Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Pope Francis on October 30 during his G-20 summit in Italy, reports Asian Lite News
The Catholic Bishops’ body, Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) President Cardinal George Alencherry in a statement said that they have come to know from official sources that the “meeting between His Holiness Pope Francis and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will take place on Saturday, October 30”.
Describing it as a “historic meeting, the Cardinal said it will “add more energy and warmth to the relations between our country and the Vatican and the Catholic Church”.
He also wished “all success” to the Prime Minister for all his events in Rome and Italy.
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Modi will be travelling to Rome and Glasgow from October 29 to November 2 to attend the 16th G-20 Summit and the World Leaders’ Summit of COP-26 respectively, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.
Kerala Catholics upbeat
The Catholic community in Kerala is definitely in an upbeat mood, ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican. Christians in Kerala constitute around 19 per cent of the state’s 33 million population. The three Catholic churches account for 50 per cent of the Christians in the state.
In Kerala, the Roman Catholic, Latin and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church owe their allegiance to the Pope. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, said he is extremely delighted about the meeting. “It definitely is iconic, as one represents the Catholic community which is the biggest religious community in the world and the other who heads the world’s biggest democracy, which has an ancient culture. This makes us all Indians proud. I’m very confident that the meeting will give the human community a lot to ponder on the much needed religious harmony besides a deep caring for the poor and downtrodden,” said Cleemis.
“I wish all the God’s blessings for the meeting and also about the subsequent outcome of this, which includes a wish of all, for a visit by the Pope to India.”
During their meeting in 2014 soon after Modi assumed office, Cleemis gave a memorandum stating that the Union Government should extend an invite to the Pope to visit India.
The last papal visit to India was a very brief one which took place in 1999 and the only time that a Pope visited Kerala was way back in 1986.
A Catholic on the condition of anonymity told IANS that a papal visit to Kerala is long delayed and Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis could set the ground for a possible visit by the latter to the state.
“Pope John Paul II is the only Pope who had visited Kerala. He was in the state for two days on February 7 and 8, 1986 and the purpose of his visit was to beatify Sister Alphonsa and Kuriakose Elias Chavara popularly known as Chavara Achen.”
Those, who attended the public meeting then, recall the Pope beginning his prayers at Kottayam on February 8, 1986 in Malayalam “Thinungelil Dhaivethinu Stuthi” (glory to the God in the height) thrice.
Modi arrives in Rome
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Rome to attend the crucial 16th G20 Summit that will take place over the weekend, during which the leaders of the group will discuss the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change.
This is the first in-person G20 Summit since the outbreak of the global pandemic in early 2020.
The first day of the Summit will see deliberations on ‘Global Economy and Global Health’, while the second day will witness an address by the Prince of Wales on the topic of the role of private finance in the fight against climate change.
Also on the second day, world leaders will also deliberate on climate change and environment, sustainable development among other issues.
Before his departure, Modi tweeted on Thursday: “Over the next few days, I would be in Rome, the Vatican City and Glasgow to attend important multilateral gatherings like the G20 and COP26. There would also be various bilateral and community related programmes during this visit.”
In a separate statement, he said that the Summit will “allow us to take stock of the current global situation and exchange ideas on how the G20 can be an engine for strengthening economic resilience and building back inclusively and sustainably from the pandemic”.
Upon his arrival in the Italian capital on Friday, the Prime Minister said in a tweet: “Landed in Rome to take part in the G20 Summit, an important forum to deliberate on key global issues. I also look forward to other programmes through this visit to Rome.”
Modi was received by senior officials of the Italian government and Ambassador of India in Rome, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Modi’s visit to Rome and the Vatican City till October 31 comes at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi.
On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Modi will also be meeting with leaders of other partner countries and review the progress in India’s bilateral relations with them.
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