Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra receives Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. Photo: VOV

Minister Tra received Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, who is on a visit to Vietnam in Hanoi on Wednesday. She called on priests and religious dignitaries to further social security, education, and medical activities on the existing foundation of dioceses and parishes.

Tra said Vietnam is a multi-religious country, which has 16 religions, 36 religious organizations, and 24 million followers, accounting for 27% of the population. Among them, 7 million people are Catholics, who have promoted good traditions and contributed to national construction and defense and socio-economic development today.

Archbishop Gallagher said he has witnessed the development of the Vietnamese Catholic Church with its active participation social activities and expressed his belief that the Vietnamese Catholic community will make more contributions to the development of Vietnam.

He said he hopes that with the presence of the first permanent representative of the Holy See in Vietnam, the relationship between the Holy See and Vietnam will make further progress.