India's General Elections will be held somewhere between April and May 2024. Rumours are afoot that Indian Prime Minister Modi may be planning to arrange a Papal visit to India.

The first Pope to visit India was Pope Paul VI, who visited Mumbai in 1964. The last Pope to visit India was John Paul II in 1999. In 2016, Pope Francis said he was "almost sure" of visiting India and Bangladesh the following year. However, Indian Catholic Church leaders reportedly failed to convince Modi to invite him. When that visit fell through, Church officials quoted the government's version that it had scheduling problems for the Prime Minister. Pope Francis visited Myanmar and Bangladesh instead.

In October 2021, on the occasion of Prime Minister Modi's attending the G20 Meet in Rome, he met Pope Francis at the Vatican. Pope Francis then accepted an invitation from Modi to visit India. It was said to be 'a turnaround' following the failure of negotiations for a papal trip in 2017.

Following that meeting, Modi tweeted: "Had a very warm meeting with Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India." The Indian Foreign Ministry stated that the invitation was for the Pope "to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure."

It should be understood that the Modi Government will be eager to have the head of the Catholic Church visit India before the forthcoming General Elections. Scheduling problems will not come in the way. The implication is clear. Modi could use it as a window-dressing exercise to mollify the wounded feelings of the Christian community. Will he succeed even with a Papal visit?

Some view Modi's recent Christmas meeting with Church dignitaries as preparing the ground for the Papal visit. Known to be a clever tactician, Modi drew a parallel between his government's welfare policies and the message of Jesus. "In a Christmas address, the Holy Pope once prayed to Jesus Christ that the people who are trying to abolish poverty should be blessed...These words of the Holy Pope are in line with our mantra of development. Our mantra is 'Sabka saath, sabka vishwas, sabka vikas, sabka prayas."

Interestingly, the one who facilitated the attendance of the Church dignitaries was the go-between Mr. Anoop Anony. Antony is the former national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party is said to have cultivated him as its face in Kerala.

The million-dollar question is, will Modi's pre-election bonhomie bowl over our prelates and shepherds? Acute observers point out that any slight to the saffron Parivar on the eve of India's General Election will be capitalised on by the BJP party as a fiat to their demolition drive of our secular and democratic institutions. Our hard-won democracy and the sacred Constitution are facing an unprecedented crisis. We have witnessed the ruling party's consistent attack on our democracy, resistance against the egalitarian and value-based functioning of our judiciary, compromising of the democratic functioning of our Parliament, and more.

With the rise of Hindutva forces, Christians have been denied religious freedom. Particularly in the last nine years, they have been made victims of right-wing aggression. Our worshipping places have been demolished, and false cases of conversion have been dumped against pastors, educationists and even nuns. Tribal Christians were attacked, forced out of their homes, and their properties destroyed. Agenda-based attempts have been made to divide the citizens on religious and communal lines and to create hatred between religious groups.

Mr Modi has come under heavy censure even from political observers inside and outside the country for the way he let Manipur atrocities take a heavy toll. Since May 3, 2023, this northeastern state, ruled by the extreme right-wing Hindu nationalist party, has been the epicentre of killing, rape, burning of churches, and destruction of properties - all against a tribal minority community. It was an agenda-based pogrom with the connivance of State authorities. Modi's silence in the face of such terror was a crude shock to all upright people in general and the Christian community in particular.

Bangalore Metropolitan Archbishop Rev. Dr. Peter Machado's observation is relevant in this context. In a press release on December 27, 2023, he highlighted Prime Minister Modi's attendance at the recent Christmas celebration and appreciated his words: "Jesus' life was centred on compassion and service." However, the Archbishop deplored Modi's silence at the Manipur pogrom in which "more than 150 people were killed, 250 places of worship were burned, and 60,000 Kukis were displaced, and the Christians took the brunt of the onslaught ." He also pointed out the burning issue of Dalit Christians who are still waiting to enjoy their Constitutional rights of equality and human dignity.

In this atmosphere, if the Pope were to visit India before the elections, his visit would be capitalised by the ruling party as a feather on its cap. The all-scheming Sang Parivar and Modi will use it as an election propaganda tool to placate the Christian vote bank.

It is understood that many Christian leaders will not appreciate the Pope's visit at such a controversial time as this. Towards this, a signature campaign is going on. Hence, it would be in the fitness of things that the Vatican seriously contemplated postponing the Papal visit to a later stage.