vatican visit from india

Pope Francis agrees to make first papal visit to India since 1999

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Narendra Modi invites Pope Francis to visit India at 'very warm' Vatican meeting

By CNA Staff

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2021 / 03:35 am

Narendra Modi said on Saturday that he invited Pope Francis to visit India during a “very warm” meeting at the Vatican.

The Indian Prime Minister made the announcement on his Twitter account on Oct. 30, following a 55-minute meeting with the pope. The two men had been scheduled to speak for half an hour.

Modi wrote: “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India.”

Modi, the leader of the world’s largest democracy, is in Rome to attend a G20 summit taking place on Oct. 30-31.

The Holy See press office said that after his papal audience, Modi met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States, or “foreign minister.”

“During a brief conversation, the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed,” it said.

During the customary exchange of gifts, the pope gave Modi a circular bronze casting illustrating the biblical verse “The wilderness will become a fruitful field” ( Isaiah 32:15 ).

The prime minister gave the pope a candle stand made from pure silver, as well as a book outlining India’s commitment to tackling climate change.

Modi, 71, a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), was elected prime minister in 2014 and reelected in a landslide in 2019.

He is the first Indian prime minister to visit the pope at the Vatican since June 2000, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee met with John Paul II during an official visit to Italy.

India and the Holy See established diplomatic relations shortly after India gained independence from Britain in 1948.

Paul VI became the first pope to visit India in 1964, when he attended the International Eucharistic Congress in Mumbai.

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The last pope to travel to the country was John Paul II, who visited New Delhi in 1999.

Pope Francis had expressed hope that he would visit India as a part of his 2017 to South Asia trip to Bangladesh and Burma (Myanmar).

Agenzia Fides, the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, reported at the time that Indian Catholic leaders had been in touch with Modi’s government about a papal visit, but that “they were not able to obtain a commitment.”

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According to Vatican protocol, the pope only visits another country if the head of state sends an official invitation.

India, the world’s second-most populous country after China, is ranked 10th on the World Watch List compiled by the advocacy group Open Doors.

The group says that “Christians are persecuted in all areas of public and private life,” and targeted by anti-conversion laws in nine of India’s 28 states.

According to the 2011 census, 79.8% of India’s 1.38 billion population is Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, and 2.3% Christian.

India has the second-largest Catholic population in Asia after the Philippines. There are around 20 million Catholics in the country, comprising Latin Rite Catholics as well as members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ) listed India as a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom in 2020 for the first time in more than a decade.

“The government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), promoted Hindu nationalist policies resulting in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom,” the commission’s 2021 report said.

The report highlighted violence against religious minorities.

“In 2020, for example, mobs — fueled by false accusations of forced conversions — attacked Christians, destroyed churches, and disrupted religious worship services. In many cases, authorities did not prevent these abuses and ignored or chose not to investigate pleas to hold perpetrators accountable. This contributed to increased mob attacks and a fear of reprisal against those coming forward,” it said.

There was an outcry in July this year when an Indian Jesuit priest died at the age of 84 after spending the last eight months of his life jailed on terror charges for his activism on behalf of Indian society’s lowest castes.

Fr. Stan Swamy died days before his scheduled bail hearing in the High Court of Bombay, which had been postponed due to his deteriorating health.

Catholic bishops, Jesuit provincials, and world leaders had called for his release.

On the eve of Modi’s Rome visit, the Vatican released a message to the world’s 1.2 billion Hindus marking the feast of Diwali, also known as Deepavali.

The “festival of lights,” one of Hinduism’s major festivals, will be celebrated on Nov. 4.

The message highlighted the challenges presented by “climate change, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, hyper-nationalism, xenophobia.”

“As believers grounded in our own respective religious traditions and as persons with shared vision for and shared responsibility towards humanity, in particular the suffering humanity, may we Christians and Hindus, individually and collectively, and joining hands with people of other religious traditions and of good will, reach out to people who are in despair, to bring light into their lives,” wrote the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue .

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Prime Minister Modi invites Pope Francis to visit India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had “a very warm meeting with Pope Francis” this morning, Oct. 30, and “had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India.”

The Indian leader broke the news of his invitation in a Twitter message along with four photographs soon after his visit to the Vatican, without revealing what they had discussed otherwise. A Vatican source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak, told America that Vatican officials were “happily surprised” by the invitation, as they had no advance notice from either the government or from the Catholic Church in India that Mr. Modi would invite the pope to visit the country.

Pope Francis would be the third pope to visit India. Paul IV traveled to Mumbai in 1964 to attend the International Eucharistic Congress, while John Paul II visited India in February 1986 and again in November 1999, the latter time for the presentation of his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “ Ecclesia in Asia .”

Vatican officials were “happily surprised” by the invitation, as they had no advance notice from either the government or from the Catholic Church in India that Mr. Modi would invite the pope to visit the country.

Because Pope Francis and the Catholic Church and Christians in India consider the visit very important, it is likely to be given priority in Vatican scheduling; it could even take place in the second half of next year, according to a source consulted by America .

Today’s meeting took place in the pope’s private library on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Pope Francis, the leader of more than 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, and Mr. Modi, who governs the world’s largest democracy of almost 1.4 billion people, sat at a table and talked together with the aid of interpreters for 55 minutes.

The meeting was long by Vatican standards. The Vatican issued a very brief statement that revealed almost nothing of the content of their conversation except to say that they acknowledged the good relations that exist between India and the Holy See. The Holy See and India established diplomatic relations in 1948, soon after the country gained its independence.

It is likely that the two leaders discussed Covid-19 and its consequences in India, where some 456,000 people have died from the pandemic; Covid-19 has also damaged India’s efforts to combat poverty (already at 28 percent before the pandemic) on the subcontinent, an issue of deep concern for both the pope and prime minister.

Combating climate change is another concern in India and for the pope, and an issue which is on the agenda of the G20 summit in Rome , to which Mr. Modi went immediately after his visit to the Vatican.

Christians account for some 2.3 percent of India’s population (over 28 million people, including 20 million Catholics), but the Catholic Church plays a significant social role in India—especially in the fields of education and health care. One contentious issue between Christians and Mr. Modi’s political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is Christian proselytization in India, which Hindu fundamentalists and some politicians in the BJP have accused Christians and the Catholic Church of in the past. Pope Francis has stated clearly that the church has no intention of proselytizing in India.

Mr. Modi gave the pope a silver candlestick and a copy of The Climate Climb . Francis gave Mr. Modi a bronze plaque with the inscription “the desert will become a garden,” and copies of the pope’s writings.

The question of violence against minorities in India (Muslims and Christians especially but also other religions) is one of pressing interest for the Vatican, and so Mr. Modi’s scheduled meetings with Pope Francis’ top advisors in the Secretariat of State—Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the secretary for relations with states—suggested that it would be a topic of conversation during his visit. But that latter meeting had to be cut short and only allowed for a brief greeting and photo op, because Mr. Modi had to dash across the city for the opening of the important summit of the G20 leaders at 10.00 a.m.

