Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan this year, said a Pakistan media report.
The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that the pontiff has accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The invitation was extended by Pakistan’s Ports and Shipping Minister Kamran Michael, a Catholic, and Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yusuf during a meeting in the Vatican last month.
Bishop Rufin Anthony of Islamabad-Rawalpindi told ucanews.com that the possibility of Pope Francis coming to Pakistan was good news.
“The minority Christians will be definitely encouraged,” he said. “However the security of the Holy Father will be sole responsibility of the government,” added the prelate.
“This is totally unexpected,” said Father Saleh Diego, director of the bishops’ National Commission for Justice and Peace in Karachi Archdiocese.
The priest, however, said the visit will be a “big risk for the government as things are different than they were when Pope John Paul II had visited Karachi in 1981.”
Father Diego noted that “intolerance is generally prevalent in the society.”
Christians make up for 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s population, which accounts for about 2.8 million people.
Sources
ucanews.com
TIME
The Indian Express
NDTV
Image: Pakistan Information Department/ucanews.com