KOCHI: It seems Catholics will have to wait for at least a year to see Pope Francis in India. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of Catholic Bishops, has submitted a request to the Union Government to invite the Pontiff to India.
The papal visit was an important matter of discussion at the CBCI plenary session in Bengaluru early this month. A resolution inviting the Pope to India was passed at the session. ‘’Not only does the Pope have to accept our invitation, the government of India also has to extend a formal invitation,’’ said Syro Malabar Church head Mar George Cardinal Alenchery. There should be an initiative on the part of the Union Government to invite the Pope to our country. ‘’Even if the Union Government sends an invitation, a Papal visit is unlikely to happen in 2016 as his international travel schedule for this year would have been fixed already,’’ Cardinal Alenchery said.
‘’The UPA Government, a few months ahead of the expiry of its tenure, had sent an invitation to the Vatican. However, there was no proper follow-up in this matter as the new government was in its first year. Now, the CBCI has placed a request before the Union Government urging it to invite the Pope to India. We hope the government will do the needful,’’ Cardinal Alenchery said.
The last Papal visit to India was in 1999 when Pope John Paul II came to New Delhi.