PM Modi meeting Pope Francis accentuates his connect with India's Christian community

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had a warm meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican city. The meeting that was scheduled for just twenty minutes lasted for about an hour as the two indulged in conversations on a gamut of issues starting from poverty to climate change. The conversation was aimed at making the world a better place to live. 

Christian community hails PM Modi-Pope Francis meet

PM Modi's meet with Pope Francis has been lauded by the Christian community. Speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network, Father Shankar, spokesperson of Archdiocese of Delhi called it 'great news'. "It's great news not just for the Christian community but for the whole of India," he said, adding that when two great leaders meet something significant happens. 

During the meeting with Pope Francis, PM Modi invited him to India. Speaking of the same, the spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Delhi said, "We look forward this visit. It will show world that despite religious differences how we (Indians) live together as one family."

PM Modi's connect with the Christian community in India 

The Central figure of Christianity- Jesus Christ has found a mention in the speeches of PM Narendra Modi every now and then. In one of such speeches delivered on Christmas of 2016, India's Prime Minister cited the Gospel in which as per Saint Luke, it is written that – “Jesus not only served the poor but also praised the service done by the poor" and termed it as 'real empowerment'.

PM Modi had cited a story of Jesus to support his point. Narrating the story, he had said, "Jesus was standing near the treasury of a temple; many rich people came and donated bountifully; then a poor widow came and parted with only two copper coins. Now just two copper coins really do not amount to much. Thus it was natural that there was a lot of curiosity in the minds of the disciples gathered there. Then, Jesus declared that the widow was the greatest of those donors because while the others had donated substantially, that widow had given away all she possessed."

Once in his speech, PM Modi had also cited the Bible to give the message of ‘Sewa bhaav’. He had said, "The Son of Man has come, not to be served. But to serve, And to give his life, as a blessing to all humankind. This conveys the immense significance attached to the sanctity of service."

PM Modi's connection to Christianity is, however, not just confined to speeches. In 2016 when Mother Teresa, who served the poor in India all through her life, was accorded Sainthood, PM Modi was the first one to exude pride on behalf of the country. He had in fact sent an official delegation under the leadership of the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to represent 125 crore Indians at the canonization ceremony at St.Peter's Square. 

Also, PM Modi was the man behind the rescue of Father Alexis Prem Kumar from Afghanistan in 2015, and Father Tom Uzhunnalil Islamic State in 2017. In 2019, PM Narendra Modi began his Sri Lanka visit by paying his respects at one of the sites of the horrific Easter Sunday Attack, St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade.