Catholics in Thailand are excited to see Pope Francis, none more than his second cousin

Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, a vice principal in northeast Thailand, shares a great-grandfather with Pope Francis

She says her second cousin is ‘old school’, never writing emails and instead sending handwritten letters dispatched through the Vatican’s embassy in Bangkok

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Sister Ana Rosa Sivori shows a picture taken with her second cousin Pope Francis. Photo: AP

Published: 6:00pm, 14 Sep 2019Updated: 10:28pm, 14 Sep 2019

Catholics in Thailand are celebrating the official announcement of the first papal visit in 35 years, as Pope Francis is set to make a trip to Asia that will also see him travelling to Japan.

He is due to arrive in Thailand on November 20 for a four-day visit that is likely to lead to a reinvigoration of belief among the country’s nearly 400,000 faithful. But for Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, 77, it also means the pleasure of a family reunion.

Originally from Buenos Aires in Argentina, Sister Ana Rosa arrived in Thailand in 1966 and has worked as a missionary in several parts of the country.

She shares a great-grandfather with Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who, six years ago, became Pope Francis. She and the pontiff are second cousins.

Sister Ana Rosa Sivori with pupils from St Mary’s School. Photo: AP

As word of a planned papal visit spread ahead of the announcement, the vice principal at St Mary’s girls’ school in Udon Thani, about 570km (355 miles) northeast of Bangkok, went from being an almost invisible presence to being at the centre of increasingly excited attention in her community.