Pope Francis agrees to make first papal visit to India since 1999
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Pope receives Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
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Pope Francis on Saturday received in the Vatican Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first-ever meeting between the two leaders. After holding talks with the Pope, Modi was received by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.
“During a brief conversation, the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed,” said a brief note by the Holy See Press office soon after the visit.
Modi’s Vatican visit lasted nearly an hour. The Indian Prime Minister gifted the Pope a silver candlestick and a book on the commitment to the environment. The Pope reciprocated with a bronze plaque with the inscription “The desert will become a garden”, volumes of papal documents, his message for World Day of Peace and the document on Human Fraternity, signed on February 4 of 2019 in Abu Dhabi by the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.
Modi’s first visit to the Vatican
The prime minister leads the government that is headed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), formed in 1980. In office since 2014 and reconfirmed after winning the 2019 elections within the "National Democratic Alliance" coalition, this is Modi’s first visit to the Vatican.
In fact, in September 2016, on the occasion of the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the official Indian delegation led by the late former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, was received by Pope Francis.
Modi is in Rome for the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, October 30-31, before he flies to Glasgow, Scotland, for the 26 th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), October 31 to November 12.
The last time that an Indian Prime Minister and a Pontiff met in the Vatican was more than 20 years ago. Late Pope John Paul II, now a Saint, had received in audience late former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also a BJP member, on June 26, 2000.
The commitment of the Catholic Church in India
In a context of growing anti-Christian violence in India, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has always sought dialogue with the government for the good of the country.
In January, Cardinals Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church, had a meeting with Modi to illustrate the work carried out by the Church in India in the educational, health and social fields.
They also highlighted the effort of Christians in combatting the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring their commitment in favour of the poorest and most vulnerable, which the Indian Prime Minister appreciated.
Other issues touched on during that meeting were the situation of religious minorities in a country where Christians make up just 2.3% of the population, and the release of Father Stan Swamy, the elderly Jesuit priest and activist for the rights of indigenous peoples, who was imprisoned for nine months on terrorism charges and died in July.
Modi's invitation to visit India
In his comments on Saturday’s meeting with Pope Francis, Prime Minister Modi said he has invited the Pontiff to India. “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 has reportedly written in a post on his Twitter handle after the meeting. However, the Vatican has not made any comment or declaration regarding the invitation.
The request for a papal visit to India has already been advanced in 2017, in view of the Pope's apostolic journey to neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2018, but it was not possible to follow up.
So far, two Pontiffs have visited India. Saint Pope Paul VI was the first Pontiff to visit India in December 1964, on the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress in Bombay, today Mumbai. Saint Pope John Paul II made it twice to India: in February 1986 and in November 1999.
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Pope Francis Agrees To First Papal Visit To India Since 1999
The foreign ministry said the invitation was for pope francis "to visit india at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure"..
PM Modi is in Rome to attend the G20 summit of the world's richest countries.
Pope Francis has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit, in a turnaround in relations with the Vatican following the failure of negotiations for a papal trip to the country in 2017.
There are about 20 million Roman Catholics in India, about 1.5 per cent of the population of 1.3 billion.
In 2016, Pope Francis said he was "almost sure" of visiting India the following year along with Bangladesh. But Indian Catholic Church leaders failed to convince PM Modi to invite him.
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.
"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," PM Modi said on Twitter on Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry said the invitation was for the pope "to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure".
A Vatican statement gave no details of the meeting between Francis and PM Modi, the first between a pope and an Indian prime minister in more than two decades. PM Modi is in Rome to attend the G20 summit of the world's richest countries.
At the time the 2017 visit fell through, Church officials said the Indian government had cited scheduling problems for the prime minister. Francis visited Myanmar and Bangladesh instead.
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The last Indian prime minister to meet a pope was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who met John Paul II at the Vatican in 2000.
The Foreign Ministry said PM Modi and Francis also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
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First papal visit to India since 1999 likely after PM Modi’s invite
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Pope John Paul II arrived here this morning for a 10-day visit to India that has aroused protests from Hindu fundamentalists, despite the Pope's insistence that he is intent on preaching tolerance and harmony.
The Pope was greeted by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President Zail Singh.
