HANOI — Vietnam has invited Pope Leo XIV for a historic visit to the Southeast Asian country, according to state media, as diplomatic relations warm between the communist regime and the Vatican.
Tran Thanh Man, chairman of the National Assembly, presented the pope on Saturday with an “official invitation” from the General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Vietnam, To Lam.
Pope Leo XIV expressed his “sincere thanks,” and his “wish to visit the Southeast Asian nation in the near future”, the Vietnam News Agency reported.