Visa was not denied to two Catholic bishops of Vatican: Government

NEW DELHI: Government today said no visa was denied to two Catholic bishops of the Vatican for attending the bishops conference in Bengaluru as their applications were incomplete and they failed to submit the required documents.

"The visas were not denied to the two Catholic Bishops of the Vatican who wanted to attend the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Bengaluru.

"As the applications were incomplete, the applicants were requested to submit the necessary documents, including conference clearances from Indian authorities concerned. The Mission again requested for the required documents which were, however, not provided," Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V K Singh (retd) told the Lok Sabha.

In a written reply to a question, the Minister said the two bishops had applied for a visa in the Indian mission in Rome on January 20, 2015 instead of at Berne in Switzerland with which the Vatican is accredited.

He said the prescribed processing time for visa applications from third countries is longer than for applications from the same or accredited countries and conference visas have to be processed as per prescribed guidelines.

"On January 30, 2015, an official from the Vatican came to the Embassy without the required documents and insisted that the visas be issued," Singh said, adding that the mission again requested for the required documents which were not provided.

"Thereupon, on February 2, 2015, an official from the Vatican came to the Embassy demanding immediate withdrawal of passports and the same were returned," the Minister said.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) was upset with the Centre for not granting visas to bishops from the Vatican.