Panaji: Goa’s Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao on Monday urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to put in all possible efforts to ensure that Goa is included in the itinerary of Pope Francis on his India visit.
“His Holiness Pope Francis has announced his plan to visit India in 2024. I appeal to Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant to put in all possible efforts to ensure Goa is included in the itinerary of Pope Saaib,” he said in a media statement released here.
Reacting to the annoucement of visting India in 2024 by Pope Francis on his Papal Flight from Sudan to Rome Leader of Opposition also posted a hashtag #PopeInGoa.
“The last Papal visit to Goa of Pope John Paul- II in February 1986 is now only a distant, but nostalgic memory, for many Catholics and others in the State,” he said.
Alemao recalled that the charismatic Pope had celebrated a public mass at the Campal Ground in Panaji. “He had also stayed at the Bishop’s House during his visit to Goa.”
The Leader of Opposition said that since he was born in 1984 and could watch Pope John Paul greeting Goans in Konkani only on archived videos. “Pope Francis visiting Goa will give an opportunity to Next Generation youths like me to get his blessings,” he said.
