Vatican: The Minister of External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, met with Pope Francis at the famed St. Peter’s Basilica Cathedral before the function of bestowing Sainthood to Mother Mariam Thresia, a nun of the Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic church in Kerala, who died in 1926.
Muraleedharan met the Pope as the head of the Indian delegation that attended the canonisation of Mariam Thresia. Pope Francis asked Muraleedharan to give the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi his greetings.
The Minister of State gifted the Pope a copy of the Bhagavad Gita interpreted by Mahatma Gandhi. He also gave the Pontiff a statue of an elephant wearing the traditional and colorful headgear which is common in temples in Kerala during the procession.
Muraleedharan also met with the Cardinal Paul Galaghar, who is working as the External Minister of Vatican.