Opinion When I met Pope Francis, he spoke of his great respect for India
He spoke out boldly against violence, poverty and injustice.
His Holiness Pope Francis breathed his last at his modest Vatican residence on April 21 (AP file photo) 
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Every age produces men and women of religion — a few, not many — who serve as the conscience-keepers of humanity. They speak for the world as a whole, and not only for their nation, race or religion. Their hearts are full of compassion for all people, and for all living beings, without any discrimination, but especially for those who are victims of cruelty and injustice. Some of them happen to be heads of their specific religious institutions. But that is not an essential qualification for being, rather becoming, the keepers of humanity’s conscience. Mahatma Gandhi did not lead any Hindu institution. Yet, he became the moral leader of the world in his time and continues to be so.
His Holiness Pope Francis, who breathed his last at his modest Vatican residence on April 21, was the Gandhi of our era. No contemporary religious, political, social or cultural leader — Christian or non-Christian — spoke out against poverty, violence, human indignity and attacks on ecology with so much anguish and authenticity, with so much courage and commitment, and with such tireless regularity as he did. He had the smile of an innocent child, but beneath the calm exterior, his was a restless, tormented soul.
Soon after becoming Pope in March 2013, he said, “Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children and children without an education.” Even at the risk of incurring personal unpopularity, he advocated support and dignified living for hapless and harried refugees coming to Europe from poverty-stricken and war-torn areas in Africa and Asia. Why? Because these refugees, too, he said, were “children of God”.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, he chose, upon becoming the Pope, the name of his hero, Saint Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century ascetic. He came to be known as the “Pope of the poor” because his work in the slums of Buenos Aires had shaped his radical views on the shocking levels of wealth disparity. Often displeasing the Vatican elites, he repeatedly warned against the “globalisation of indifference” and the “spiritual famine” in rich countries.
No religious leader matched his concern for the worsening health of Mother Nature, and his spirited call for effective global action to overcome the climate crisis. In a landmark 40,000-word encyclical titled ‘On Care for Our Common Home’, which he released in 2015 ahead of the Paris climate summit, he appealed to the collective conscience of world leaders to heed “the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor”. He cautioned, “Human beings and nature must not be at the service of money.”
In February, the Pope was recovering from double pneumonia. Yet, from his hospital bed in Rome, he sent out a message: “Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the full-scale war against Ukraine: a painful and shameful occasion for all of humanity!” Earlier, in November 2024, he called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s military attacks on Gaza constituted “genocide”, suggesting thereby that Benjamin Netanyahu was guilty of wanton mass killing of innocent Palestinians. He also slammed the “shameful inability” of world leaders to end the war in Gaza.
Religion, wrongly misinterpreted and practised, divides people and causes violence and wars. This is especially so when it is used for narrow political ends, as is happening in so many countries, including India. But religion, understood and followed in the right way, unites the human race across all its myriad diversities and promotes universal brotherhood, harmony and peace. This was the Pope’s core belief. Many other religious leaders share this belief. But none made inter-religious dialogue for peace their life’s mission the way Pope Francis did.
The crowning glory of his incessant efforts was the ‘Human Fraternity’ summit in Abu Dhabi in 2019, which I attended. For the first time in history, the pontiff of the Catholic Church visited the Arabian Peninsula. Also, for the first time, Pope Francis and Ahmad Al Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Egypt, the most important centre of Islamic learning in the world, signed a momentous joint declaration. It said, “We resolutely declare that religions must never declare war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. History shows that religious extremism, national extremism and also intolerance have produced in the world, be it in the East or West, what might be referred to as signs of a ‘Third World War being fought piecemeal’.”
Sadly, this historic Christian-Muslim dialogue did not lead to a much-needed Christian-Hindu dialogue. Pope Francis keenly wanted such heart-to-heart interaction. When I met him in Assisi in 2016 — I had gone there to participate in the annual interfaith meeting for world peace organised by the Community of Sant’Egidio, which had the Pope’s blessings — I presented to him my books on Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi, telling him they were “the best representatives of Hinduism”. He perhaps heard about Vivekananda for the first time and showed keen interest in Swami ji’s teachings. I also told him, “Your Holiness, I am a devout Hindu. I strongly believe you should visit India, the holy land of the Buddha and Gandhi.” After listening to me intently, he replied, “I very much want to come to India. I have great respect for India and her spiritual heritage.”
On my return, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to invite the Pope to India. Leaders of India’s Christian community also made a similar appeal. Modi himself met the Pope, and warmly embraced him, in October 2021 during the G20 Summit in Rome. Alas, the Pope never came to India, even though he visited Muslim-majority Bangladesh and Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka and Myanmar in our neighbourhood.
“Godward faith and manward love”. This, in the words of Swami Ranganathananda, a renowned disciple of Swami Vivekananda, is the true hallmark of a religious leader. I have met many religious leaders in India and around the world. None embodied this ideal better than Pope Francis.
The writer was an aide to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
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