Bishops issue formal invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit India

Delivered by the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), Monsignor Andrews Thazhath. No Pope has visited the subcontinent since John Paul II's last visit in 1999. In 2024, Prime Minister Modi renewed the government's invitation to Pope Francis. Meanwhile, in Seoul, the Minister of Unification hopes that the pontiff's presence at World Youth Day 2027 will be a step towards ‘de facto unity’ between the Koreas.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur yesterday, at the end of the Wednesday general audience, presented Pope Leo XIV with a formal letter of invitation on behalf of the Catholic Church in India for an apostolic visit to the country.

It was announced by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), the collegial body that brings together the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches, and which is chaired by Archbishop Thazhath.

‘I informed the Holy Father that I would also discuss this matter with the Government of India,’ the archbishop added. He also specified that talks regarding the papal visit would continue in a meeting scheduled for today with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State. ‘The Holy Father loves the Church in India and continues to bless us,’ Archbishop Thazhath concluded.

The question of the trip to India resurfaces as Leo XIV prepares to make his first international apostolic visit to Turkey and Lebanon from 27 November to 2 December. The trip to the subcontinent is eagerly awaited by Indian Catholics, who have not had the joy of welcoming a pontiff since John Paul II's last visit in 1999.

It is also a sensitive issue from a political point of view: until a few years ago, it was the opposition of Hindu nationalists that made the idea of a trip unfeasible. In recent years, however, there have been important openings during meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis.

Already in 2021, Modi had extended a first official invitation to the pontiff, which was then renewed during their last face-to-face meeting in June 2024, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

These precedents suggest that the possibility could become a reality, despite the many unresolved issues such as anti-conversion laws and other forms of hostility from Hindu fundamentalist groups, which in many situations create serious difficulties for the lives of local Christian communities.

Meanwhile, in Asia, South Korea is already looking forward to the Pope's visit in 2027, when World Youth Day will be held in Seoul from 3 to 8 August. The topic came up today during a meeting between the Archbishop of the Korean capital, Peter Chung Soon-taek, who is also the Apostolic Delegate for Pyongyang, and David Chung Dong-young, the new Minister of Unification of the South Korean government.

The archbishop reiterated his hope that young North Koreans would also be able to take part in WYD, and Minister Chung responded by saying he hoped that the 2027 event would ‘become a significant turning point for peace on the Korean Peninsula’.

The minister also said he hoped that Pope Leo XIV would also visit North Korea during his trip to South Korea, adding that a ‘de facto’ reunification between the two Koreas – achieved through the free movement of people, money and resources – ‘should take place before the legal or political one’.