Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican, Delhi Archdiocese priest Father Robinson on Saturday said that it is a matter of pride and a message of peace for the entire world.
Speaking to ANI, Fr Robinson said, "This is something good. We have been looking for this kind of meeting between our honourable Prime Minister and his holiness Pope Francis. We are quite hopeful about it. Prime Minister has invited his holiness, Pope to our country. When a spiritual leader of the Catholic church meets another leader who is leading the largest democracy in the world, it is a matter of pride for us also."
On being asked about the message emerging out of the meeting for the Christian community of the country, Father said, "Prime Minister has met and invited his holiness Pope to India, so we are looking forward to his visit. It is a message of peace for the entire world."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India during a "very warm" meeting at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour on Saturday.
The meeting was scheduled only for twenty minutes however, it went on for an hour, sources said. Prime Minister Modi and the Pope discussed a wide range of issues aimed at making our planet better such as fighting climate change and removing poverty.
It may be recalled that the last Papal Visit happened in 1999 as Pope John Paul II visited India when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
Now it is during Prime Minister Modi's term that the Pope has been invited to visit India.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi departed from the Vatican City after his meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday ahead of the G20. He was accompanied by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar.
The Vatican is a city-state surrounded by Rome and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit.
( With inputs from ANI )
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