BANGKOK, Nov 22 (TNA) – Their Majesties King Maha
Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida of Thailand welcomed His Holiness Pope Francis
at Dusit Palace in Bangkok on Thursday (Nov 21).
On the second day of the Thailand visit at the invitation of
the Royal Thai Government and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand
(CBCT), Pope Francis had the audience with the King and Queen inside Amphorn
Sathan Residential Hall.
Pope Francis’s visit came as Thai Catholics celebrate the
350th anniversary of the founding of the “Mission de Siam” by Pope
Clement IX to oversee Catholic missionary work in the country.
The Pope is the first pontiff to visit Thailand in 35 years
after the last trip by Pope John Paul II in 1984, which included an audience
with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Princess Srinagarindra, the late
father and grandmother of the King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn was the crown prince when Pope John
Paul II paid the papal visit to Thailand in 1984.
Thai kings paid visits to the Vatican: King Chulalongkorn
visiting Pope Leo XIII in 1897; King Prajadhipok visiting Pope Pius XI in 1934;
and, King Bhumibol visiting Pope John XIII in 1960.
There are about 390,000 Catholics, making up 0.58% of the
population of Buddhist-majority Thailand.
Born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio on Dec 17, 1936 in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis completed a master’s in chemistry and studied
theology before his entry into the priesthood.
In his 32nd foreign trip visit from Wednesday to Saturday, Pope
Francis will conclude the first leg in Thailand on Saturday and continue onto
Japan until Tuesday. (TNA)
