A meeting at the Vatican on Friday between the president of Vietnam and the Pope could be landmark step paving the way to establishing formal diplomatic relations.<br /><br />Around seven per cent of Vietnam's 86 million people are Catholic.<br /><br />For years they have had a difficult relationship with the country's communist government which has traditionally viewed organised religion with suspicion.<br /><br />From Ho Chi Minh City, Al Jazeera's Divya Gopalan reports.
