President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited Pope Francis to visit Sri Lanka, presidential office said here today.
"A visit by your Holiness to visit Sri Lanka would be a momentous occasion to all Sri Lankans, and I earnestly hope I will soon have the honour of welcoming Your Holiness to our shores," Rajapaksa's invitation said.
The invitation comes days after Pope Francis expressed idea to make Sri Lanka a part of his proposed Asian tour.
Sri Lanka has seen two Papal visits -in 1970 Pope Paul VI visited while in 1995 Pope John Paul II visited the island.
Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority island with 74 per cent of the 20 million people following Buddhist faith.
Rajapaksa in his invitation has put on record the services to the Sri Lankan community by the Catholic minority.
