Holy See–India relations

Holy See–India relations are the bilateral relations between the India and Holy See, which is sovereign over the Vatican City. Formal bilateral relations between the two exist since 12 June 1948. An Apostolic Delegation to the East Indies existed from 1881. The Holy See has an nunciature in New Delhi while India has accredited its embassy in Vienna, Austria to the Holy See as well. Shambhu S. Kumaran, India's ambassador to Austria has been the ambassador to the Holy See since 2024, while Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli has been the Apostolic Nuncio to India since 2021.

History Connections between the Catholic church and India can be traced back to the apostle St. Thomas, who, according to tradition, came to India in 52 AD.A. E. Medlycott, (1905) "India and the Apostle Thomas"; Gorgias Press LLC; .The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5 by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. . There is a record of an Indian bishop visiting Rome at the time of Pope Callixtus II (1119–1124).Robert Silverberg, The Realm of Prester John, pp. 29–34.

The diplomatic mission was established as the Apostolic Delegation to the East Indies in 1881 based in Ceylon, and was extended to Malaca in 1889, and then to Burma in 1920, and eventually included Goa in 1923. It was raised to an Internunciature to all of India by Pope Pius XII on 12 June 1948 and to a full Apostolic Nunciature by Pope Paul VI on 22 August 1967. India initially had a legation to the Holy See, with the Minister at Berne accredited as Minister to the Holy See. The Indian mission was raised to the status of an embassy led by an ambassador in 1965. India's Ambassador in Bern had traditionally been accredited to the Holy See until 2020, since when the Ambassador in Vienna has been assigned the role.

Bilateral visits There have been three Papal visits to India. The first Pope to visit India was Pope Paul VI, who visited Mumbai in 1964 to attend the International Eucharistic Congress. Pope John Paul II visited several places in India including Chennai in February 1986 and then again visited New Delhi in November 1999. Several Indian dignitaries have, from time to time, called on the Pope in the Vatican. These include Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1981, Prime Minister I.K. Gujral in September 1997, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021.

Dignitaries at events Vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat represented the country at the funeral of Pope John Paul II. External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj led a delegation to the Vatican for the canonisation function of Saint Teresa of Calcutta in September 2016, when she also called on Pope Francis. She was accompanied by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. President Droupadi Murmu, union ministers Kiren Rijiju and George Kurian, and deputy speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Goa Joshua De Souza represented India at the funeral of Pope Francis. Deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh and deputy chief minister of Nagaland Yanthungo Patton represented India at the inauguration of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.

Indian ambassadors to the Holy See +FromTillNameDesignation19491951 Dhirajlal Bhulabhai DesaiMinister19511952 Nedyan RaghavenMinister19521953 Asaf AliMinister19531954 Yezdezard Dinshaw GundeviaMinister19541955 Abid Hasan SafraniChargé d'affaires19551958 Mohan Sinha MehtaMinister19581961 M. K. VellodiMinister19621964 Mohamed Abdul RaufMinister19641965 Vishnuprasad Chunilal TrivediMinister19651967 Vishnuprasad Chunilal TrivediAmbassador19681970 Mohamed Azim HusainAmbassador19711974 Arjan SinghAmbassador19741977 Avtar SinghAmbassador19771978 Uma Shankar BajpaiAmbassador19781979 Amba PrasadChargé d'affaires19791981 Gurbachan SinghAmbassador19811982 Narendra SinghAmbassador19821985 Thomas AbrahamAmbassador19851986 Om Parkash AggarwalChargé d'affaires19861990 Ashoke Sen ChibAmbassador19901994 Madhaw Keshav MangalmurtiAmbassador19942000 Kizhakke Pisharath BalakrishnanAmbassador20002002 Niranjan Natverlal DesaiAmbassador20022005 Praveen Lal GoyalAmbassador20052006 Snehi Desh BandhuChargé d'affaires20062008 Amitava TripathiAmbassador20082009 Ajaneesh KumarChargé d'affaires20092013 Chitra NarayananAmbassador20132014 Nagendra PrasadChargé d'affaires20142015 Mysore Kapanaiah LokeshAmbassador20152017 Smitha PurushottamAmbassador20172020 Sibi GeorgeAmbassador20202024Jaideep MazumdarAmbassador2024presentShambhu S. KumaranAmbassador Reference:

Holy See–India relations

Bron en licentie