Mr. Modi, 71, is the 14th prime minister of India but only the fifth to visit the Vatican and meet a pope since Jawaharlal Nehru first came in July 1955. Indira Gandhi, who had been part of Nehru’s team during that visit, also met Pope John Paul II in 1981 when she was prime minister. Prime Minister Inter Kumal Gujral met the same pope in 1997, as did Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000. Because no Indian prime minister has visited the pope over the past 21 years, today’s visit was particularly welcomed by Pope Francis. He has publicly expressed his wish to visit the country, and the Indian cardinals—on behalf of the bishops’ conference—have asked Mr. Modi several times to invite him, but while the prime minister said he would be happy to do so, he never formalized the invitation until this morning.

Mr. Modi drove in a motorcade under heavy escort to the Vatican this morning, and was welcomed in the St. Damaso courtyard by an honor platoon of Swiss Guard. Mgr. Leonardo Sapienza welcomed him, presented him to the gentlemen of the papal household, and then accompanied him to the elevator which took him to the second floor of the Apostolic Palace. Once there, he was escorted by Swiss Guards and gentlemen of the papal household to the papal library, where Pope Francis was waiting.

After their private conversation, Mr. Modi presented his five-person delegation, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, S. J. Jaishanakar, the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, and India’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Jaideep Mazumdar.

Pope Francis and the Prime Minister then exchanged gifts. Mr. Modi gave the pope a silver candlestick and a copy of The Climate Climb , a book that outlines India’s strategy and accomplishments in fighting climate change. Pope Francis gave the Indian prime minister a bronze plaque with the inscription “the desert will become a garden,” and copies of the pope’s writings, including his encyclicals “Laudato Si’” and “Fratelli Tutti,” as well as the “ Document on Human Fraternity ” and his message for the 2021 World Day of Peace .

At the end of the audience, Pope Francis escorted Mr. Modi to the door and said, “I am happy, very happy. Pray for me!” Mr. Modi responded, “I hope to see you in India.”

Gerard O’Connell is America’s Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History . He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.

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PM Modi meets Pope Francis at Vatican, invites him to visit India

Modi is the fifth Indian Prime Minister to have visited the head of Roman Catholics, the largest religious denomination in the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis at the Vatican Saturday in his first meeting with the head of the sovereign of the Vatican City State.

After the meeting, Modi tweeted, with pictures of him embracing the Pope, “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India.”

The meeting assumes significance as it comes at a time when Christians in many parts of the country have been complaining of harassment and attacks on the community and its institutions.

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Christians are the third largest religious community in India. According to Census 2011, they form 2.3 per cent of the population, behind Hindus (79.8%) and Muslims (14.2%).

Before Modi, Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, I K Gujral, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had met the then Popes in the Vatican.

Modi will participate in the first session of G20 on Global Economy and Global Health. He arrived at the summit venue, where he was warmly welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

He had met Draghi for a bilateral meeting Friday, where they agreed on a Joint Statement on Italy-India Strategic Partnership in Energy Transition.

Modi will also meet French President Emannuel Macron, Indonesian President Joao Widodo and Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong.

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First papal visit to India since 1999 likely after PM Modi's invite to Pope Francis

The first Pope to visit India was Paul IV, who visited Mumbai in 1964. Pope John Paul II visited India in February 1986 and November 1999

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday invited Pope Francis to visit India as he called on the head of the Catholic Church at the Vatican in their first-ever one-to-one meeting.

At the Vatican, Modi was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

It was the first-ever one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church.

Modi is also the first Indian Prime Minister Francis has met since becoming Pope in 2013.

Briefing reporters on Prime Minister Modi’s historic meeting with the 84-year-old Pontiff, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the two leaders did not discuss the exact dates of the papal visit.

“The prime minister said ‘Please visit India at your earliest convenience. Obviously, the actual details will be worked out through diplomatic channels,” he said.

“The fact of the matter is that the Prime Minister did invite the Pope. The significance of the invitation is well known to us. The last Papal visit to India was in 1999 when Pope John Paul II visited India. It is obviously going to be a very important visit for both India to receive His Holiness and for the Pope to visit India,” he said.

“The Pope was delighted to visit India. Although he has never visited India, he has a great sentiment about our country and he said ’this is the greatest gift you have given me, I am really looking forward to visit India’,” Shringla quoted the Pope as saying.

Modi gave Pope Francis a silver candelabra and a book, The Climate Climb: India’s strategy, actions and achievements. The Pope gave Modi a collection of his main teaching documents and a bronze medallion featuring a tree and the words in Italian “The desert will become a garden."

The Prime Minister also met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Vatican City State. The first Pope to visit India was Paul IV, who visited Mumbai in 1964. Pope John Paul II visited India in February 1986 and November 1999.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan in October 2019 met Pope Francis at the Vatican.

With inputs from agencies

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Indian Catholics hope a papal visit will halt anti-Christian persecution

Pope Francis shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting at the Vatican Oct. 30, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Claire Giangravé

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A recent meeting between Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised hopes among Indian Catholics about the possibility of a future papal visit, one that might help foster religious freedom and gender equality in one of the world's largest nations.

The Oct. 30 meeting between the pope and the Indian prime minister was met with a feeling of “gratitude” by Catholics living in India, said Joseph Ivel Mendanha, provincial superior of the Redemptorist Province of Majella in India, in an interview with Religion News Service. 

Mendanha called the meeting “a special moment for us Catholics in India because it gives us a great sense of joy and almost tears in our eyes." He added that he hoped Modi "will be touched by the sincere warmth that Pope Francis always exudes with whoever he meets, especially heads of state and heads of government.”

The meeting between Modi and Pope Francis was somewhat overshadowed by  the meeting that the pontiff held the day before with U.S. President Joe Biden at the Vatican .

Pope Francis was initially scheduled to attend the climate summit, but the Vatican announced he would instead send a delegation led by his right-hand man, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who heads the powerful Secretariat of State at the Vatican.

In a tweet showing smiling pictures of the Vatican audience, Modi wrote that he “had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis” where they discussed “a wide range of issues,” and that he invited the Roman pontiff to visit India.

The pope’s visit to India is expected “at an early date,” according to the Indian Foreign Ministry.

Vatican officials told Religion News Service that the meeting has not yet been confirmed, but Pope Francis has often expressed his hope to visit the majority Hindu country. In 2017 bishops in India extended an invitation to the pope, but the local authorities said that the papal visit had to be canceled due to scheduling issues.

The last time an Indian prime minister met with a pope at the Vatican was in June 2000, when then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee greeted Pope John Paul II. The papal audience with Modi lasted roughly 50 minutes, but little information was offered about what topics the two actually addressed.

