Congress's apology to Christians over post mocking PM-Pope meeting

The Kerala unit of Congress has put out an apology to the Christian community after the BJP flagged a post on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Pope Francis.

A sarcastic post by the Congress party's Kerala unit on social media, mocking a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis at the G7 summit in Italy. The post, which has since been deleted, featured a picture of PM Modi with the Pope and the comment, "Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God!" This was a reference to PM Modi's previous statement that he was convinced he was "sent by God" for a purpose.

The BJP was immediately on the warpath as it strongly condemned the post, accusing the Congress of insulting both PM Modi and the Pope. The state BJP said the Congress post is an "insult" to the Christian community. Kerala BJP president K Surendran tweeted, "The @INCIndia Kerala 'X' handle, seemingly run by radical Islamists or Urban Naxals, continues to post derogatory and humiliating content against nationalistic leaders.

Kerala BJP general secretary George Kurian said the post was offensive and hurtful to religious sentiments, particularly in Kerala, where Christianity is the third-largest practised religion.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Vice-President VT Balram defended the post, saying it was satirical and aimed at exposing the "shallowness" in PM Modi's public relations efforts. "It’s Modi himself who claimed that he is not normal human being but sent by God. This particular tweet is satirical."

Amid mounting backlash, the Congress's Kerala unit deleted the post and apologised for causing "any emotional or psychological distress to Christians". The Congress also challenged the BJP to apologise to the Christian community for failing to act when churches were burned during ethnic violence in Manipur.

While campaigning for the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi, during an interview with CNN News18, said, “When my mother was alive, I used to believe that I was born biologically. After she passed away, upon reflecting on all my experiences, I was convinced that God has sent me. This energy could not be from my biological body, but was bestowed upon me by God…whenever I do anything, I believe god is guiding me.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invited Pope Francis to visit India and said he admired the pontiff’s commitment to serving the people.