The Papal Representative to Vietnam is an official of the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

responsible for articulating and defending the interests of the Holy See to officials of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, civil society, and government offices in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. The Holy See and the government of Vietnam have not established diplomatic relations and the position of Papal Representative to Vietnam is not a diplomatic one, though he is a member of the diplomatic service of the Holy See and the government of Vietnam agreed to the creation of the position in 2011. Since then, the Papal Representative to Vietnam has also held the title Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore and resided there. The Holy See managed its affairs in Vietnam through a Delegation to Indochina established on 20 May 1925.

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

changed its name to the Delegation to Vietnam and Cambodia on 17 June 1964. Such relations as existed between the Holy See and the government ended with the formation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. More than thirty years later, as the parties negotiated a new relationship,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

met with Vietnamese Prime Minister

Nguyen Tan Dung Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this ...

in 2007 and with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2009. In agreeing in 2011 to the appointment of a Papal Representative to Vietnam, the government retained the right to approve the appointee, as is customary for diplomatic appointments, and to approve the Representative's working visits to Vietnam.

Papal representatives to Vietnam

;Delegate to Indochina * Costantino Aiuti (28 May 1925 – 29 July 1928) * Victor Colomban Dreyer (24 November 1928 – November 1936) * Antonin-Fernand Drapier (28 November 1936 – April 1950) * John Jarlath Dooley (18 October 1951 – September 1959) *

Mario Brini Mario Brini (11 May 1908 – 9 December 1995) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomat in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See and in the Roman Curia. Biography Mario Brini was born in Piombino, Italy, on 11 Ma ...

(12 September 1959 – 13 June 1962) * Salvatore Asta (13 October 1962 – 23 March 1964) ;Apostolic Delegate to Vietnam and Cambodia * Angelo Palmas (17 June 1964 – 19 April 1969) * Henri Lemaître (30 May 1969 – 19 December 1975) ;Pontifical Representative to Vietnam *

Leopoldo Girelli Leopoldo Girelli (born 13 March 1953) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as the apostolic nuncio to India and to Nepal. He was nuncio to Israel and to Cyprus as well as apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine from 2017 ...

(13 January 2011 – 13 September 2017) * Marek Zalewski (21 May 2018 – present)

References

{{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2=Vietnam

Lists of ambassadors to Vietnam