Mumbai celebrates 50 years of Pope's last visit

Fifty years ago, for the first time in the history of India, the pope had set foot in the country. Pope Paul XVI was the first pope to have left Europe in 200 years, and around 30,000 delegates from world over and 3 lakh people had gathered in Mumbai to welcome him.

The Archdiocese of Bombay's golden jubilee celebration to commemorate the day when the pope decided to attend the 38th Eucharistic Congress held in India from November 28 to Dec 6, 1964, is going on. The month-long celebration will end on December 7 with a closing ceremony at Don Bosco Ground in Matunga. It will be followed by a multimedia cultural programme, which will see in attendance governor C Vidyasagar Rao and Vatican ambassador to India, papal nuncio His Excellency Salvatore Pennacchio.

Complete with an exhibition of relics from 16th century and papal objects from 1964, the celebration also saw a blood donation drive across seven catholic hospitals and two churches on Wednesday. "We began on November 4 with eucharistic adorations, processions and rallies, where more than 90 churches were involved. On December 4, priests and nuns in Mumbai will renew their commitment to the faith at individual churches, and on Friday, the cardinal as well as other priests will visit hospitals, homes to engage in charitable activities just as the pope had done when he was here. On December 7 at the closing ceremony, we will showcase our contribution towards nation building as we believe that to create a better world we need to begin with making a better country. It begins at 5pm," said Father Nigel Barett, spokesperson of the archdiocese of Mumbai.

The exhibition is on till December 14 at St Joseph Convent High School in Bandra, where the artefacts given by the pope during his visit are on display, along with other relics — tabernacles from the 17th century, the pope's mitre, papal cops, stamps, seals, rings, chalices and a gold monstrance.

"On December 7, we will display a blood-stained cloth of the pope. He was wearing the cloth when he was attacked in Manila. Through this exhibition, we are reliving that time when all communities and even the government came together to host the pope. The host committee that housed the foreign guests on boats at the harbour did not have a single Christian in it. The Eucharistic Congress is not just about religion. It talks about economy, food supply, poverty and health of the human race," said Fr Warner of the Ardiocesan heritage museum, who is looking after the exhibition.

He said India received a lot of international criticism before hosting the event regarding its poor image and food shortage, but, he claims, they proved them wrong as the pope's last words in India were "here we leave our heart".

The Eucharistic Congress takes place once in four years and will be held in Manila in 2015.