Praising improved relations, the Holy See and the government of Vietnam have announced an agreement allowing the Vatican to have a permanent resident papal representative in the communist country.

The announcement came Thursday during the visit of Vietnam’s President Vo Van Thuong to the Vatican. He held talks with both Pope Francis and Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

According to the Holy See Press Office’s July 27 bulletin, “the two sides expressed high appreciation for the noteworthy progress in the relations between Vietnam and the Holy See, and the positive contributions by the Catholic community of Vietnam thus far.”

A resident papal representative is considered an intermediary step in diplomatic relations, below an apostolic nuncio.

The Holy See and Vietnam have never had full diplomatic relations but have engaged in formal bilateral discussions since 2009. Since 2011, the Holy See has had a nonpermanent, nonresident pontifical representative to Vietnam. At a 2018 meeting in Hanoi, Vatican and Vietnamese delegations agreed to upgrade the status of this representative to a permanent resident. As CNA previously reported, further discussions were held at the Vatican in August 2019.