01/09/2025
ZERBANOO GIFFORD MEETS POPE LEO XIV!
Zerbanoo Gifford nee Irani was honoured to be invited by Pope Leo XIV, reports the Jam-e-Jamshed, to attend a special audience with him and the leading members of the Chagos Refugee Group. Her husband, Richard Gifford, has been the lawyer of the Chagos Refugee Group for over 30 years and has worked tirelessly for the Chagossian community that was wrongfully displaced from their island in the Indian Ocean by the British Government in the 1960s. Richards' legal work finally ensured that the international community acknowledged the Chagos people's right to finally return to their homeland.
Pope Leo graciously welcomed them to his private room in the Vatican and, in French, spoke of the injustice the Chagossians have suffered. He particularly thanked those who had helped the Chagossians in their rightful struggle to return home to the Chagos Archipelago.
Richard Gifford spoke to the Pope about the global legal struggle that he had devotedly worked on for over 30 years. He received Pope Leo’s blessings for his courageous and tireless endeavour to see social justice finally triumph.
Zerbanoo presented the Pope with a much-treasured copy of the Avesta, reports the Jam-e-Jamshed, and the ‘Z to A of Zoroastrianism’ for the Vatican library. She also presented a manual created at the ASHA Centre, which she founded in Britain, for the European Union's ‘Designing Learning for Peace’.
The Pope was visibly interested, the Jam-e-Jamshed learns, in Zerbanoo’s book on ‘Thomas Clarkson and the campaign against the slave trade’. Pope Leo is known for his deep concern for the plight of those in poverty and slavery. Zerbanoo spoke to the Pope about the work of the ASHA centre with young people. In November, she will be hosting an interfaith programme for young leaders of all faiths. Pope Leo was also pleased to know that the ASHA Centre is to become the "Representation Office" in the UK of the Chagos Refugees Group of Mauritius.
Zerbanoo’s visit to the Vatican in a Jubilee year also enabled her to walk through the 4 holy doors of Rome's four major basilicas, which are ritually opened only during this special time. These sacred portals are located in St. Peter's Basilica, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore). Passing through these doors symbolises a spiritual journey from sin to grace, representing renewal, forgiveness, and the embrace of God's love.