Once often the target of persecution, Vietnam's Catholics are celebrating Christmas this year on a more optimistic note, buoyed by an improvement in relations with the authorities.
The best seasonal gift the nearly eight million Catholics -- about a tenth of Vietnam's population -- could have received came in September with the appointment of Mgr Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man as cardinal for Ho Chi Minh City.
With cardinal Joseph Pham Dinh Tung appointed in 1994, Vietnam now has two representatives in the College of Cardinals.
Although Hanoi's highest religious authority's knee-jerk reaction to the announcement by Pope John Paul II was to say it did not recognize the nomination, the foreign ministry quickly followed by calling it "good news for Vietnamese Catholic followers."
On Tuesday, the government gave further indication of its goodwill through a well-reported meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan and cardinal Man.
"Congratulating Man on his appointment, the deputy prime minister reaffirmed the Vietnam communist party and government's consistent policy of respecting religious freedom," the English-language Vietnam News said.
According to a foreign diplomat, "this meeting is highly significant.
"Things are getting much better. Now the next step is the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and the Vatican."
This optimistic view seems to be borne out on the ground: churches seem full and parishes are able to impart religious education to children. Whereas several Protestant congregations and communities still face severe repression, Catholics are beginning to feel tolerated.
"The church activities have become more effervescent today compared with some years ago as the government has better understood our religion and we have more freedom to practise our religion," said the bishop of Phat Diem Cathedral, Mgr Nguyen Van Yen.
Vietnam's biggest diocese, just southeast of Hanoi, has come a long way: it was among those that took part in anti-communist guerilla war between the 1940s and early 50s.
After the communist forces led by Ho Chi Minh took control of the North and the country was partitioned in 1954, hundreds of thousands of Catholics took refuge in American-backed South Vietnam.
Since the reunification of the country under Communist authority after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the Catholics were put under strict surveillance.
The case of the Ho Chi Minh City diocese has remained a constant thorn in the side of Hanoi-Vatican ties. And today, many top Communist leaders retain a deep suspicion of Catholics, fearing that their numbers and loyalty to the Vatican are a threat to the state.
The nomination of bishops is a source of disquiet for Hanoi, which has also sought to restrict the number of priests. Some seminarians have had to wait several years before being confirmed in a post, although they are able to officiate discretely without the formal announcement.
"Fears and suspicions persist," said the foreign diplomat. "Vietnam is the biggest catholic country in the world that has not yet received a Papal visit."
However, confrontation is not the order of the day.
Since his nomination, Cardinal Man has sounded optimistic.
"I pray and hope that all members of the Vietnamese church find the inspiration and the new strength needed to take the message of the New Testament to Vietnamese society," he told AFP.