Malaysia’s first resident ambassador to the Holy See — Tan Sri Bernard Dompok — had an official audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican yesterday.
Wisma Putra said in a statement as reported by the Malay Mail Online, that Dompok presented his credentials to the pope during the private meeting and was given copies of two papal documents penned by Pope Francis after he took office in 2013: the Evangelii Gaudium (Latin for ‘The Joy of the Gospel’) and Laudato si’ (mediaeval Italian for ‘Praise Be to You’).
Dompok’s wife and grandchildren were also present, the news site reported.
Dompok — concurrently accredited to Albania and Malta — is the first Malaysian resident ambassador to the Holy See and the 83rd resident ambassador accredited overall.
Malaysia established diplomatic ties with the Holy See back in 2011, and Dompok has been credited with playing a key role in the process.
Dompok reportedly told Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni, that the diplomatic process has taken a long time because “Malaysia is a diverse and complex nation with a vast multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious reality.”
“We have 60% Muslims, 30% Buddhists, Hindus and so on, and only about 10% – and a bit – Christians, and of that 10% about half of them are Catholics,” he was quoted as saying.
Dompok was further quoted as saying that time was needed to understand that having diplomatic ties with the Vatican will actually “convey to the world a nation that is confident of itself and is willing to take part in the world conversation”.
