Union Minister George Kurian revealed on Saturday that Pope Francis is expected to come to India after 2025, after the Catholic church’s “Jubilee Year.” Kurian, the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, disclosed that India has formally invited the Pope, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the invitation to the Pope directly to visit India. However, he made it clear that the Vatican would be in charge of the final scheduling which he referred to as the ‘ Routing ’ of the visit.
Interviewed by a new channel, Kurian pointed out that the visit shall be scheduled on the Pope’s calendar because the year 2025 is going to be the Jubilee Year in the church that celebrates major events, including the birth of Jesus. The Pope is likely to be involved in other functions during the course of the year, which may not allow him to make the trip to India.
Kurian, who is now at the Vatican with a delegate for the Ordination of Archbishop George Jacob Koovakad as Cardinal, offered some additional information. Hailing from Kerala, Koovakad has been managing Pope Francis’s international journeys since 2020 and was recently promoted to Cardinal. Koovakad is one of those 21 clergy members who have been promoted lately in Turkey as the Titular Archbishop of Nisibis.
The Union Minister was hopeful that Pope Francis would visit India after the Jubilee Year celebrations, asserting that both the Indian government and the Christian community in India were keen on the visit. Among the expectations, the highest is with Pope Francis; many people want him to visit at the earliest possible time based on his schedule.
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