Vietnam says its relationship with the Roman Catholic church is improving, despite strong criticism of the government's religious policy by some priests.
The Foreign Ministry's comments came after a Vatican delegation spent nearly a week in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese authorities approved the appointment of three new bishops, but turned down three other nominations.
The government has the final say on who takes up senior positions in the church in Vietnam.
A report by the official Vatican news agency on the delegation's visit expressed concern about the arrest last month of a Vietnamese priest, Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly.
Another unnamed priest quoted in the report described the level of religious freedom in Vietnam as zero.
About eight million people in Vietnam are Catholics.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service