Vietnam on Monday refused to recognize Pope John Paul II's appointment of a new cardinal for Ho Chi Minh City, renewing tension between the Vatican and the communist country, which tightly controls religion.
Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man was chosen Sunday as one of 31 cardinals. Officials at the Vietnamese Government Committee for Religious Affairs, however, said the Vatican did not seek permission to elevate Man and they were unaware of the appointment.
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the government has asked the Vietnamese Embassy in Rome to investigate and that Prime Minister Phan Van Khai would be informed. The official said it could create problems between Vietnam and the Vatican.
But officials in Rome familiar with the strains between Hanoi and the Vatican said, "They are asking too much," when told that Vietnam had not recognized Man's appointment.
Vietnam has rejected past appointments and a rift was created in the 1990s after Archbishop Nguyen Van Binh's death in Ho Chi Minh City in 1995. Vietnam blocked the Vatican's chosen successor who was considered too influential and it did not allow Man, the Vatican's second choice, to assume the position until talks smoothed the way in 1998.
The government official said the Vatican had agreed to get approval from Hanoi before making future appointments for bishops, archbishops and cardinals.
But another official in Rome who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Vatican never seeks permission regarding appointments of cardinals and that nominations are entirely up to the pope.
Man did not immediately respond Monday to questions.
Only a handful of state-sponsored churches are permitted to operate in Vietnam. There are more than 5 million Roman Catholics in the country — the second-largest religion after Buddhism — and only three cardinals have been recognized since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Pham Ding Tung is the only cardinal still living after being appointed in Hanoi in 1994, according to the capital city's diocese.
The new cardinals will receive their red hats at a ceremony Oct. 21 in Rome.