Vatican and Vietnam edge closer to restoring diplomatic relations

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has met Pope Francis in Rome with both saying they were committed to restoring diplomatic relations.

The country's communist regime broke off diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1975, but both sides have been working on warming relations since 2007.

Saturday's meeting marked "an important step in the process of reinforcing relations between the Holy See and Vietnam", a Vatican statement said.

The Vatican said it welcomed the support of the Vietnamese authorities for the Catholic community, which makes up around 7 per cent of the country's population of 89 million.

During his five-day visit to South Korea in August - his first trip to Asia - the pope called for Vietnam and China, which do not have formal ties with the Vatican, to accept a "dialogue" with Rome, insisting that Catholics did not view Asia with the mentality of "conquerors".

The Vatican had earlier hailed the "positive developments" from talks between the two sides in Hanoi on September 10 and 11.