Two Pakistani ministers to attend Pope Leo’s oath-taking ceremony

ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani ministers will attend Pope Leo’s oath-taking ceremony in Vatican City.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has received an invitation to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the new spiritual leader of Catholic Christians, Pope Leo.

Shehbaz Sharif has nominated the Minister of State for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Kheal Das Kohistani, along with Punjab’s Minister for Minority Affairs Ramesh Singh Arora, to attend the ceremony.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on Saturday said that Kheal Das Kohistani and Ramesh Singh Arora would represent Pakistan at the oath-taking ceremony of Pope Leo, the newly elected spiritual leader of the global Catholic community.

According to the Ministry’s spokesperson Muhammad Umar Butt, both ministers will participate in the ceremony scheduled to be held in Vatican City on May 18.

Their visit underscores Pakistan’s commitment to interfaith harmony and its respect for religious diversity.

Pope Leo will become the 267th head of the Roman Catholic Church, assuming leadership of more than a billion Catholics worldwide.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, a little-known missionary from Chicago, was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, becoming the first U.S. pope and taking the name Leo XIV.

Pope Leo appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after white smoke had billowed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel signifying the 133 cardinal electors had chosen a new leader for the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church.

“Peace be with you all,” he told the cheering crowd, speaking in fluent Italian. He also spoke in Spanish during his brief address but did not say anything in English.

Prevost, 69 and originally from Chicago, has spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and has dual Peruvian nationality. He became a cardinal only in 2023. He has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.