Catholics find more freedom in Vietnam

Slow, slow improvement.

Vietnam has the second biggest Catholic community in South-East Asia, a legacy of French colonial rule.

Now, however, restrictions on Catholicism in Vietnam are beginning to ease, in line with a general opening up of the country ever since the reforms of the 1990s.

Father Peter Phuc, the priest at Phat Diem, said the situation was much improved.

"In the 1980s, we had a shortage of priests. We felt isolated here. Now I see development; we're building up again," he said.

Last December, Father Phuc made his first-ever visit to Rome, together with nine other priests from his diocese.
In a sign of the delicate relationship that continues between Vietnam and Rome, however, he did not visit the Vatican, the ecclesiastical capital of Catholicism.

Last November, a senior Vatican emissary was invited to Vietnam. At a packed service at Hanoi's cathedral, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe led the ordination of 57 new priests, and he met Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, a political heavyweight.
Some believe this visit could eventually pave the way for Pope Benedict XVI to visit, something his predecessor tried and failed to do.

While conditions have improved for Catholics, other faiths continue to face discrimination in Vietnam, according to human rights groups.