“During a brief conversation, the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed,” the Vatican press office said in a short statement released shortly after the meeting. Modi gifted Pope Francis with a silver candlestick and a book entitled “The Climate Climb” showcasing India’s commitment to combating climate change.

Pope Francis gifted in return a collection of his works, including a document that he co-signed with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in February 2019, which calls for tolerance and peace among different religions. He also gave Modi a plaque in bronze with the quote from Isaiah: “The desert will become a garden.”

Modi was in Rome to attend the G20 summit of leaders from the world’s strongest superpowers and later traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to take part in the COP 26 conference on climate change organized by the United Nations Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.

Christians represent only 2.3% of India's 1.3 billion people, with Catholics comprising about 1.5% of the population. 

Francis would become the third pope to visit India, following in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI, who visited Mumbai in 1964 for an International Eucharistic Congress, and Pope John Paul II, who visited the country in 1986 and in 1999. Mendanha called Paul VI’s visit “a watershed moment” for Catholics in India that “encouraged people” and “brought the simple, the poor, the maimed, the crippled out on the streets.”

India has experienced a spike in violence against Christians in the country in 2021,  according to data released Oct. 21 by the Association for the protection of Civil Rights . The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has  ranked India as a country with top-tier levels of persecution against religious minorities .

In the Karnataka region in southern India, legislators are considering  an Anti-Conversion Bill  to prevent evangelization by Christians and other minorities in the area. A group of Christians in the central-eastern region of Chhattisgarh were attacked on Nov. 1 by a mob of right-wing extremists who insisted they convert to Hinduism.

Modi is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, a right-wing political party with nationalistic positions that has held power in the country since 2014.

Mendanha believes that a visit by Pope Francis would “without a doubt” help to mend the tenuous relations between Christians and Hindus in India.

If there were ever a time for Francis to visit India, he said, it is now.

“The way Pope Francis is, his connection to the poor and troubled and the weak, his connection to mother earth and his desire to bring people together to build bridges and tear down walls, that’s exactly what we as Catholics are looking for,” he said.

Catholic charities and organizations offered support and relief during the COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc in the country, resulting in 460,000 deaths, according to official government data.

“This has not gone unnoticed or unrecognized by our government and all sections of our society irrespective of religion,” Mendanha said.

Joshan Leslie Rodrigues, managing editor of The Examiner, a Catholic newsweekly published in the Archdiocese of Bombay, said a visit by the pope would also help to encourage young generations of Catholics who have never seen a pope in their lifetimes.

“Much of the anti-Christian violence happens on false pretexts such as conversion and rising numbers of Christians, while the truth is the exact opposite,” Rodrigues told RNS, pointing to official government census figures showing the percentage of Christians decreasing.

Pope Francis’ “visit will shine a spotlight on anti-Christian atrocities, on the good work done by the Church in India and will help young Indians appreciate the value of the Christian faith in this land of multiple religious traditions,” Rodrigues said.

Anti-Christian persecution is not the only issue facing the Catholic Church in India. In 2019, Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Jullundur diocese in India was  accused of repeatedly raping a nun over a two-year period,  sparking a conversation in the country about gender equality in the church.

The pope’s meeting with Modi represents “another Vatican glass ceiling broken,” according to Indian journalist Nirmala Carvalho, adding that she hopes that as a result, “the Church in India takes concrete steps to improve the gender balance.”

Indian Catholics eagerly await a papal visit to their community with a sense of “longing,” Mendanha said.

“His visit will be a visit of healing, of peace, of showcasing what Catholicism is all about: bringing people together.”

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Pope Francis’s India Visit: Strengthening of India-Vatican Relations

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Yesterday, Pope Francis global religious leader of the Roman Catholic faith said that he is planning to visit India in 2024 and is also expected to take a trip to Mongolia later in 2023, as per Vatican News.

The Pontiff outlined his upcoming travel schedule during his flight back to Rome from South Sudan. While addressing the press, the Pope said, “I think India will be next, next year. On 29 September I will go to Marseilles, and there is the possibility that I will fly to Mongolia from Marseilles, but it has not yet been decided. It’s possible. I don’t recall another one this year. Lisbon.”

GoaChronicle.com has learned from its desk in Rome that Pope Francis has been keen to visit India for some time now. The invitation extended by Prime Minister Modi has rekindled in him the desire to visit India and meet with people not only of the Catholic faith but other Christian denominations and other religious faith.

Last year, Pope Francis accepted an invitation from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit, in a turnaround in relations with the Vatican following the failure of negotiations for a papal trip in 2017. “Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India,” Modi had expressed on Twitter.

During the meeting at the Holy See, the two leaders discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences for people across the world. They also discussed the challenge posed by climate change. Prime Minister Modi also briefed the Pope about the ambitious initiatives taken by India in combating climate change as well as India’s success in administering one billion Covid-19 vaccination doses. His Holiness appreciated India’s assistance to countries in need during the pandemic.

In fact, while addressing a gathering in Goa on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the State’s Liberation on December 19, 1961, Modi revealed to the people: “I was in Italy and Vatican City some time back. I got the opportunity to meet Pope Francis. I have invited him to India and I want to tell you what he said after my invitation. Pope Francis said – This is the greatest gift you have given me.”

Narendra Modi is the fifth Indian Prime Minister to have visited the Pope. Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Vatican in July 1955 when Pope Pius XII was the sovereign. Indira Gandhi visited the Vatican and met Pope John Paul II in 1981. IK Gujral meet Pope John II in 1997. Atal Bihari Vajpayee met Pope John Paul II in 2000 while on his visit to Italy.

On the Modi-Pope Francis meeting, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), on October 30, said, “Inviting Pope Francis to India was a historic decision and this will raise the stature of the country among the nations of the world. His visit will help to strengthen the diplomatic relation between both countries. It will also help to nurture the relationship between various sects of Christianity and other religions.”

The last pope to visit India was John Paul II, who went to New Delhi in 1999 to issue a papal document on the Church in Asia.

The Vatican has always acknowledged the importance of India, both in global and Asian terms. India is home to the second-largest Catholic population in Asia.

There have been three Papal visits to India so far: The first Pope to visit India was Pope Paul VI, who visited Mumbai in 1964 to attend the International Eucharistic Congress. Pope John Paul II visited India in February 1986 during which he visited different parts of India, including Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, and met with the Indian leadership. Pope John Paul II again visited India on a State Visit from 5-7 November 1999. He met with then President K.R. Narayanan, Vice President Krishan Kant, and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. During the visit, he presided over the concluding celebrations of the special assembly of the Synod of Bishops of Asia and he signed and released the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. New Delhi was specially chosen by the Pope to hold this Special Concluding celebration.

Christianity is also India’s third-largest religion with its followers constituting over 2.3 percent of India’s population. There are over 20 million Catholics in India, representing around 1.55% of the total population, and the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian church in India. There are reportedly 10,701 parishes that form a part of the 174 dioceses and eparchies, which are organized into 29 ecclesiastical provinces.

