Colombo – Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the Mahabodhi Temple in Maradana late this evening and viewed the sacred relics of the Buddha’s disciples, Papal spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said Wednesday .
Fr. Lombardi said at a media briefing that the Pope had removed his shoes before entering the temple and had spent a few minutes of silence there, reported dailymirror.lk.
He said the Holy Father had decided to visit the temple at short notice after he had been invited by the chairperson of the Mahabodhi Organisation, the Venerable Banagala Uptissa Thera when the latter met him at Bandaranaike International Airport on Tuesday.
This was the first time a pope had visited a Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka said Fr. Cyril Gamini, the spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.
The Pope had also met Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa at the apostolate nuncio’s residence on Bauddhaloka Mawatha.
The Pope had also made a surprise visit to the Archbishop’s House to meet the bishops but they had not yet retuned from Madhu and he had to visit the Archbishop’s House again later. This time the bishops were praying when he got there and he had joined them in prayer.