The journey, the Pope's 29th foreign tour, will take him 12,500 miles across the subcontinent to 14 cities in 10 days.
The visit will highlight one of John Paul's central goals, the need to carry Roman Catholicism to the third world, particularly in largely non-Catholic Asia and Africa.
But the Pope's task will be complicated in India, where less than 2 percent of the population is Catholic, by intense opposition to conversion efforts among some Hindus. Two Indian states have passed laws to discourage proselytizing. #6,000 Protest in New Delhi On the eve of the visit, a crowd of Hindus estimated by the police at 6,000 marched through the streets of New Delhi chanting antipapal slogans. One banner proclaimed, ''He wears the mask of peace and unity, but his goal is to divide and destroy the country.''
The sensitivity of the issue of conversions, a Vatican official said, has led the Pope to temper the remarks he plans to make throughout the trip.
''You won't hear words like 'evangelization' and 'mission' as much as you usually do,'' the Vatican official said. ''You'll hear a lot more about 'witnessing to the faith.' ''
There are only about 12 million Catholics among India's 762.5 million people.
In preparing for the trip, John Paul immersed himself in the works of Hinduism and teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi. And in his comments before the journey, he has taken a broadly ecumenical line. Pope Extols Gandhi
''I want to show respect, esteem and encouragement to all those who search for God, who commit themselves to the search for perfection, who work in the service of their brothers to construct peace and justice,'' the Pope told a group of visitors in Rome on Sunday. He also spoke of Gandhi as ''the father of the Indian nation, the promotor of human rights through pacifist means.''
The Pope will visit the Delhi site where Gandhi was cremated after his assassination in 1948. There, he will take off his shoes in respect and pray.
Vatican officials say the invocation of Gandhi will be more than a gesture to a national hero; it will be part of a broader effort to link Roman Catholic teaching to Gandhi's objectives and to lay out the Pope's views of the meaning of nonalignment in world politics.
''You will hear a great deal about nonalignment and what constitutes genuine nonalignment,'' said Joaquin Navarro Valls, the chief Vatican spokesman. Friendly Relations With Soviet
Such a message will be particularly sensitive in India, which is the world's most populous democracy and a leader of nations that profess nonalignment and which has also had friendly relations with the Soviet Union.
The Pope's position on the theme includes a variety of threads: opposition to Communist persecution of the church in Eastern Europe; criticism of Marxist strains in ''liberation theology,'' which emphasizes the church's commitment to the poor; chastisement of wealthy nations for doing too little for the poor of the third world, and calls for disarmament linked with support for self-defense.
A small group of Indian Catholic radicals have said they oppose the Pope's visit, fearing it will stregthen traditionalist church leaders. At the same time, some devout Hindus see Catholic activism among the destitute as merely a way of winning converts.
According to the Rev. Noel D'Souza, a Bengali-born Jesuit who is charge of the order's work in South Asia, the Christian message has had particular appeal among lower caste and tribal Indians.
''Christianity had an appeal with the Indian lower castes because its message was one of equality,'' he said. ''Some Hindus say this means the church is trying to buy off the poor, buy off the lower castes.'' Cautious on Birth Control
One issue that the Pope may be uncharacteristically cautious about is birth control. A major Government-sponsored birth-control campaign has brought India's birth rate down to 2.1 percent, among the lowest in the third world. The Indian Catholic Church has not aggressively campaigned on the issue.
Another key concern is what Catholics have called ''inculturation,'' the church's effort to link the Christian message with the indigenous traditions of third-world countries. In India, this has been a particular challenge, since so much of the tradition is infused with Hindu ideas.
Among the highlights of the Pope's visit will be a stop at the Calcutta home for the dying established by Mother Teresa, the winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope will also meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Robert Runcie. Mass With Tribe Members His schedule also calls for a mass with tribe members in northeast India. His stops include Ranchi, Calcutta, Shillong, Madras, Goa, Mangalore, Cochin, Trichur, Kottayam, Trivandrum, Vasai, Poona and Bombay.
The Rev. Roberto Tucci, the chief organizer of papal trips, said he had found ''no particular concern about the Pope's safety among Indian security officials.''
''Some groups are threatening demonstrations,'' he said, ''but nothing more than that.''