India and Vatican have been working together to strengthen their relations. Narendra Modi’s visit to the Vatican in 2022 and the anticipated Pope’s visit to India are being seen as strong efforts by the Indian government, Catholic Bishops in India, and representatives of the Holy See to build strong bridges of communication and cementing of India-Vatican cooperation on global issues.

Both Pope Francis and Narendra Modi are global leaders of repute and high significance in the realm of geopolitics. Pope Francis is seen as the leader of the Catholic faith, and Narendra Modi is seen as the leader of India which is home to the Sanatan Dharma faith.

There is no doubt that both leaders carry the burden of walking the fine line to balance the Catholic and Hindu religious relations in both nations as well as social, political, and economical bilateral relations.

Pope Francis would want to protect the interests of the Christian faith in India and Prime Minister Modi would like to assure Pope Francis that the Christian faith is not in danger in India because India is a secular nation.

• India Visit
• Narendra Modi
• Pope Francis
• Roman Catholics

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Pope Francis To Visit India Next Year

While addressing the presser, the he said, "i think india will be next, next year. on 29 september i will go to marseilles, and there is the possibility that i will fly to mongolia from marseilles, but it has not yet been decided. it's possible. i don't recall another one this year. lisbon.".

Pope Francis outlined his upcoming travel schedule during his flight back to Rome from South Sudan.

Pope Francis yesterday said that he is planning to visit India next year and is also expected to take a trip to Mongolia later in 2023, as per Vatican News.

While addressing the presser, the Pope said, "I think India will be next, next year. On 29 September I will go to Marseilles, and there is the possibility that I will fly to Mongolia from Marseilles, but it has not yet been decided. It's possible. I don't recall another one this year. Lisbon."

Founded by Pope Francis, Vatican News is a Catholic news website to provide multimedia pertaining to the global Catholic Church and the operations of the Holy See.

While answering a query about whether he is expanding the circle of his trip, the supreme pontiff of the Roman catholic church said, "I chose to visit the smallest countries in Europe. People will say, 'But he went to France,' no, I went to Strasbourg; I will go to Marseilles, not to France. The little ones, the little ones. [The criterion is] to get to know a little about hidden Europe, that part of Europe with so much culture but is not known. Accompany countries, for example, Albania, which was the first one, and is the country that suffered the cruellest, the cruellest dictatorship in history. Then, my choice is this: try not to fall into the globalization of indifference," Vatican News reported.

On Friday, Pope Francis reached South Sudan, fulfilling a long-time wish to visit the war-ravaged country, currently in the midst of a major humanitarian emergency, reported CNN.

In the first, the Pope is undertaking the trip together with the head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, represents the three Christian churches that make up the majority of the population in South Sudan.

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In April 2019, the Pope held a spiritual retreat at the Vatican for political and religious leaders in South Sudan, and in an unprecedented gesture he knelt down and kissed the feet of President Kir and Vice-President Machar, reported CNN.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Pilgrimage to India Bombay, 2-5 December 1964

• Journey to India. Message to the Vicar of Rome, to the Italian Prime minister and to the Major of Rome (December 5, 1964) [ Italian ]
• Journey to India. Message to the President of India and to the Cardinal of Bombay (December 5, 1964) [ English ]
• Journey to India. Greetings to the Sacred College (December 5, 1964) [ Italian ]
• Journey to India. Greetings to the Roman faithful (December 5, 1964) [ Italian , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Return to Rome (December 5, 1964) [ Italian , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Message to the members of government of the States (December 5, 1964) [ French , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Farewell ceremony (December 5, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Visit to the Seminary of Goregoon (December 5, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of  Bandra (December 5, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Remarks to the altar boys (December 5, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Declaration to journalists (December 4, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the authorities of Bombay (December 4, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the members of the Committee of the Eucharistic Congress (December 4, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the staff of the General Hospital of Bombay (December 4, 1964) [ English ]
• Journey to India. Visit to the "Don Bosco High School" (December 4, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• 4 December 1964, Pilgrimage in India   [ English , Spanish ]
• 4 December 1964, Pilgrimage in India - Parish of St. Paul [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To students in Bombay (December 4, 1964) [ English ]
• Journey to India. Greetings to Christian workers (December 4, 1964) [ Italian ]
• Journey to India. Greetings to the children in the  orphanage "Our Lady's Home" (December 4, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Address to the sick (December 4, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Address at the end of the Episcopal Consecration (December 3, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the President and Head of State of India (December 3, 1964) [ English ]
• Journey to India. To the authorities of the Central Indian Government (December 3, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the Consular Corps of Bombay (December 3, 1964) [ English ]
• Journey to India. To the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Central Indian Government (December 3, 1964) [ French , Italian , Spanish ]  
• Journey to India. To the representatives of the non-Christian religions (December 3, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the leaders of the Christian Churches and communities of India (December 3, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. To the civil authorities of Bombay (December 3, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Meeting with religious women in the Cathedral of Bombay (December 2, 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Meeting with the members of the International Eucharistic Congress (December 2, 1964) [ English ]
• Journey to India. Welcome ceremony (Airport of Bombay, 2 December 1964) [ English , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Greetings to the President of Lebanon - Airport of Beirut (December 2, 1964) [ French , Spanish ]
• Journey to India. Departure for India from the Airport of Fiumicino (December 2, 1964) [ Italian ]

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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Indian Visa for Vatican City-Holy See Citizens

Indian evisa requirements from vatican, india evisa eligibility.

• Vatican citizens can apply for an Indian e-Visa
• Vatican City-Holy See was a launch member of the India eVisa program
• Vatican citizens enjoy fast entry using the India eVisa program

Other eVisa Requirements

• Vatican citizens must apply using Ordinary Passport for Indian eVisa
• India eVisa is valid for arrival by air and cruise ship
• India Tourist Visa is available for 30 days, 1 year or 5 years
• India Business Visa is valid for 365 days
• India Visa for Medical purposes can also be applied online

The Online Indian Visa or Indian e-Visa is an official document that permits entry into and travel within India. The Indian Visa for Vatican citizens has been available as online application form since 2014 from the Indian Government . This visa to India allows travellers from Vatican City-Holy See and other countries to visit India for short term stays. These short term stays range between 30, 90 and 180 days per visit depending on the purpose of visit. There are 5 major categories of electronic India Visa (India eVisa) available to citizens of Vatican City-Holy See. The categories available to Vatican citizens for visit to India under the electronic India Visa or Indian e-Visa regulations are for Tourist purposes, Business Visits or Medical Visit (both as a Patient or as medical attendant / nurse to the Patient) to visit India.

Vatican citizens who are visiting India for recreation / sightseeing / meeting friends / relatives / short term yoga programme / short term courses less than 6 months in duration can now apply for an electronic India Visa for Touristic purposes also known as eTourist Visa with either 1 month ( 2 entry), 1 year or 5 years of validity (multiple entries into India under 2 duration of visa).

Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See can be applied online on this website and can receive the eVisa to India by Email. The process is extremely simplified for the Vatican citizens. The only requirement is to have an Email Id and an online mode of payment like a Credit ord Debit card .

Indian Visa for Vatican citizens will be sent via email , after they have completed the online application form with the necessary information and once the online credit card payment has been verified.

Vatican citizens will be sent a secure link to their email address for any documents required for Indian Visa to support their application such as photograph of face or passport bio data page, these can up either uploaded on this website or emailed back to the Customer Support team’s email address.

What are the requirements to obtain Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See

• Credit or Debit Card to make the Secure payment online
• Ordinary Passport that is valid for 6 months

What is the process to apply for an Indian e-Visa from Vatican City-Holy See?

The application process for an India e-Visa requires nationals of Vatican City-Holy See to fill out an online questionnaire. This is a straightforward and easy-to-complete form. In most cases, the filling out of the Indian Visa Application of the required information may be accomplished in a couple of minutes.

For the purpose of completing their application for an India e-Visa, Vatican citizens are required to undertake these steps:

Include your contact information, basic personal information, and details from your passport. Additionally attach any supporting papers that are required.

A modest processing fee will be charged if you use a bank card. Ensure that you have email access as there may be questions asked or clarification, so check email every 12 hours until you receive email approval of electronic Visa.

How long does it take for Vatican citizens to fill out an online form

The Indian Visa for Vatican citizens can be completed in 30-60 minutes via an online form. Once the payment has been made, additional details that are requested depending on the type of Visa can be provided by email or uploaded later.

How soon can Vatican citizens expect to get an electronic Indian Visa (Indian e-Visa)

Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See is available within 3-4 business days at the earliest. In certain cases rush processing can be attempted. It is recommended to apply India Visa at least 4 days in advance of your travel.

Once the electronic India Visa (Indian e-Visa) has been delivered by email, it can be saved on your phone or printed on paper and carried in person to the airport. There is no need to visit the Indian consulate or embassy at any point during this process.

Can I convert my eVisa from Business to Medial or Tourist or vice versa as a Vatican Citizen?

No, the eVisa cannot be converted from one type to another. Once the eVisa for a specific purpose has expired, then you may apply for a different type of eVisa.

Which ports can the Vatican citizens arrive on electronic India Visa (Indian e-Visa)

• Bhubaneshwar
• Goa(Dabolim)
• Tiruchirapalli
• Vishakhapatnam

What do Vatican citizens need to do after receiving on electronic Visa for India by email (Indian e-Visa)

Once the electronic Visa for India (Indian e-Visa) has been delivered by email, it can be saved on your phone or printed on paper and carried in person to the airport. There is no need to visit the embassy or Indian consulate.

What does an Indian Visa for Vatican citizens look like?

Do my children also require an electronic Visa for India? Is there a group Visa for India?

Yes, all individuals require a Visa for India regardless of their age including new born babies with their own separate Passport. There is no concept of family or a groups Visa for India, each individual must apply for their own India Visa application .

When should Vatican citizens apply for Visa to India?

Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See (Electronic Visa to India) can be applied anytime as long as your journey is within the next 1 year.

Do Vatican citizens need an India Visa (Indian e-Visa) if coming by cruise ship?

Electronic India Visa is required if coming by a cruise ship. As of today, however, the Indian e-Visa is valid on the following sea ports if arriving by cruise ship:

Can I apply a Medical Visa as a Vatican Citizen?

Yes, Indian Government now allows you to apply for all types of Indian eVisa as a Vatican citizen. Some of the major categories are Tourist, Business, Conference and Medical.

Tourist eVisa is available in three durations, for thirty days, for one year and for five years duration. Business eVisa is for commercial trips and valid for one year. Medical eVisa is for treatment of self and family members or nurses can apply Medical Attendant eVisa . This eVisa also requires an invitation letter from the clinic or hospital. Contact us to see sample hospital invitation letter. You are allowed to enter three times within a sixty days duration.

11 Things To Do and Places of Interest for Vatican Citizens

• Old Bombay, Mumbai
• Elephanta Caves, Mumbai
• Sun Temple, Konark
• Gwalior Fort, Gwalior
• Lake Palace, Udaipur
• Mahabalipuram, Kanchipuram
• Akbar’s Tomb, Agra
• Gateway of India, Mumbai
• Jim Corbett National Park, Nainital
• Shalimar Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir
• Locally Made Food,Chikmagalur

India: Religious superiors explore ‘heartbeat of the Church’

By Don Jinu Jacob

Publishers of L’Osservatore Romano in India recently organised an Intensive Program at the Eco-Spirituality center at Sengulam near Munnar in the District of Idukki, Kerala, India, specifically for the Major Superiors of Women Religious in Kerala, India.

Originally slated for March 11-15, 2024, a desire expressed by several Major Superiors prompted the same program to be held again on April 1-5.

Themed " Ignite, Inspire, and Empower: Together, We Feel the Heartbeat of the Church, " the initiative saw 105 participants, boasting the presence of 4 Superior Generals, 25 Provincials, and 76 General/Provincial Councillors.

The primary objectives of this immersive program were twofold: to equip Major Superiors with the tools necessary to navigate the mounting challenges confronting religious life globally, and to embolden them in fulfilling their duties with efficacy and grace.

Leadership, the central motif, was dissected into three distinct dimensions: Institutional Leadership, Personal Leadership, and Extra-rational Leadership.

Drawing upon the timeless wisdom enshrined in Biblical teachings and Church doctrines, participants were urged to find ways to rekindle their inspiration and that of their members.

Guided by the Holy Spirit and the authoritative directives of the Church as described in Perfectae Caritatis, Superiors were instructed to guide those under their care as children of God and manage their assets as Ecclesial goods with prudence and fidelity.

The Major Superiors and members were also introduced to the document published by the Dicastery for Communication, Towards Full Presence - A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with social media, as a guideline for communication best-practices in religious institutions.

The curriculum blended theoretical insights with practical directives, furnishing Superiors with the requisite acumen to tackle the issues they face in their daily responsibilities. Interactive sessions, workshops, and conversations facilitated the discussion of practical strategies, to help the superiors serve as beacons amidst the seas of religious administration.

The program advocated for the practical integration of Synodality, a principle championed by Pope Francis, both within and beyond the Synod of Bishops.

The initiative sought to equip Major Superiors with the tools necessary to guide others with vision as part of the fabric of everyday religious life.

The importance of “ Sentire cum Ecclesia ” was insisted in the class requiring the Major Superiors to be always open to the needs of the local Church and the Universal Church in the inspiring model of St. Teresa of Avila, who had ardently proclaimed, “I am the daughter of the Church.”

