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 Waiting for a glimpse of the pontiff, excited Catholics thronged
around the Vatican's Bangkok embassy and St. Louis Hospital to
take selfies.
"Once in a lifetime, I want to see him and be able receive
prayer from him," said 60-year-old Orawan Thongjamroon outside
the Vatican embassy, where she had been waiting since early
morning for the papal motorcade.
Catholics are a tiny minority in mostly Buddhist Thailand,
accounting for less than 2% of the population.
The pope's plane touched down outside Bangkok around midday and
he descended to a red-carpet airport welcome from church leaders
for a visit that coincides with the 350th anniversary of the
first papal mission in Siam, the former name of Thailand.
Among those welcoming him was his cousin and childhood friend
from Argentina, 77-year-old nun Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, who has
worked in Thai schools for more than 50 years and will be the
pope's personal translator in Thailand.
The pair, whose grandfathers were brothers, beamed as they made
their way over the tarmac through crowds of clergy, children and
government officials to a waiting motorcade.
"Dear friends in Thailand and Japan, before we meet, let us pray
together that these days may be rich in grace and joy," read a
message on the pontiff's official Twitter account before he left
the Vatican.
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At Bangkok's St. Louis Church, a Thai Catholic woman proudly
showed photographs of her and Pope Francis from a visit she made
to the Vatican with her husband.
"I never thought that I would have another chance to see him
again," said Nuchnaree Praresri, 49.
But when she was invited to be a cleaner at St. Louis Church for
the papal visit, she seized the opportunity.
"This might not be an important role for others, but I'm very
proud," she said.
Catholicism first arrived in Thailand in the mid-1500s with
Portuguese missionaries and traders, and Catholics have over the
years built respected schools and hospitals.
Pope Francis begins his official program on Thursday when he is
scheduled to meet King Maha Vajiralongkorn as well as the
supreme Buddhist patriarch before offering mass at the National
Stadium.
He will hold another mass at Bangkok's Assumption Cathedral
before leaving on Saturday for Japan, where he will visit the
nuclear ground zeros of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
(Reporting by Jiraporn Kuhakan; Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing
by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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