical associations with the faculty to incardinate clerics also depend (Art. 118, 2), the Pope modifies canons 295 and 296 relating to personal prelatures.

FOR MORE: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-08/pope-francis-church-law-personal-prelatures.html

VIETNAM’S PRESIDENT MEETS WITH CATHOLIC BISHOPS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong visits the headquarters of the national Bishops’ Conference in Ho Chi Minh City, confirming the new course of relations between the Holy See and the Asian nation.
By Lisa Zengarini (Vatican news)

On Monday, 7 August, the President of Vietnam, Vo Van Thuong, met with the country’s Bishops’ Conference at its headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City.

The visit came in the wake of his audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican and of the signing of the landmark Agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative in Viet Nam, on July 27.

The meeting lasted more than an hour, from 11:00 to 12:25 and was attended by ten Government officials and nine Vietnamese bishops, including the president, Archbishop Joseph Nguyễn Năng of Ho Chi Minh City, along with five priests and two religious.

The bishops expressed their satisfaction with the talks, which they described as “open and sincere”.

President’s appreciation for work of Church and Pope FrancisFor his part, President Van Thuong acknowledged the contribution and service offered by the Catholic Church to Vietnamese society, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He then spoke of his recent visit to Europe, and in particular to the Vatican on 27 July. He said he was impressed by his meeting with Pope Francis, specifically by the fact that the audience lasted longer than expected, and by the Holy Fathers’ words on human fraternity which the President greatly appreciated, stating that Vietnam is proceeding in this direction.

He also expressed his appreciation for the Pope’s words on the need to listen to others by putting oneself in other people’s position so as to understand them better.

Father Đào Nguyên Vũ, head of the Secretariat of the Vietnamese Bishops’ Conference, then presented the activities of the Church in the country by offering an overview of Catholic institutions in Vietnam and detaling that that the Church in Vietnam only runs nursery schools, but no other educational institution. The President assured that he will consider the matter.

For his part, the president of the Vietnamese Bishops’ Conference congratulated the Vietnamese head of State over the success of his visit to Europe.

Archbishop Nguyễn Năng also spoke of the work of the Catholic Church at the service of the country.

Finally, the bishops honoured President Van Thuong with two gifts: a picture of him and his wife with Pope Francis during the audience and the Encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti’ translated into Vietnamese.

Viet Nam-Holy See relations
During the Vietnamese President’s recent official visit to the Vatican the two parties expressed great appreciation for the significant progress of bilateral relations and for the positive contributions offered so far by the country’s Catholic community.

Relations between the Holy See and Vietnam had been interrupted in 1975, but have seen encouraging developments since 1990, a year after the then President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, late Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, was able to make an official visit to Vietnam the first of a series.
A new beginning
Relations further improved after then Prime Minister Nguyên Tân Dung met with Pope Benedict in 2007, marking the first official visit to the Vatican of a Vietnamese head of government in over thirty years. That visit was followed by that of then President Nguyen Minh-Triet on 11 December 2009, which resulted in the establishment of a Viet Nam-Holy See Joint Working Group.