Thiruvananthapuram: Catholics in Kerala are ecstatic after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India on Saturday, according to Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Modi said he "had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India" after their meeting earlier in the day at the Vatican.

The Cardinal responded by saying: "We are all ecstatic and delighted that, according to reports in the media, Modiji has invited Pope Francis to visit India. Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, have been anticipating the Pope's arrival in India, particularly in Kerala. We can be confident that it will happen now that the invitation has been extended." Kerala's Christian population is around 19% of the state's 33 million people.

The three Catholic churches account for half of the state's Christians. Cleemis also stated that the invitation is only the first step in a series of procedures that must be completed before the Pope can visit the country. "We'll all wait and see what happens, and once the visit is officially cleared, a lot of things have to fall into place, and every detail will have to be meticulously planned." Cleemis gave a memorandum to the Union Government in 2014, shortly after Modi assumed office, stating that the Pope should be invited to visit India.

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