The new
apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro,
arrived in New Delhi on Feb. 16 and is expected to prepare for a
possible visit of Pope Francis to India this year. Top officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), including its president, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, were at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport to meet the Vatican ambassador.
Pope Francis announced the 62-year old Italian archbishop as Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal on Jan. 21, to take over from Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio who was transferred to Poland in August, 2016.
The Apostolic Nunciature to India and Nepal is based in the Indian capital New Delhi.
On his flight back from his apostolic visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan on Oct. 3, 2016, the Pope spoke to reporters on board about his 2017 foreign visits, saying, “I will go to Portugal; and almost certainly to India and Bangladesh,” but did not specify any date.
The leadership of the Catholic Church that met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb. 7 later said that "India is favorable" to a papal visit.