Even in the midst of protests by a few extremist religious factions, the Pontiff won the hearts of the Indian people. This visit of the Pope, who has travelled around the world several times as the prophet of world peace and the messenger of universal love, became an immemorable event for the Indian nation.

Pope John Paul II was received at the Indira Gandhi International Air Port by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Ajit Panja. At 9 a.m. on November 6th the Pope was accorded an official red carpet welcome at Rashtrapathi Bhavan where he met the president Mr K.R. Narayanan. He also met the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Vice-President Mr. Krishna Kant and the External Affairs Minister Mr. Jaswant Singh at Hyderabad House, New Delhi.

During the Pope's visit to Rajghat to pay his respects to the Father of the Nation, he placed a wreath on the samadhi and spent some time in prayer. The same evening the Pope presided over the concluding ceremony of the Bishops' Synod and put his signature to the Synod document Ecclesia in Asia.

The 7th morning saw the Pontiff concelebrating Mass at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the presence of 70,000 people. An All - Religious meet at Vinjyan Bhavan on 7th evening was the last function of the Pope's visit. The next morning the Pontiff took off for Georgia.