Flirting With the Past: The Pope on a Rickshaw in Dhaka

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Pope John Paul II taking a ride on a rickshaw in the compound of the
Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican Embassy) in Baridhara, Dhaka,
on November 19, 1986. Vatican nuncio (ambassador) Archbishop Luigi
Accogli (3rd from the left) and Archbishop Michael Rozario of Dhaka
(1st from the right) are looking on

Photographer unknown, photo @ the courtesy of 
Father Alexius Jyoti Gomes, Editor of the Pratibeshi weekly (Dhaka: 1986)

Do a majestic pope and a humble rickshaw go together? Of course, not!

Although one chance in a million or more, the twain can also meet. Bangladesh has the unique record of having a reigning pope take a cycle rickshaw ride in Dhaka. The authority of The Guiness Book of World Records should take a note of it and have it recorded in their world-renowned book.

This unpredictable incident happened in Dhaka when His Holiness Pope John Paul II was on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh on November 19-20, 1986. Pope John Paul II was fascinated by the presence of thousands of tri-cycle rickshaws in Dhaka and he showed interest in riding onto one. Archbishop Luigi Accogli, the then Vatican Nuncio (ambassador) to Bangladesh, helped fulfill the pope's wish by having a rickshaw in his compound. After taking his lunch at the embassy, the pope took the ride there.