Sheikh Hasina meets Pope Francis in Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has met the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis in Dhaka.

Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana, Rehana’s son Radwan Mujib Siddiq and his wife Peppi Siddiq accompanied her when she paid the courtesy call on Pope Francis at the Vatican embassy in Dhaka’s Baridhara on Friday.

Bangabandhu’s eldest daughter and Awami League chief Hasina handed a replica of a boat, her party's electoral symbol, as a souvenir.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters that the pope and Hasina exchanged greetings before having a 20-minute private conversation.

After the meeting, the prime minister introduced Rehana to the pope.

Pope Francis and the members of Bangabandhu’s family took photographs.

Earlier, on his first full day of the visit to Bangladesh, the pope held an open-air Mass at the Suhrawardy Udyan.

He then went to the St Mary’s Cathedral at Ramna Road in Kakrail and held a meeting with bishops.

He also attended an interreligious meeting for peace there to preach communal harmony.

President Md Abdul Hamid received Pope Francis when the pontiff arrived in Bangladesh, where Catholics make up a tiny minority, on Thursday.

The pope also attended a programme at the presidential residence the Bangabhaban the same day after a private meeting with Hamid.

On Saturday, he will visit the Mother Teresa Homes in Tejgaon. The visit will be followed by meetings with priests and religious leaders at the Holy Rosary Church. Pope Francis will visit the graveyard there afterwards.

In the afternoon, he will attend a session to exchange views with the youths at the Notre Dame College.

He will leave Dhaka at 5pm after being seen off by Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at the airport.

Born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 at Buenos Aires, Pope Francis ordained priesthood in 1969. He is also the first from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.