First papal visit to India since 1999 likely after PM Modi’s invite
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The pope, 84, has been on record saying that he wants to visit India. The Vatican had even drafted a schedule for a papal trip several years ago, according to religious news website Crux.
"Thank you very much for your visit. I'm happy, I'm very happy," a smiling Francis said as he grasped Modi's hand at the end of the visit, according to footage released by the Vatican.
Modi replied: "I would like to see you in India."
Francis, leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, is hoping to push the defence of religious freedom in the world's second most populous country.
Activists say that religious minorities in India have faced increased levels of discrimination and violence since Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.
While Muslims, who make up around 14 percent of the population, have borne the brunt, Christians, who account for just over two percent, have also suffered a rise in reported violent attacks.
The last papal visit to India was made by Pope John Paul II in 1999.
Saturday's Vatican visit was Francis and Modi's first meeting. A senior official in the prime minister's office told AFP the "very warm" talks -- scheduled to last 20 minutes -- went on for nearly an hour.
In an unusually short note, the Vatican described it as "a brief conversation" in which "the cordial relations between the Holy See and India were discussed".
Modi's office said the leaders discussed "fighting climate change and removing poverty". There was no mention of the red-button issue of religious freedom.
Under the pretext that Christians are seeking forcibly to convert Hindus, more than 300 violent incidents have been recorded this year, according to a report by a group of NGOs released this month.
This included a reported attack on a prayer house by around 200 members of the BJP and Hindu groups in the northern state of Uttarakhand in early October.
The local head of the BJP said the prayer house held "suspicious gatherings".
At least three states run by the BJP have passed legislation aimed at preventing "forced conversion" and dozens of people have been arrested.
Others plan to follow suit including Karnataka, where priests have come out in protest.
Modi's government denies having a Hindu agenda and insists that people of all religions have equal rights.
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Why the papal visit is important for pm modi and the catholic church, christians are the second largest group of voters in poll-bound, bjp-ruled manipur and goa.
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According to footage released by the Vatican, the meeting concluded warmly with the smiling Pope grasping PM Modi’s hand and telling him: “Thank you very much for your visitI’m happy, I’m very happy.” The prime minister apparently told the Pope, “I would like to see you in India”.
The PM’s invitation to Pope Francis has naturally made the Catholic Church in India, which accounts for 20 million faithful and 1.55% of the total population, “happy and jubilant”. The Catholic Church leaders in India had been trying for a papal visit and had made several representations to the prime minister since he came power in 2014. Kerala’s church leaders too used their back-channel connections in the BJP in this regard. The Vatican doesn’t schedule country visits without a formal invitation from the head of the government.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership, though, is not enthused by the prospect. Sangh outfits like VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and Bajrang Dal had taken out protests when Pope John Paul II visited New Delhi in 1999 November to launch Asian Synod document ‘Ecclesia in Asia’ when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister. VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore had called the Pope a “dacoit” and demanded an apology from him and the Christian missionaries for converting Hindus.
Vajpayee’s predecessor I.K Gujral was heading a coalition government when the invite was sent to the Pope to visit India. Later, in 2000, Vajpayee had visited the Vatican. But that was the last exchange to happen.
Now, with assembly elections in Goa and Manipur scheduled for next year, the ruling BJP obviously feels that this is a good political move. Christians are the second largest community in Manipur (41.3%) and Goa (25%), both of which are under BJP rule. PM Modi wants to retain power in both states and an invitation for a papal visit to India should go down well with the community. The move is more political than diplomatic. The
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has welcomed the Pope Francis-Prime Minister Modi meeting and the papal visit to India.
“We are waiting for the Vatican to chart out dates for his visit. The papal visits to foreign countries are chartered a year in advance. It has been indicated that the Pope may visit India by next year end,” a CBCI senior official told India Today. According to him, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, Apostolic Nuncio to India will coordinate with the Vatican, the government of India and the CBCI in scheduling the papal visit.
Pope Francis’s proposed visit to India has delighted the Christian community in Kerala, which accounts for 6.1 million people. The Catholics constitute 61% of this falling in three sections--the Latin Catholics, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara church. Pope John Paul II had visited Kerala in 1986 February to beatify Sister Alphonsa and Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara.
