New Delhi, May 1, 2016: It seems that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to shed his ‘Hindu’ nationalist and is soon to visit Vatican this September to lead the canonization delegation of Christian missionary Mother Teresa who spent a lot of time in India working for poor.
Recently, when an Indian delegation of Bishops met PM Modi this April 25, 2016, they had personally requested him to lead a group for the September canonization ceremony of Mother Teresa at the Vatican.
This delegation had several prominent Christian names like Cardinal Baselios Cleemis who is the president of the Indian bishops’ conference, Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi , the conference’s secretary-general, and Father Joseph Chinnayyan, deputy secretary-general. Not just that, the delegation even asked the Prime Minister to invite Pope Francis to India for a formal visit.
It is not yet confirm if the Prime Minister would go for canonization ceremony but it would indeed be very interesting to see the reaction of his most ardent Hindu nationalist supporters including Baba Ramdev who have been on the forefront in deriding Sonia Gandhi’s Christian background.
The teachings of Jesus Christ inspire entire humanity. Let us pledge ourselves to create a world that is just, compassionate and joyful.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 5, 2015
Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary and several Hindu leaders have spoken against missionary activities of conversion in India including the likes of Bajrang Dal, Vishva Hindu Parishad and RSS.
These organizations are also supporters of PM Modi. In the recent times several Christian leaders of India have criticized the Gharwapsi campaigns by Hindu organizations that aim to bring the converted Christians back into the Hindu fold but PM Modi has remained largely mum on the issue.
Indian government had also denied a visas for a delegation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
For a while PM Modi has been meeting Indian Christian leaders and addressing their concerns in one-to one meetings.
Met the Supreme Head of the India Orthodox Church, Baselios Marthoma Paulose II & other Christian leaders. pic.twitter.com/nuxu4bUwcD
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 21, 2015