New Delhi/Yangon, Nov 27: Even as Pope Francis arrived in Myanmar on Monday, beginning his 21st apostolic journey that will also cover Bangladesh, the Indian Catholics are disappointed as the papal tour does not include India.
As the papal plane landed at Yangon Monday afternoon he was welcomed by the Apostolic Nuncio Msgr Paul Tschang In-Nam and the head of the protocol. The Minister of Myanmar President Htin Kyaw also welcomed him.
The Pope then headed to the Archbishopric of Yangon where he will be staying during his Myanmar visit. Later he will be visiting Bangladesh also from Nov 30 to December 2.
The Vatican announced the schedule of the papal tour in August. The Indian Catholics were in touch with the government to bring the Pope to India but they could not get any commitment from the government. Catholics are the third largest group in India with 28 million followers.
The Secretary-General of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India (CBCI) Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas said that they were disheartened to know that the Pope could not visit the country. The visit would have been a prestige for the country in the eyes of the world.
It is embarrassing that the Pope is coming in the neighbourhood and not visiting India. “It hurts our sentiments”, he said.
Way back in 1999 the then Pope John Paul had visited India during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Addressing the bishops the Pope had then exhorted them to reap the rich harvest of souls from Christ from Asia. The Pope gave a call to Roman Catholic Bishops in Asia to respect other religions but not to lose sight of their ‘Call to conversion’ in the next millennium.
He further said, ‘Respect does not eliminate the need for the ex plcit proclamation of the Gospel in its fullest.’
The Pope’s message then had created a lot of controversy with the Hindu organisations registering their strong protest over the ‘forced conversions’ the missionaries indulged in India.
The incumbent Pope had visited in 2015 India’s southern neighbour Sri Lanka but could not make it to India then also.
Vatican is sovereign state and Pope is its head therefore, he can visit India only on an official invitation from the government to be the guest of both the President and the Prime Minister. India did not send any such invitation to the Pope.
The visit could have sparked more controversy in the light of the Gujarat Archbishop Thomas Macwan’s controversial letter asking the Catholics to vote in Gujarat elections to defeat the ‘nationalist forces’ and restore secularism in the country. The letter has attracted the attention of the Election Commission of India and a show cause notice has been issued to the Archbishop.