Pope’s envoy retraces the steps of John Paul II

Twenty five years ago Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the city, now his envoy will unveil a statue of him to mark the silver anniversary of that visit

Pope's envoy retraces the steps of John Paul II

Twenty five years ago Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the city, now his envoy will unveil a statue of him to mark the silver anniversary of that visit

The 1986 visit by Pope John Paul II to India, may be a memory in the minds of many folk with receding hairlines in the city.

Twenty five years have passed and the Archdiocese of Bombay will mark the silver anniversary of that visit by welcoming his Eminence, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster (UK) as the Envoy of the Holy Father to Mumbai from February 8 to 11.

Artist Brendan Pereirau00a0with Cardinal Oswald Gracias looking on at the covered statue of Pope John Paul II to be unveiled on February 8. The statue is in the Holy Name Cathedral compound

The Archdiocese of Bombay made a formal announcement of the visit at the Archbishops House in Colaba yesterday evening.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias said, "Pope Benedict had sent his personal representative to India, but next time I am in Rome, I will convey to him that the people of India want Pope Benedict to come to India too."

There are a number of programs planned for Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's visit, beginning with the unveiling of a statue of Pope John Paul II in the Holy Name Cathedral compound (next to the Archbishops House).

The statue, which weighs 400 kg, has been made in Bangkok and is now in the Cathedral compound, but has not been unveiled yet.
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"We thought of having a statue because, as Indians, an image means a lot to us," explained Cardinal Gracias who believed Pope John Paul's appeal lay in his connection with the youth, who he took seriously and never patronised.

Former advertising man, Brendan Pereira (82) may not be youthful in the literal sense, but is enthusiastically overseeing preparations for the statue unveiling.
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"The steps leading to the statue are going to be mosaic, and the backdrop has already been completed," said Pereira.

Cardinal Murphy O'Connor will celebrate Mass with the Bishops of the Region and the Clergy of the Archdiocese at St. Stanislaus Grounds, Bandra on February 10 at 6.30 pm.

This will be followed by a rally on the theme, youth. Incidentally, the same theme had been chosen for the Pope John Paul II meeting, which was held at Shivaji Park 25 years ago.

The Cardinal is currently in New Delhi and is also scheduled to visit Ranchi, Kolkata and Cochin before coming to Mumbai.

Ek Cutting!
Pope here
Pope John Paul II was the second Pope to visit Mumbai. Earlier, Pope Paul VI had visited Mumbai and stayed at the Archbishop's House. Pope John Paul II though, lived in Goregaon, not in Colaba because of security reasons.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Voices Raised
Even before Cardinal Oswald Gracias could address the press about the preparations for the envoy of the Pope's visit, there was a flutter outside the venue. A clutch of protestors had gathered with banners and posters stating that the Church along with a builder had sold off part of their land for two residential-cum-commercial buildings. The protestors, led by spokesman A Sodder, were from Marinagar, a colony opposite Mahim Railway Station (W) comprising two buildings ufffd Our Lady of Vailankanni and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. "First, we had Adarsh Gate, now this scam can be called Church Gate, they said. One protesters said dramatically, "Gandhiji would repent for freeing this country, looking at the scams that are going on."