The Superiors were offered a subscription of L’Osservatore Romano and access to other documents of the Church. The Major Superiors also gave their support to the “ One Library for one Parish, One L’Osservatore Romano for one Family” Program, aimed at bringing the teachings of the Church to each Catholic, especially to younger generations.

The Superiors pledged their support and cooperation to diffuse understanding of the Documents of the Church through various competitions, such as Quiz Competitions.

The program represented a unique initiative put on by the Carmel International Publishing House, the publishers of the L’Osservatore Romano in India, with the purpose of spreading the news of the Church and the sermons of the Pope.

The Discalced Carmelites have a long-standing tradition of being at the service of the Indian Church as Formators to the Secular Clergy and Religious for the last many centuries.

Fr. Joseph Edappulavan, OCD (the Director of Avila Eco-Spirituality Centre, Sengulam), Fr. Sebastian Koodappattu, OCD, and Fr. James Alakuzhiyil, OCD (The Director of Carmel International Publishing House, Trivandrum, which publishes the L’Osservatore Romano) served as the animators and resource personnel for this program.

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• APPLY INDIAN VISA

Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See

Indian visa requirements for vatican citizens, indian e-visa eligibility.

• Vatican citizens can apply for an eVisa India
• Vatican City-Holy See was a launch member of the India e-Visa program
• Vatican citizens should submit the eVisa application at least 4 days before travelling to India
• Vatican Passport must be Ordinary or Regular , Diplomatic Passport is not allowed.

Other e-Visa Requirements

• Credit or Debit card (VISA, MasterCard or Amex) is required for payment
• India e-Visa is valid at designated aiports and seaports only
• Tourist e-Visa for India is available for 30 days, 365 days or 5 years
• Business e-Visa for India is valid for 12 months
• Medical e-Visa for India can also be applied online

Process for Vatican Citizens to complete the Indian e-Visa Application

The Indian Visa for Vatican citizens has been available as online application form since 2014. This is online Indian Visa Application Process which doesn't need any paper based formalities to be completed by the Vatican residents.

Indian e-Visa is official document permitting entry into and travel within India to Vatican residents and citizens for the reasons for tourism, the travel industry, clinical visits, conferences, yoga, courses, workshops, deal and exchange, humanitarian effort and other business adventures on this new system of Indian e-Visa .

Online Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See can be procured online and applicants can pay using Vatican Lira or any of the 135 currencies using their Debit or Credit card.

Indian Visa for Vatican Citizens can be acquired in simple and easy manner. The process is as simple as filling an online form in few minutes, easy to complete payment method to finish Indian Online Visa Application form .

After your Indian Visa Application is submitted, if our staff requires additional proof like your passport copy or face photograph we will request you. You may do so in response to our email or upload it at a future date. Our Indian Visa Help Desk can assist you in 47 languages. You can send us your information online or by email at [email protected] . Government of India now allows eVisa India to be filled for Vatican Citizens for visits up to 90 days for multiple entries in India.

Is there a requirement for Vatican Citizens to visit Indian Embassy at any stage?

When Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See is applied online there is no requirement at any stage to visit Indian Embassy or Indian Consulate. Once the eVisa for India is received by email, you are authorised to travel to India. .

You do not have to visit Indian Embassy for any confirmation or stamp on the passport.

Indian Visa Online is recorded in the central computer system of the Government of India , the Immigration Officers can access this information from any Airport of the world. Your name and passport number and Vatican Nationality is recorded in the computer system.

Vatican citizens are required to either keep a soft copy of email received on Phone/Computer/Tablet or printed copy and carry the eVisa to the airport. There is no stamp requirement on the passport for Vatican citizens for the electronic Indian Visa Online (eVisa India) that is sent in an email.

Are Vatican citizens required to courier passport / photograph / documents to Indian Embassy?

No, you do not need courier any required or supporting document to obtain Indian e-Visa. Vatican Citizens can either send the evidence documents either by email in response to a query by Immigration Officer or Government of India requirement regarding your Indian Visa Application or upload documents on this website in case required to support your India Visa Application. The link to upload documents required for Indian Visa Online (eVisa India) will be sent to the applicant’s email address provided at the time of filing Indian Visa Online. Vatican Citizens can also email directly to India e-Visa Help Desk .

What help and support can Vatican Citizens get for filing the Indian Visa Online (India e-Visa)?

One of the big advantages of applying Indian Visa Online from this website for the Government of India official immigration Visa is that Vatican Citizens can provide us with the supporting documents for your Indian Visa Application either by email or upload on the portal. Additionally, you can email our friendly Indian Visa Customer Support staff in any file format like JPG, TIF, PNG, JPEG, AI, SVG and many more saving you the time and hassle of file conversion or compression of files. This is ideal for customers who are not technically savvy because physical visit to Indian Embassy can result in rejection of the Indian Visa Application because of blurry bad photograph or passport scan copy.

In case the Immigration Officers from the Government of India require additional documents to support Vatican Citizens trip to India, then you can click on this link as to what are the Indian Visa Documents Requirements . You can read about requirements for essential documents here - Indian Visa Photograph Requirements and Indian Visa Passport Requirements . You can take a photo of your passport page and of your own face by your mobile phone or a camera and email Indian Visa Customer Support or upload on this website.

Can I apply for a Business Visit to India on Vatican passport?

Indian Visa from Vatican City-Holy See can be applied for business visits as well as tourist and medical visit under the Indian Government policy of eVisa India (India Visa Online). Business journey to India by Vatican Citizens can be for any of the several reasons as described in detail in  Business e-Visa for India .

How long does approval of Vatican application take?

In the business as usual circumstances you can get a decision in 3 or 4 days. However this assumes that you have completed the Indian Visa Application Form online correctly and uploaded required documents. Completing the form correctly means putting in correct passport information like first name, surname, date of birth without a mismatch and have also provided any additional supporting application documents like Vatican Passport scan copy and Face photograph. In case of a Business Visa you would have been additionally required to provide a Business Card and Business Invitation Letter or a Medical Letter from the hospital in case of Medical e-Visa for India . In some cases however it could take up to 7 business days depending on the correctness of the data in the Indian Visa Application or public holidays scheduled in India at the time of application or the busy holiday season.

What facilities can be enjoyed with regards to the Indian e-Visa by the Vatican Citizens?

• Depending on the type of Visa applied for Vatican Citizens are eligible to obtain an India Visa Online for up to 5 years in Validity .
• Indian Visa for Vatican Citizens can be used to enter India multiple times
• Vatican Citizens can utilize eVisa India (Indian Visa Online) for 90 day continuous and uninterrupted entry into India.
• India Visa Online is valid on 31 airports and 5 seaports for rather than land based immigration checkpoints for road travellers.
• This India Visa Online permits passage in all States and Union Territories of India.
• Indian Visa Online can be used for Tourism, Medical and Business Visits by the Vatican Citizens

What are the limitations with regards to the Indian e-Visa for Vatican Citizens?

There are a few limitations of Indian Visa Online (eVisa India) which are: Vatican Citizens cannot pursue journalism, film making, university degree in India or long term paid work on eVisa India (India Visa Online). Additionally, India Visa Online (eVisa India) does not provide the privilege of visiting military or cantonment areas – separate permission is required from the Government of India to visit these protected sites.

What should be Vatican Citizens be aware of if coming to Indian on e-Visa?

The guidance provided on this website for the Indian Visa Online (eVisa India) is sufficient for Vatican citizens, however the additional guidance and tips will be helpful to avoid the embarrassment of rejection or being refused entry into India. Indian Business Visa and Business Visitor arriving on Indian Business Visa have helpful guidance to prepare you for a successful outcome for your business visit to India.

Try not to Overstay

There is a fine of 300 US Dollars in India for exceeding your stay by as long as 90 days. Also, as much as 500 dollars fine for over staying to 2 years. Indian Government can likewise make legitimate move to impose penalty.

You may likewise impact your reputation for future travel and make it difficult to obtain visa for different nations by over extending your stay in India.

Take printout of Indian Visa sent by Email

While it isn't a necessity to have a paper copy of the Indian e-Visa (Indian Visa Online) for Vatican Citizens, it is more secure to do so on the grounds that your mobile phone which has the email confirmation might get misplaced or battery might be depleted and you will be unable to give the proof of having gotten electronic Indian Visa (eVisa India). Paper printout can server as proof of Indian e-Visa approval at the port of entry.

Ensure Passport has 2 blank pages

You have to have 2 empty or blank pages so the immigration officials of the Indian Immigration Department can append section stamp and leave stamp on your Passport at the airport.

Passport validity of 6 months

Your identification travel document which in most cases is an Ordinary Passport must be valid for a half year on the date of application of Indian Visa Application.

Please describe the application process for Indian Visa for Vatican Citizens?

• Step 1: Fill out the easy and straightforward Indian Visa Application Form , (Estimated time to complete is 3 minutes for most applicants).
• Step 2: Pay in 1 of 137 currencies using a Debit or Credit card.
• Step 3: Provide additional information , if requested by Government of India , we will email you if any further details are requested from you.
• Step 4: Get an approved electronic Indian Visa Online (eVisa India) by email.
• Step 5: You can go to any Vatican or foreign airport to board your flight for India. .
• You do not have to visit Indian Embassy during this process.
• You do not require a stamp on your passport.
• Indian electronic Visa is recorded in the computer system that Immigration Officers can access from any airport in the world.
• You should wait for our email before departing to the airport until we have emailed you an approved electronic Visa for India (eVisa India).

What can Vatican citizens do after getting an approved Indian Visa Online by email (eVisa India)?

If the electronic Visa for India (eVisa India) is approved by the Immigration Officers from the Government of India office, then it will be notified to you by secure email. You will find a PDF attachment which you can carry to the airport, alternatively you can take a paper printout of the email electronic Indian Visa Online (eVisa India).

You can go to the airport either in the Vatican City-Holy See or any offshore airport and visit India. At no stage do you need a stamp on your passport for Visa nor is there a need to visit the Indian Embassy or Indian consulate.

How many Airports can the citizens of Vatican City-Holy See arrive in India?

Citizens of Vatican City-Holy See can utilise the eVisa India on Thirty One (31) Airports as on 2024. This list of airports is constantly revised to stay up to date on the Indian Visa Arrival Airports and Seaports. Note that, if your Airport or Seaport is not in the list, then you should book a regular paper Visa at one of the Indian Embassy.

Is Indian Visa for Vatican citizens needed if coming by cruise ship?

Electronic India Visa is required if coming by a cruise ship. As of today, however, the eVisa India is valid on the following sea ports if arriving by cruise ship:

Can the Vatican Citizens arrive India from any country or only depart from their country of Passport?

You can arrive from any other country, no necessarily commence your flight or cruise from the country of your passport. Additionally, once you have received Indian eVisa by email, you are not required to either visit Indian embassy or get a paper stamp on your passport.

When do I need to contact Embassy?

During the Online electronic Visa process for India, at no stage are you required to visit or call Embassy of India.

However, if your eVisa is rejected for some reason, which is very rare case, then, you may be asked to apply for a regular paper Visa at the Indian Embassy. Read our guide on how to avoid rejection of Indian Visa .

Can I visit India from any country in the world?

Yes, you can enter India from ANY country in the world into India. You need not be living in that country as a resident.

However, there is a limitation on which ports you can enter from and which ports you can exit from. Airports and Seaports are allowed for Entry into India on eVisa. While Airports, Seaports, Railway Ports and Land Ports are allowed for Exit from India on eVisa.

11 Things To Do and Places of Interest for Vatican Citizens

• Borra Caves, Vishakhapatnam
• Mysore Palace, Mysore
• Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Raisen
• Lingaraja Temple Complex, Khurda
• Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar
• Ghats and Old City of Pushkar, Pushkar
• Fatehpur Sikri, Agra
• Jantar Mantar Observatory, Jaipur
• Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh
• Junagarh Fort, Bikaner
• Belur Math, Belur

Vatican City Embassy in Delhi, India

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Vatican Foreign Minister Travels to Vietnam in Unprecedented Visit

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, attends a joint press conference with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan March 11, 2024. REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak/File Photo

HANOI (Reuters) - The Vatican's foreign minister Paul Richard Gallagher began an unprecedented six-day visit to Communist-ruled Vietnam on Tuesday as the two sides work on closer relations.

Gallagher's trip, the first to Vietnam for a Vatican foreign minister, could be followed by other top-level visits, including Pope Francis, who the Vatican has said is planning a trip to Indonesia.

Although no time frame for that trip has been announced, diplomats expect that could be combined with other countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, if Francis' health allows. Gallagher said in January the pontiff was keen to visit Vietnam.

Vietnam's foreign ministry said Gallagher will meet Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son late in the afternoon on Tuesday.

Vietnam News Agency reported Gallagher would also meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and will hold mass at cathedrals in the capital city Hanoi, in Hue, in the centre of the country, and in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern business hub.

The country of 100 million people is home to about 7 million Catholics, government estimates showed, making it one of the largest communities in East Asia.

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The Vatican and Vietnam broke relations after the Communist Party took over the reunited country at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. At the time, the authorities viewed the Catholic Church in Vietnam as having been too close historically to former colonial power France.

Vietnam's government places certain restrictions on Catholic activities, such as the number of parishes, according to UCA, an independent Catholic news agency that specialises in Asia.

