VIETNAM DA LAT, Vietnam (UCAN) -- During meetings with the visiting Vatican delegation in a highland diocese, a Church leader here said local Catholics live in communion with the universal Church and wish to welcome the pope here.

The three-member delegation led by Monsignor Pietro Parolin, undersecretary for relations with states, visited the Da Lat bishop's house on the afternoon of June 11. Monsignor Luis Mariano Montemayor of the Vatican Secretariat of State and Vietnamese-born Monsignor Barnabas Nguyen Van Phuong are the other delegation members.

The delegation came to Da Lat, 1,480 kilometers south of Ha Noi, from the capital, where they began their seven-day official working visit on June 9.

Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Da Lat, president of the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference, Bishop Paul Bui Van Doc of My Tho and Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Vo Duc Minh of Nha Trang, local clergy, Religious and Catholics welcomed the delegates.

"We would like to express our communion with, deep attachment, obedience and filial affection to Mother Church, the pope and the delegates who support and sympathize with the local Church," Bishop Nhon said in his speech.

He noted this was the second visit a Vatican delegation paid to the diocese since 1975, when communists reunified the country. Monsignor Claudio Celli and Monsignor Phuong made the first visit on March 31, 1995. "Local Catholics will surely remember these vivid memories in their faith life," he noted.

The bishop, 70, briefed the visitors on diocesan developments. Established in 1960, the diocese has 312,000 Catholics, one-third of them ethnic minority people, in a local population of 1.2 million.

Bishop Nhon, who was elected bishops' conference president last October, said his diocese celebrated last year the 80th anniversary of evangelization among ethnic peoples. The diocese has been building a new church for thousands of these Catholics in Da Tong, 135 kilometers from Da Lat, he reported.

Monsignor Parolin thanked Bishop Nhon, who earlier met him in Rome and helped him prepare for the current visit. He said he appreciated local Catholics' communion with one another and with the universal Church.

The Vatican official pointed out the diocese has produced two bishops -- Bishops Doc and Minh -- while his home diocese has not produced any bishop in the past 30 years.

The delegates and officials from the government Bureau for Religious affairs had held a working meeting the previous day.

Monsignor Parolin acknowledged the two sides have not agreed on some issues yet, so they need to dialogue and meet more times, and God willing, they will come to agreement in some fields.

He asked local Catholics to pray for his delegation to achieve its goals, which will help the local Church carry out its mission. He also said he told authorities from Lam Dong province that they should be proud of local Catholics, who are good citizens and contribute to the country's development.

Bishop Nhon presided at a thanksgiving Mass that the Vatican visitors, other bishops and 150 priests concelebrated at Mother of God Cathedral, several kilometers from the bishop's house. The congregation of around 2,000 including lay Catholics in traditional ethnic attire, some of whom played gongs and offered flowers to the Vatican guests. The choir sang the Missa de Angelis (angels' Mass), Gregorian chants for the Mass in Latin.

Afterward, Father Paul Le Duc Huan, 63, vicar general of the diocese, presented gifts and flowers to the visitors while the choir sang Vivat, Vivat in Aeternum (may he live forever).

Father Huan declared, "The delegation's presence today is evidence of the fatherly love the pope expresses to the local Church." Local Catholics would like to offer the pope "our love, respect, gratitude and loyalty," he added.

The congregation broke into long applause after Monsignor Parolin promised to convey local Catholics' love to the pope as well as their hope he will visit them. Bishop Nhon asked the delegates to tell the pope local Catholics "are increasingly eager to welcome" him.

The Catholics expect the delegation to work with local government authorities on returning Pius X Pontifical College in Da Lat to the local Church.

END