“A papal visit again to India will be a historical occasion for the Catholics and other Christian denominations. It will help better ties and mutual trust between two major religious communities,” says Cardinal Baselios Mar Cleemis, head of the Syro Malankara Church and former CBCI president.
Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, too welcomed the news. “It is after 21 years that a Pope is visiting India. The Prime Minister’s gesture in inviting the Pope will strengthen the relationship between the Vatican and India. We are looking forward to the historical event next year,” says Cardinal Alencherry.
The BJP leadership in Kerala too felt that the papal visit would help them establish a bond with the influential Catholic community in the state. State president K. Surendran met Cardinal Cleemis on October 31 and held discussions with him.
But many church leaders are also sceptical about the outcome of the papal visit to India and do not subscribe to the idea of better ties between the BJP and the minorities. “It’s a political decision, this BJP green signal for a papal visit. They (BJP) will use it for their benefit or advantage. In his address, Pope Francis will probably focus on mutual respect for religions and protection of minorities including Muslims by quoting Hindu scriptures,” says Father Paul Thelakat, a theologian and social critic based in Kochi.
Dr Sebastian Paul, former member of Parliament and a leading lawyer, also feels that the Church leaders have “fallen into the trap laid by the BJP and the prime minister while welcoming the papal visit to India. It’s an attempt to create a dedicate votebank via the back door. Ground realities, including the death of Father Stan Swami in custody last July, has exposed the BJP’s attitude towards Christians. The Catholic churches need a patron to protect their vested interests as the Congress, its traditional mentor, may not be able to resurrect itself in the near future. The BJP is using the situation to its advantage”.
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Pope Francis is likely to visit India next year. The Holy Father informed this on Sunday during his flight back to Rome from South Sudan.
This lends further credence as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Secretary Rituraj Sinha, after the party announced the names of its candidates on Thursday for Assembly elections in Meghalaya said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent out an invite to Pope Francis to visit India.”
“It was during Atal Bihari’s prime ministership that Pope John Paul II visited India. Last month, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Shillong he said that he has requested Pope Francis to visit India,” added Sinha.
The Holy Father had expressed his desire to visit India in 2017, however, that did not materialise.
In the northeast, the BJP-governed Tripura will go to polls on February 16, while Meghalaya goes to polls on February 27 along with Nagaland. Meghalaya has over 75 percent Christian population.
India’s only Catholic Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma is the current Chief Minister of Meghalaya. The BJP is a minority coalition partner with Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP). In 2018, it won two-seat securing 9.6 percent of the votes cast.
Meghalaya has a legacy of political instability with constant changing of parties by the MLAs. According to the latest count, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government had 33 seats — NPP 20, the United Democratic Party (UDP) 8, BJP 3 and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) 2. In the opposition, the TMC has 8 seats and 19 seats are vacant. The BJP has decided to go solo and is contesting in all 60 assembly seats for the Meghalaya Election 2023. A papal visit announcement might just help the party get the required favourable swing.
Altogether nine states — Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and Mizoram — besides Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland will poll before the 2024 general election and four — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim — around the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek another mandate.
A papal visit can bestow an edge on his leadership, especially when India is heading into national elections in 2024, and can help the ruling party reap rich electoral harvest.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis in the Vatican in 2021, he extended an invitation to visit India, which the pontiff accepted in principle. Mr. Modi’s meeting with the Pope came just before his two-day G-20 summit in Rome, ahead of the COP26 climate summit at Glasgow in Scotland.
Soon after the meeting, Mr Modi tweeted the outcome of the meeting. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar accompanied him. The meeting was scheduled only for 20 minutes but went on for an hour.
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Pope francis agrees to make first papal visit to india since 1999.
In 2016, Francis said he was "almost sure" of visiting India the following year along with Bangladesh. But Indian Catholic Church leaders failed to convince Modi, who heads a nationalist administration, to invite him.
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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
 "First papal visit to India since 1999 likely after PM Modi's invite to Pope Francis")
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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Pope Francis agrees to make 1st papal visit to India since 1999
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MEETING. Pope Francis meets with India's Prime Minister Modi at the Vatican on October 30, 2021.
Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters
Pope Francis has 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 to the predominantly Hindu nation in 2017.
There are about 20 million Roman Catholics in India , about 1.5% of the population of 1.3 billion. Some 80% of India’s people are Hindu.
In 2016, Francis said he was “almost sure” of visiting India the following year along with Bangladesh. But Indian Catholic Church leaders failed to convince Modi, who heads a nationalist administration, to invite him.
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.
“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 said on Twitter on Saturday, October 30.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said the invitation was for the pope “to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure.”
A Vatican statement gave no details of the meeting between Francis and Modi, the first between a pope and an Indian prime minister in more than two decades. Modi is in Rome to attend the G20 summit of the world’s richest countries.
At the time the 2017 visit fell through, Church officials said the Indian government had cited scheduling problems for the prime minister. Francis visited Myanmar and Bangladesh instead.
The last Indian prime minister to meet a pope was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who met John Paul II at the Vatican in 2000.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said Modi and Francis also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. – Rappler.com
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Pope Francis agrees to make first papal visit to India since 1999
About 20m catholics in india; country has a population of 1.3bn – 80% of which is hindu.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YUHQSK2RL53SDZMKWJSJAWJQBI.jpg "papal visit to india")
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis embrace during their private audience at the Vatican today. Mr Modi is in Rome for the G20 summit. Photograph: Vatican Media via AP
Pope Francis has 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 to the predominantly Hindu nation in 2017.
There are about 20 million Roman Catholics in India, about 1.5 per cent of the population of 1.3 billion. Some 80 per cent of India’s people are Hindu.
In 2016, the pontiff said he was “almost sure” of visiting India the following year along with Bangladesh. But Indian Catholic Church leaders failed to convince Modi, who heads a nationalist administration, to invite him.
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.
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“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,” said Mr Modi on Saturday.
No details of meeting
The Indian foreign ministry said the invitation was for the pope “to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure”.
A Vatican statement gave no details of the meeting between the pope and Mr Modi, the first between a pope and an Indian prime minister in more than two decades. The Indian PM is in Rome to attend the G20 summit of the world’s richest countries.
At the time the 2017 visit fell through, church officials said the Indian government had cited scheduling problems for the prime minister. The pope visited Myanmar and Bangladesh instead.
The last Indian prime minister to meet a pope was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who met John Paul II at the Vatican in 2000.
The Indian foreign ministry said Modi and Francis also discussed the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. – Reuters
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Recent Morgan State Graduate Jayla Pope Awarded Highly Coveted Fulbright Scholarship
Newly named fulbright scholar adds to university’s impressive leadership among hbcus.
BALTIMORE —Morgan State University, Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, increased its status among HBCU leaders in producing highly-coveted Fulbright Scholarship awardees with the announcement of its 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Student Award. A Spring 2023 graduate, Jayla Pope, has the distinction of becoming the University’s latest Fulbright scholarship awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs ( ECA ). To date, Morgan has received 67 U.S. Student Awards, allowing students to study, teach or conduct research internationally in more than 25 countries. Pope is one of 329 Fulbright scholarships awarded to U.S. college students studying abroad for the upcoming academic year.
Pope, an alumna of Morgan’s Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management ( SBM ), earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management with a minor in Spanish and will continue her advanced degree studies abroad participating in the Fulbright Binational Business Program in Mexico City, Mexico. A native of South Bend, Ind., Pope will pursue graduate-level International Business courses at ITAM (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México) and intern at a Mexican business.
“Jayla Pope exemplifies the academic excellence and global engagement we strive to instill and actively nurture in our students at the National Treasure. We want our students to prosper having a global perspective anchored in community sensibility and sensitivity,” said David K. Wilson , president of Morgan. “Her selection as a Fulbright Scholar is a testament to her dedication and the exceptional opportunities available at Morgan. We are confident she will continue to make significant contributions in her future endeavors.”
“I think culturally (studying abroad) just made me way more aware, learning about cultural diversity, being in these types of spaces,” said Pope. “It has opened up doors for other opportunities. And so I’m very grateful for the experiences.”
