The appointment of Tan Sri Bernard Dompok as Malaysia's first resident ambassador to the Vatican should further strengthen diplomatic ties between the two countries, said Archbishop Joseph Salvador Marino, Vatican nuncio to Malaysia.
"He [Dompok] will be the first Malaysian ambassador to the Vatican to be living in Rome. Malaysia has had other ambassadors to the Vatican but working out of Switzerland," Archbishop Marino told reporters after celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday at the Church of the Divine Mercy in Sungai Ara, Penang on April 3, reported the Herald, Malaysia's Catholic newspaper.
Dompok, a former federal minister and former chief minister of Sabah, assumed office March 17.
"I think the relationship will be stronger as he’ll be right there with the pope, who is the head of Vatican diplomacy.
"He'll be able to relate to the Malaysian government what the pope is saying, what he is doing and what he hopes for the world," Archbishop Marino said.
Malaysia established diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 2011 after a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Prime Minister Najib Razak.