Indian Christians Ecstatic Over Modi-Pope Meeting

Following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis in the Vatican, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar and head of churches in Odisha Father John Barwa on Saturday said Indian Christians are very glad about the meeting.

“Indian Christians are very glad that our Prime Minister has met our Pope. Surely, the relationship will grow. We were looking forwards to this meeting for many years. We are happy and feel proud about it,” Father John Barwa told ANI.
Similarly, Father S Shankar, Spokesperson, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese said that the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis is good news for the Christian community in the country while adding that Pope’s visit to India will come as an opportunity to further the inter-faith harmony.

“It is great news not just for Christians but for every Indian. We wanted the Pope to visit India. We hope that Pope’s visit will come as an opportunity to further the inter-faith harmony,” Father S Shankar told ANI.

Brother Shajan Antony, Principal, Little Flower High School, Hyderabad believes that the meeting is a great step forward towards peace, harmony and interfaith dialogue.

“Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis today is indeed a very joyous and landmark occasion for all of us particularly Catholic community in India. It is a great step forward towards peace, harmony and interfaith dialogue,” Brother Shajan Antony said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India during a “very warm” meeting at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour on Saturday.

The meeting was scheduled only for twenty minutes however, it went on for an hour, sources said. Prime Minister Modi and the Pope discussed a wide range of issues aimed at making our planet better such as fighting climate change and removing poverty.

It may be recalled that the last Papal Visit happened in 1999 as Pope John Paul II visited India when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

Now it is during Prime Minister Modi’s term that the Pope has been invited to visit India.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi departed from the Vatican City after his meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday ahead of the G20. He was accompanied by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar.

The Vatican is a city-state surrounded by Rome and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit. (ANI)