We're grateful PM Modi invited Pope Francis to India: Hyderabad Catholic Association

Speaking to ANI, Hyderabad Catholic Association spokesperson James Sylvester said, "We are grateful that PM Modi has invited Pope Francis to India. It has been a long pending demand of Catholics which had been delayed."

"But this invitation is like a dream come true. We are eagerly waiting to meet Pope Francis soon," he added.

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 20 minutes but 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. The Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit.

Following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis in the Vatican, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar and head of churches in Odisha Father John Barwa on Saturday said Indian Christians are very glad about the meeting.(ANI)