Vatican City, Sep 23, 2011 / 04:16 am
The WikiLeaks release of secret and confidential State Department cables has revealed that American Cardinal Bernard Law is actively working in Vatican-Vietnam relations. His “personal involvement” helped confirm the December 2009 meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet.
“It took a visit to Vietnam last week by American Cardinal Bernard Law to finalize arrangements to allow the visit to go forward, according to a person close to the cardinal,” reports a secret December 4, 2009 cable from the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.
The cable, signed by U.S. Ambassador Miguel Diaz, says that Cardinal Law told the embassy’s deputy mission chief that he discussed bilateral relations and the president’s visit directly with the Vietnamese.
“In these discussions, the Vietnamese expressed little interest in formal diplomatic relations but considerable interest in ensuring the already-announced visit would go forward,” the State Department cable says. “The Cardinal did not reveal whether he obtained any concessions from the Vietnamese in order to confirm the visit, but that seems likely.”