Named by the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday named a new bishop for Vietnam, a country that lacks ties with the Vatican but has the second highest number of Catholics in Southeast Asia.

Relations between the Holy See and Vietnam’s communist government have sometimes been strained over Hanoi’s insistence on having the final say in most of the church’s appointments.

The Vatican said that the Rev. Joseph Cau Ngoc Tri will serve as Da Nang’s bishop, replacing a bishop who retired. The 49-year-old new bishop was born in a village in Da Nang diocese.