Relationship dossier
Vatican City
Laos
Relationship assessment
Diplomatic ties and an agreement on the Catholic Church provide a basis for cooperation.
Vatican City toward Laos
+30The Holy See established diplomatic relations with Laos in 2017 and concluded a 2018 agreement with the Lao government concerning the Catholic Church’s status and activities in the country.
Laos toward Vatican City
+30The Lao government established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2017 and concluded a 2018 agreement concerning the Catholic Church’s status and activities in Laos.
Overall relationship
+30The relationship has a cooperative institutional foundation: diplomatic relations were established in 2017, followed by a bilateral agreement addressing the Catholic Church’s status and activities in Laos. The known arrangements indicate engagement but offer limited evidence about the breadth or practical implementation of cooperation.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Holy See and Laos established diplomatic relations in 2017 and concluded a bilateral agreement in 2018 concerning the status and activities of the Catholic Church in Laos. These steps provide a concrete basis for cooperation, though the scope and implementation of the relationship are not clear enough to support a stronger assessment.
Key developments
The Holy See and Laos established diplomatic relations.
The Holy See and the Lao government concluded an agreement concerning the status and activities of the Catholic Church in Laos.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of the 2018 agreement are unclear.
- Details of subsequent government cooperation are limited.