In July, during a visit by Vietnam's then President Vo Van Thuong to Pope Francis, the pair agreed to Archbishop Marek Zalewski becoming Resident Papal Representative in Hanoi, another unprecedented step that had been years in the making.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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Tags: Christianity , Vietnam , Indonesia , Europe

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Vatican’s top diplomat begins a 6-day visit to Vietnam aimed at normalizing relations

FILE - Vatican Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher speaks during a press conference to present a document on the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato si” (Praise Be) calling on the world to act to stop the human destruction of the planet, at the Vatican’s press room, on June 18, 2020. The Vatican’s top diplomat began a six-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, as part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations between the two sides. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

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HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The Vatican’s top diplomat began a six-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday as a part of efforts to normalize relations with the communist nation.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, met his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son and expressed the Vatican’s “gratitude” for the progress that has been made to improve ties. The visit took place after Archbishop Marek Zalewski became the first Vatican representative to live and open an office in the Southeast Asian country.

“The visit is of great importance,” said Son.

Gallagher will also meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and visit a children’s hospital in the capital, Hanoi, state-run Vietnam News Agency reported. He will hold Mass in Hanoi, in Hue in central Vietnam, and in the financial hub of Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

Gallagher is the No. 2 official in the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and his visit to Hanoi was an “important moment” that showed that the relationship was continuing while the sides wait for an upgrade to full diplomatic relations, said Giorgio Bernardelli, the head of AsiaNews, a Catholic Missionary news agency.

Relations between the Vatican and Vietnam were severed in 1975, after the Communist Party established its rule over the entire country following the end of the Vietnam War. Relations have been strained ever since, although the sides have had regular talks since at least the late 1990s.

The agreement to appoint the Vatican’s permanent representative in Vietnam was signed in July 2023, during former President Vo Van Thuong’s visit to the Holy See. Thuong also extended an invitation to Pope Francis to visit Vietnam. But Thuong has since resigned, becoming the latest victim of an intense anti-corruption campaign.

Bernardelli said that the pope’s potential visit was likely to be discussed, adding that it also depended on the political situation in Hanoi following the president’s resignation

He added that an improvement in ties with Vietnam could also have implications for the Holy See’s ties with communist-ruled China. The relationship with Vietnam had always been a “point of reference, but with important differences,” since unlike China, Vietnam has been keen to improve relations with the Vatican and the West.

Beijing severed diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1951, after the communists rose to power and expelled foreign priests.

Catholicism is officially the most practiced religion in Vietnam, with 5.9 million or 44.6% of the 13.2 million people who identified as religious in a 2019 census saying they were Catholic. That works out to more than 6% of the country’s population.

Associated Press journalist Hau Dinh in Hanoi, Vietnam contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to refer to the Vatican official as Archbishop Paul Gallagher

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Kuleba visits New Delhi: Can India help bring peace to Ukraine?

• By Tatiana Vorozhko

Ukrainian officials are cultivating closer ties with India, pursuing mutual economic benefits while hoping to nudge the Asian giant away from its historic close ties with Kyiv's war enemy Russia. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited India on March 28-29, the first visit of a top Ukrainian diplomat to the country in seven years. Days before that, the countries' presidents spoke by phone.

The primary task for Kuleba`s visit — Ukrainian Ambassador to India Oleksandr Polishchuk said in an interview with VOA — was to restore high-level political cooperation.

The parties agreed that a high-ranking Indian official will participate in a Global Peace Summit set for this summer in Switzerland with the goal of supporting Ukraine.

India also will work on a possible visit to Ukraine by its external affairs minister and organize other top-level mutual visits, he said. The parties also agreed to resume the work of the India-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Commission, inactive since 2018.

The two countries "agreed to restore the level of cooperation between our countries that existed prior to the full-scale war launched by Russia," Kuleba wrote on X.

"Our immediate goal is to get trade back to earlier levels," wrote his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

In an interview with the Financial Times , Kuleba said that India could greatly benefit from expanding trade and technological ties with Ukraine and participate in post-war reconstruction.

Kuleba noted that India's close ties with Russia are based on a "Soviet legacy" that is "evaporating." One such legacy is India's imports of Russian weapons, the share of which dropped from 76% in 2009-2013 to 36% in 2019-2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Polishchuk said that since Russia cannot fulfill all of its obligations to supply new equipment and spare parts, India is trying to establish its own military production based on Western standards.

"Ukraine can partially meet the needs of the Indian armed forces, particularly the navy, since many warships use gas turbine engines produced in Ukraine," said the ambassador.

In an interview with The Times of India newspaper, Kuleba also softened Ukraine's position toward India's import of Russian oil, saying that Ukraine doesn't object to it because the deal was structured in a way that Russia can't invest the profit "in the production of tanks, missiles, and weapons."

Paradoxes of India-Ukraine relations

Mridula Ghosh, a lecturer at the Ukraine National University of Kyiv-Mohyla and a native of India, pointed to two paradoxes in the relations between the two countries.

First, she told VOA that ties between India and Ukraine are strengthening while the U.S. Congress is unable to approve aid to Ukraine and the U.S. and some European countries use the assistance to Ukraine as a bargaining chip in electoral politics. In India, she said, foreign policy is not part of the electoral debates because it is of little interest to the voters.

Second, the warming of relations between the two countries on the highest level happened while Russia increased its propaganda and influence on Indian society.

"When the full-scale war began, society was ready to condemn this aggression," Ghosh said. "The authorities, on the contrary, reacted restrainedly. Now, many people in power and intellectual circles clearly and correctly understand what is happening in Ukraine. But the media began actively disseminating Russian propaganda."

Mediator between Russia and Ukraine?

In New Delhi, Kuleba called on India to play a more active role in the peace process.

"With India's more active involvement in this process, we expect that the number of countries looking at India and its role in this process will also grow," Polishchuk said.

However, observers doubt that India could mediate between Ukraine and Russia or influence Moscow to end the war.

While India leaned closer to the U.S. and the West in recent years, it "will not undertake steps that would significantly affect Russia strategically, just as Russia would not take an adverse position to affect India strategically in favor of China or Pakistan," Nandan Unnikrishnan, a distinguished fellow at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said to the South China Morning Post.

Former U.S. consul general in Hyderabad, India, Katherine Hadda doubts that India would act as a mediator in a peace process where one of the parties is absent — Russia does not participate in summits based on the peace formula proposed by Ukraine.

"India has stressed that it will serve as a mediator [only] at both sides' request," Hadda said in the same article.

In a column for the Indian NDTV news outlet, Harsh V. Pant, a professor of international relations at King's College London, writes that achieving peace in Eurasia is not India's job.

"New Delhi would like to see a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war soon. But ultimately, it is for the main protagonists in this conflict — Russia, Ukraine, and the West — to decide what kind of Eurasian security architecture they can live with."

Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression, India has not condemned Russia's actions, has abstained from voting for Ukrainian initiatives at the U.N., and has not joined the sanctions against Russia. Still, Ghosh believes India is moving away from Moscow.

"The Indian elephant is slow but steady in reacting," said Ghosh. "At the beginning of the full-scale war, it was reluctant to make strong positional statements, but now it is reviewing many things. There is a decoupling from Russia."

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