It is nine-thirty in the morning and waiting outside the office of Archbishop Alan de Lastic adjacent to the Capital's Sacred Heart Cathedral, one is overwhelmed by the sense of calm. The second Indian visit of Pope John Paul II has managed to ruffle the feathers of many - from the Sangh Parivar to the newly formed NDA government and even Vice-President Krishan Kant. In the midst of all the pre-visit controversy, the Archbishop tells SUNETRA CHOUDHURY that he has got himself entangled. He rues that instead of preparing for the visit, he has to deal with all the `embarrassment' and do some quick-fixing.What was the Vice-President episode all about?Well, I thought that it would be nice to have him in the meeting of the religious leaders at Vigyan Bhawan, so I invited him. For some reason, he kept silent for six weeks, after which they said that it had to be cleared by the Prime Minister's office or the foreign office, before it was declined. When I met the Prime Minister, he said that he didnot know that he had to clear it.I understand that it is not appropriate for them to be present as it a religious meeting and India is a secular country but I only wish that I had been told sooner. Now, I cannot even invite other persons because it will be embarrassing. I really did want to invite somebody like the Lok Sabha speaker or Najma Heptullah, but with only five days left it is too short a notice. It does not look nice.How do you feel about various groups demanding the Pope's apology?We are very unhappy because they are giving us (Indians) a bad name. The world will generalise and say that all Indians are like this. And Indians are known for their hospitality. (He recites a shloka which means that guests are like God to us.)It is not a good sign when the leaders of other religions are attacked. It is not in good taste and implies that one is not truly spiritual.How do you feel about these people?Well, I have friends from the RSS and VHP - and even the PrimeMinister and L K Advani. (He points to photographs of himself with Vajpayee and Advani displayed in his office). Whenever, I used to meet the PM, he used to joke that we should first pray for his government's permanence. I told him that once he became permanent then we would meet him with a list of things we needed. Advani, talks about his school everytime he meets me. (He does an imitation of the way Advani speaks). I tell them that whatever criticism I give them, they should not take it personally. They are good men - but totally ineffective.Why do you think that they are acting like this? And who is responsible for this?They just want to provoke me - they want me to retaliate and want to run us down. There is just total lack of spirituality. I will never accept that all Hindus are attacking Christians or this generalisation of forced conversions. That word is a paradox in itself - conversion comes from inside and cannot be forced. Also, if you see, Church leaders never did that, the Statedid. What I say is why go back to history? Are we going to ask Greece and Macedonia to apologise to us because of Alexander's invasions?The BJP says that it has nothing to do with the RSS and the VHP's activities while they talk about the government at the Centre. These are what I call `puzzling factors'. Who does what?How do you think the Christian community in India feels, with all these developments and reports of atrocities?We are hurt. Minorities in a country will always feel insecure but it was never so bad. They have never been attacked like this before.