During her undergraduate years, Pope also gained invaluable experience interning with various businesses and serving as an Immigrant Integration Specialist at Casa de Maryland through an AmeriCorps internship, assisting local Latine community members with tax filings. This summer, she is teaching ESOL (English as a Second Language) classes to non-native English speakers at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC). After her Fulbright year, she plans to pursue an MBA with a concentration in Human Resources, aspiring to work for an international company.
Megan DeVirgilis, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish and the newly appointed Fulbright Program Director at Morgan, added: “Jayla’s journey from her Gilman Scholarship experience to becoming a Fulbrighter highlights the transformative power of international education and dedicated language of study. Her commitment to her studies and community service is truly inspiring, and I look forward to seeing the impact she will have in the global business arena.”
Pope credits Morgan faculty and staff who have supported her journey toward attaining the Fulbright scholarship. Acknowledging Dr. DeVirgilis and Gonzalo Baptista, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish, for “writing letters of recommendation to prepping me for the Spanish interviews” and Moriah Ray, director of the Office of Study Abroad in the Division of International Affairs at Morgan, for helping to manifest the dream with unbridled encouragement.
“I really want to represent Morgan because it’s such a great school. Morgan has so many resources. And I’m very excited. I can’t wait to come back and try to recruit more people. Because Morgan has so much talent. We can have (many) more Fulbrighters. I’m 100% sure of that.”
The Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. Fulbright recipients are selected based on academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential. The Program operates in over 160 countries and supports various academic and professional opportunities abroad.
Morgan State University has a distinguished history with the Fulbright Program and was named a “Fulbright Top Producer” by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for the fourth consecutive year . In addition to boasting 67 U.S. Student Awards which ranks among the top of all HBCUs, the University has received 30 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards, two Fulbright Specialist Awards, and eight Fulbright-Hays Awards. This summer, a Fulbright-Hays cohort from Morgan traveled to Bogota, Colombia, to participate in a group project entitled “Colombia: Youth Social, Political and Civic Engagement, Peace Building, and National Reconciliation.”
In recent months, Morgan faculty have been honored to receive Fulbright-related awards for their research and advanced study abroad. Yacob Astatke, D. Eng., assistant vice president for International Affairs, received a grant to participate in the Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) Program in France. Krishna Bista Ed.D., professor of Higher Education in the School of Education and Urban Studies’ (SEUS) Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership and Policy at Morgan, completed a two-week visit to the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) in Australia as a Fulbright Specialist. In May, Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani, Ph.D., executive director for the Office of Global Partnerships-Africa within the Division of International Affairs, was awarded the Fulbright Specialist Program to the Afro-American University of Central Africa ( AAUCA ) in Oyala, Equatorial Guinea for a yearlong fellowship.
In addition, Morgan has hosted Visiting Fulbright Scholars from Nigeria, Sudan, Morocco, and India, and will welcome another Scholar-in-Residence from Spain in the upcoming academic year. Under Dr. DeVirgilis’ leadership, Morgan has inaugurated an annual “Fulbright Week” each April to support and inform students and scholars about the application process.
About Morgan
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering more than 150 academic degree and certificate programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University , and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu .
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Dell Jackson or Cheryl Stewart, for Morgan State University PR 443-885-3022
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Office of Public Relations & Strategic Communications 1700 East Cold Spring Lane McMechen Hall Rm. 635 Baltimore, Maryland 21251
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Advertisement · Scroll to continue. 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. "Had a very warm meeting with ...
Apostolic Pilgrimage to India (February 1-10, 1986) Welcome Ceremony at the airport of Delhi-Palam (February 1, 1986) [English, Italian]Prayer during the visit to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Delhi (February 1, 1986) [Visit to the funerary monument of Raj Ghat dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, in Delhi (February 1, 1986) [English, Italian]Prayer for peace at the conlcusion of the visit to ...
The request for a papal visit to India has already been advanced in 2017, in view of the Pope's apostolic journey to neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2018, but it was not possible to follow up. So far, two Pontiffs have visited India. Saint Pope Paul VI was the first Pontiff to visit India in December 1964, on the occasion of the ...
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. "Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis.
This was the first visit by an Indian PM to the Vatican in over two decades, the last being Vajpayee in 1999 when Pope John Paul II came to India. Official sources said Modi has made the effort to ...
