WHEN GANDHI VISITED ROME…….
WHEN MAHATMA GANDHI VISITED ROME!!!
Mahatma gandhi had not left any stone unturned in his struggle to demand the freedom of India. A lot of trips even to the UK to talk in the UK parlaiment in the year 1931 had him engaged to meet with the Pope which unfortunately did not turn into reality.
A British officer who was responsible for fixing the Mahatma’s meeting with the leader of the world largest religious denomination and the Sovereign of a city state that had been created just 2 years before[1] his visit. Mahatma Gandhi had very well understood the power of diplomacy the Pope exercises as one of the world’s oldest diplomatic institution. Ages of rebellion and attempts to drown the power of papacy could not put a lid on the influence that Catholic Church has been having. Who could have whispered into the ears of Mahatma Gandhi to meet the Pope? Was it only a visit to a spiritual head trying to convince him that the future India he dreams of creating would be a safe haven even to the Christians? Whatever the reasons could be, the meeting did not happen. However he did visit the St. Peter’s Basilica and went through the corridors and the walls. Looking upon the magnificent paintings and the artefacts. But his glance fell on a simple crucifix: the image of Christ crucified. Mahatma Gandhi has always been an open admirer of Jesus Christ[2]. He gazed on the crucifix, reflecting the power of love Jesus had for human kind. He also mentions the moment in his autobiography [3] and said that his death became a liberating force for others. This was the principle Gandhi had used to take up and offer his suffering for the good and liberation of others.
Did Gandhi know that following Christ would mean to die in the same way he died by the hands of those same people he had fought for? Many critics criticised Pope Pius XI for not giving an audience to Gandhi. But days before Gandhi arrived in Rome the official Newspaper of Vatican “L’osservatore Romano” had published an article on Gandhi as the messenger of Peace.[4] With these evidences in hand we can conclude that it may not have been the Pope who refused the audience but surely other forces were at work.
India and the Vatican have had good relations since the beginning. But many times Vatican has been used to prove someone less or more patriotic. The visit of PM Narendra Modi to Pope Francis has sparked a new hope that Christian community in India which somehow is feeling insecure due to the rising neo nationalistic ideologies which contradicts that of Mahatma Gandhi. Such ideologies seemed to suggest even removing Gandhi from the pedestal every Indian and world leaders have placed him. As a catholic I have to remind such ideologues that Christians too have been patriotic. Mahatma Gandhi is the soul that unites Indians and we can call ourselves Indians. May his spirit keep guiding our nation.
[1] The vatican city was created as a result of negatiations between the Mussolini troops and the Pope in the year 1929 for more please read the article available online
https://rome.us/ask-us/when-was-the-vatican-established.html
[2] read the news article online https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-gandhi-resonates-in-rome/
[3] https://www.theflorentine.net/2019/02/06/mahatma-gandhi-italian-visit-mussolini/
[4] The Vatican Church and Mahatma Gandhi’s India, 1920-1948, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27644309
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