Dhaka: Pope Francis, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, will arrive in Dhaka on Thursday on a three-day state visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Bangladesh.

President Abdul Hamid will receive Pope Francis, who is now visiting Myanmar, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at around at 3:00pm.

‘The twofold aspects of his visit is—a state visit because he is the Head of the State of Vatican and a pastoral visit since he is the supreme pastor of the Catholic Church and its Spiritual Head,’ D’Rozario, the Cardinal and Arch Bishop of Dhaka said at a press briefing on 27 November.

Pope Francis is the second Pope visiting Bangladesh. About 31 years ago, on November 19, 1986, His Holiness Pope John Paul II officially visited Bangladesh.

From the airport, the highest Catholic priest will visit National Martyr’s Memorial at Savar to pay his rich tribute to the memories of the 1971 martyrs at 4:00pm on Thursday.

After that Pope Francis will pay his respect to the memories of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wreaths at his portrait at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at 32 Dhanmondi.

On the same day in the evening, the Pope will meet with President Mohammad Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban.

Later, Pope Fancies will join a gathering with Speaker, Chief Justice, ministers, political leaders, members of civil society and diplomats at Bangabhaban Darbar hall.

On December 1, more than 80,000 Catholic from Bangladesh Christian community will join a mass prayer with Pope Francis at Suhrawardy Udyan for world ‘Harmony and Peace’.

In the afternoon, Pope Francis will visit the Vatican Embassy (Apostolic Nunciature) in Dhaka at Baridhara where he will meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Later in the day, Pope will hold a meeting with Bishops of Bangladesh in the garden of Arch Bishop’s house in the city.

On December 2, Pope will visit Tejgaon Mother Theresa House and meet with priests, religious and consecrated men and women, seminarians and novices in the church of the Holy Rosary in Tejgaon.

He will deliver a speech before the youths in Notre Dame College in the capital at 3:20pm. The Pope will leave Dhaka at 5:00pm after receiving an official farewell at HSIA.

As his visit was fixed much earlier than the ongoing Rohingya crisis, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Bangladesh couldn’t do any arrangement for his holiness to visit Cox’s Bazaar to see the Rohinyas camps there.

However, the Cardinal D’Rozario said they are trying to bring a small group of Rohingya in Dhaka from Cox’s Bazar camp, so that Pope can hear this displaced Muslim minority of Myanmar.

The cardinal hoped that the back to back visits of Pope Francis in Myanmar and Bangladesh will make a great impact on solving the Rohingya crisis as he met with Ann San Suu Kyi and Myanmar Military General as well as is set to meet with President and Prime Minister of Bangladesh.