Journey to India. To the staff of the General Hospital of Bombay (December 4, 1964) Journey to India. Visit to the "Don Bosco High School" (December 4, 1964) Journey to India. To students in Bombay (December 4, 1964) Journey to India. Greetings to Christian workers (December 4, 1964) Journey to India.
APOSTOLIC PILGRIMAGE TO INDIA. ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II. ON OCCASION OF THE VISIT TO SAINT THOMAS MOUNT. Madras (India) Wednesday, 5 February 1986. Dear Archbishop Arulappa, Dear Brothers and Sisters of Madras, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" . With these words, Saint Thomas showed his desire to be with Jesus, even in the face of death.
Pope John Paul II arrived here this morning for a 10-day visit to India that has aroused protests from Hindu fundamentalists, despite the Pope's insistence that he is intent on preaching tolerance ...
India News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, where Modi invited the head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit India and
The last papal visit to India was made by Pope John Paul II in 1999. 'Cordial' Saturday's Vatican visit was Francis and Modi's first meeting. A senior official in the prime minister's office told ...
The PM's invitation to Pope Francis has naturally made the Catholic Church in India, which accounts for 20 million faithful and 1.55% of the total population, "happy and jubilant". The Catholic Church leaders in India had been trying for a papal visit and had made several representations to the prime minister since he came power in 2014.
A papal visit can bestow an edge on his leadership, especially when India is heading into national elections in 2024, and can help the ruling party reap rich electoral harvest. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis in the Vatican in 2021, he extended an invitation to visit India, which the pontiff accepted in principle. Mr.
The Catholic minority in India hopes that a papal visit will mend relations between Christians and Hindus and promote gender equality in the local church. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi ...
(7 Nov 1999) English/Nat Pope John Paul II has called for greater religious tolerance during his visit to India.The Pope held mass in New Delhi on Sunday, an...
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. "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 said on Twitter on Saturday. Playback cannot continue.
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 ...
Pastoral visits of Pope Francis This is a list of pastoral visits of Pope Francis. His visit to the Philippines in January 2015 included the largest papal event in history with around 6-7 million attendees in his final Mass at Manila, surpassing the then-largest papal event at World Youth Day 1995 in the same venue twenty years earlier. International visits 2013 Pope Francis visits a favela ...
The list of pastoral visits of Pope Paul VI details the travels of the first pope to leave Italy since 1809, [1] [2] representing the first ever papal pilgrimage to the Holy Land [3] and the first papal visit to the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia. [1] [2] Pope Paul VI visited six continents, and was the most-travelled pope in history to ...
Pope John Paul II visited 129 [1] [2] countries during his time as pope: Nine visits to Poland [3] Eight visits to France (including one visit to Réunion) Seven visits to the United States (including two stopovers in Alaska) Five visits to Mexico and Spain. Four visits to Brazil, Portugal, and Switzerland.
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. Open navigation South & Central Asia. RAPPLER
The last papal visit to India was made by Pope John Paul II in 1999. The preparations for the official India visit of the Holy Father were kicked off at the Press Club of India in New Delhi on Nov. 22 with a seminar on the theme "Encounter," as promoted by Pope Francis. Among those present were faith leaders, priests, nuns, laity and ...
About 20m Catholics in India; country has a population of 1.3bn - 80% of which is Hindu
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 several places in India including Chennai in February 1986 and then again visited New Delhi in November 1999. Several Indian dignitaries have, from time to time, called on the Pope in the Vatican.
Newly named Fulbright Scholar Adds to University's Impressive Leadership Among HBCUs . BALTIMORE—Morgan State University, Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, increased its status among HBCU leaders in producing highly-coveted Fulbright Scholarship awardees with the announcement of its 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Student Award. A Spring 2023 graduate, Jayla Pope, has the ...
A stampede broke out during a Hindu gathering in India leaving at least 116 people dead. The stampede occurred towards the end of the event after a sudden commotion due to overcrowding and ...
Pope Francis's visit to Mongolia (Mongolian: Пап Францисын Монгол дахь айлчлал) took place between 31 August and 4 September 2023. It was the first visit by a pope to Mongolia , which as of 2023 had just 1,500 Catholics, [1] from a total Christian population of 42,859 as of 2020.