Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan gets invitation to meet Pope Leo in March

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has received an invitation to meet Pope Leo XIV.

Kerala government representative in Delhi and former union minister K V Thomas said that the Apostolic Nunciature in Delhi arranged the informal meeting scheduled for March 4 in Rome.

"A 16 member delegation from the state has been invited. The Chief Minister is yet to confirm whether he would be visiting or not as the assembly election campaign in Kerala might begin by that time," Thomas told DH.

He said that as part of the cordial relationship between Kerala and the Apostolic Nunciature the invitation was received. It will be only an unofficial meeting. Clearance from the centre would be required for the chief minister's visit, he said.

The move assumes political significance in poll-bound Kerala.

Even as Christian vote banks are traditionally considered as pro-Congress, the CPM as well as the BJP have been trying to make inroads into it.