Vatican cardinal oversees rite to create Vietnamese diocese

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- About 10,000 people participated in a ceremony for the creation of a new Roman Catholic diocese, the first in more than 30 years in Vietnam, in another sign of thawing relations between the communist government and the Holy See.
The ceremony to create Ba Ria Diocese was presided over by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who heads the Vatican's evangelization office, the Rev. Nguyen Duc Quynh of Chu Hai parish said. Monsignor Thomas Nguyen Van Tram was appointed the bishop of Ba Ria.
Ba Ria Diocese will have more than 220,000 Catholics, Quynh said Sunday.
Phan Thiet Diocese in the southern coastal province of Binh Thuan was the last new diocese established in Vietnam in January 1975.
Last week, Cardinal Sepe also presided over the ordination of 57 priests in Hanoi, the largest number of clergy added to the communist country in a single ceremony. During his visit, the cardinal met with several government officials including Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan.
While predominantly Buddhist, Vietnam has an estimated 6 million Catholics, the second highest number in Southeast Asia after the Philippines.
Vietnam and the Holy See still have no diplomatic ties, and their relations have been strained over Hanoi's insistence on having the final say in most of the church appointments, a policy the Vatican has rejected.
However, relations have improved in recent years, with visits by Vatican officials and the relatively smooth appointments of Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man as cardinal in Ho Chi Minh City in 2003 and Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet as Archbishop of Hanoi in March.