The Vatican denied media reports last week that Pope Francis had accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan later this year.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said told the Catholic Register that there is “currently no travel program to Pakistan being studied.”
Pakistani Shipping Minister Kamran Michael and Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf told reporters March 3 that they had come to Rome “to ask the Holy Father to come to Pakistan and he agreed.”
The pope was grateful for the invitation but neither accepted nor declined, according to Vatican sources.
In a press release, Aid to the Church in Need said the two ministers told Shahid Mobeen, founder of the Association of Pakistani Christians in Italy, that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has “much respect” for the pope and “strongly desires the pope to receive him in the country.”
Lombardi said the pope receives invitations from visiting dignitaries of many countries but does not immediately accept or decline them.
Pakistan, where the Pope is considered highly popular, hopes to be included in any upcoming trip to South Asia. This comes amid speculation that the Pope may soon visit India to canonize Mother Teresa.
Sources
National Catholic Register
Pakistan Today
Image: Pakistan Today
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