Catholic church celebrates 350 years in Vietnam
Updated
Tens of thousands of Catholics gathered yesterday at a church in Northern Vietnam to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the country's first Catholic Diocese and to mark the launch of a Holy Year.
Faith leaders hope the occasion will bring about a thaw in relations with the Vietnamese government, which has traditionally treated the Catholic Church with suspicion.
Central to strained relations are disputes involving Church land, and property confiscated by the communist regime.
Presenter: Girish Sawlani
Speaker: Father Paul Van Qi Qu,chairman of the Vietnamese Catholic Pastoral Centre in Sydney
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