교황 베네딕토 16세와 베트남 총리와의 역사적인 만남이 이뤄진 이후 베트남과 로마 교황청 간에 외교관계 수립을 위한 조율작업이 이뤄지고 있습니다.
베트남의 외무장관은 교황청에서 전면적인 외교관계 수립을 제안해 왔다고 말했습니다. 누엔 탄 덩 베트남 외무장관은 양측의 외무부서가 곧 자세한 논의를 시작할 것이라고 말했습니다.
양국의 관계는 지금까지 수십년 간 긴장상태에 있어 왔지만 지난 25일에는 베트남 지도자와 로마 교황청 간에 최초로 30분 가량 회의가 개최됐습니다.
*****
Vietnam and the Vatican are edging close toward establishing diplomatic relations following a landmark meeting between Pope Benedict and Vietnam's prime minister.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry says the Vatican has proposed establishing full diplomatic relations. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung says the two sides' diplomatic agencies should begin detailed discussions.
The half-hour meeting at the Vatican Thursday was the first between a Vietnamese leader and the spiritual leader of the world's Roman Catholics.
Relations between Hanoi and the Vatican have been tense for several decades. When Vietnam was a French colony, many Catholics opposed the Communist Party's military struggle for independence.
Vietnam's government mandates that it approve the church's candidates for bishop and archbishop.
But the Vatican's Press Office praised Hanoi for "opening new spaces of religious freedom for the Catholic church in Vietnam."