A Vatican delegation to Vietnam made some headway with their requests for new bishops in that Communist country, with some of the church's choices winning government approval but others being rebuffed, the Vatican's missionary news service said Monday.
The Vatican officials returned to Rome on Sunday after a six-day visit to Vietnam, where they met with Communist Party officials and government authorities, including the head of the country's office for religious affairs, said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
"With the government authorities various aspects of the presence and life of the Catholic church in the country were discussed," Navarro-Valls said. "The naming of bishops was discussed: some will be made public in a short time, while for others, we're waiting for a response from the Vietnamese side in the near future."
The account of the trip by Fides, the Vatican's missionary news service, was more specific.
"OK for three bishops, no for three others and postponement for the future for diplomatic relations," Fides said.
Among the Vatican choices rebuffed for the bishop's posts, Fides said, was one to replace an 82-year-old bishop in Hanoi, another for a diocese in the northeast which has been without a bishop since 1992, and another for a diocese lacking a bishop for three years.
Among the nominations accepted by the Vietnamese were one for a diocese without a bishop for two years, an auxiliary bishop for Saigon where one of the bishops is quite ill, and a third for a diocese with an elderly prelate at the helm, Fides said.
Just a year ago, a visit by the same Vatican officials yielded no major breakthroughs, with officials reportedly cool to the Vatican proposal for diplomatic relations.
Dealings have been tense over Hanoi's insistence that it have final say over religious appointments.
Vietnam's 76 million people are predominantly Buddhist, although the 8 million Catholics constitute the largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia outside the Philippines.
Last month, a Catholic priest, who Fides described as a crusader for more religious freedom, was arrested.
Fides said lack of religious freedom is also felt by Vietnam's Buddhists and Protestants.