Vietnam, Vatican to discuss diplomatic ties

Pope Benedict XVI holds a candle as he attends a ceremony to mark the World Day of the Sick in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican February 11, 2009.

HANOI (Reuters) - Communist-ruled Vietnam and the Vatican have agreed to hold their first meeting next week to discuss the establishment of diplomatic ties, Hanoi's Foreign Ministry said.

A Vatican delegation headed by Undersecretary of State Monsignor Pietro Parolin would visit Hanoi for talks on February 16-17, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.

They would meet with the Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Dung said without giving any further details of the talks.

Catholicism in Vietnam dates back centuries, through French colonial rule. There were many Catholics in the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government that fell in 1975. The Communist Party in power since then has been suspicious of Catholic followers, particularly exiles in America and France.

Religion remains under state supervision in the mostly Buddhist country of 86.2 million. About 8 million are Catholics, the second largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia after the Philippines.

Vietnamese Catholics' hopes of diplomatic ties between Hanoi and the Vatican were raised in January 2007 when Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited the Pope.

(Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)