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India- Relations

Diplomatic relations between India and the Holy See were established soon after India’s independence. India’s in Berne, , has traditionally been accredited to the Holy See which maintains a Nunciature (Embassy) in New Delhi, presently headed by a (Ambassador).

India has the second largest population in Asia including those from dating from Apostolic times. With a shortage of and from developed , a large number of Indians have joined various Orders and a number of them have started occupying high positions within the Catholic institutions including those in . India and Indians have a positive image in the Catholic community.

Although the strength of the Christian (and hence the Catholic) community forms only a small proportion of India’s population, the Holy See has always acknowledged the importance of India, both in global and Asian terms. There have been three Papal visits to India so far. The first to visit India was Pope Paul IV, who visited Mumbai in 1964 to attend the International Eucharistic Congress. Pope John Paul II visited India in February 1986 and November 1999. He participated in the concluding session of of of Asia at which he signed and released post-Synodal . HH , the 76-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio from was elected as Supreme on 13th March 2013. H.E. Parolin was inaugurated as the new of the Holy See in place of H.E. Bertone.

Several Indian dignitaries have, from time to time, called on the Pope in the Vatican. These have included the late Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1981 and Shri I.K. Gujral in September 1987. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime , called on Pope in June 2000 during his bilateral visit to . On the sad demise of H.H. Pope John Paul- II in April, 2005, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President attended the ceremony. Shri Oscar Fernandes, Minister of State for Programme Implementation and Statistics attended the ceremony for installation of the H.H. Pope Benedict XVI on 24 April, 2005. Shri Oscar Fernandes, Hon’ble Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment, accompanied by an official delegation visited the Vatican on 10-13 October, 2008 to participate in the ceremony of Sister Alphonsa on 12 October, 2008. An Indian delegation led by Prof. K.V. Thomas, Hon’ble Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution visited Vatican from February 17-19, 2012 to participate in the Ceremony on appointment of Archbishop of Syro- Malabar Church as at the Vatican. A delegation led by Prof. P.J. Kurien, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, visited Vatican on 24 November 2012 to attend the Investiture Ceremony of , Head of the Syro- as Cardinal at the Vatican. India was represented by Prof. P.J. Kurien, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, at the installation of Pope Francis on 19th March 2013.

On April 27, 2014, a high level delegation led by Shri Oscar Fernandes, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, represented India at the Cannonisation Ceremony of Late Pope John Paul II and Goog Pope John (Pope John XXIII) at The Vatican. The delegation also included Shri K.V. Thomas, Mos for Food; and Justice Cyriac Joseph, Member of NHRC. They had the audience with HH the Pope at the end of ceremonies. It was a rare event that had two witnessing the joint Cannonisation of two late Popes.

Pope John Paul II had always had a very special regard for the late . After the passing away of Mother Teresa, Pope sanctioned the traditional process of verification leading eventually to the of the Mother. The Pope beatified Mother Teresa on the 19th October, 2003 in the presence of an estimated gathering of over 325,000 people.

Useful Resources

Website of The Holy See: http://www.va/phome_en.htm Website of State: http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en.html The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the : http://www.holyseemission.org/ in India and Nepal: http://apostolicnunciatureindia.com/

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June 2014