People want to lean upon something or the other in their life. In every religion, religious people too, lean upon god and godmen just to take care of their inner turmoil, anxieties and insecurities, which is natural. In this context, last month, the Odisha Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik, who has won the confidence of the Odisha people (4.72 crores) consecutively for 5 times, and is a non-controversial Chief Minister, went to Rome in Italy for addressing different platforms, and incidentally met the Pope too.
When meeting the Pope, based on the available news in Social Media, the Pope neither got up, nor a chair was given to the CM, who represented the State of Odisha. Whereas, when the son of CM of Kerala (who is not an official figure) visited recently, the Pope shook his hands, and a chair was being given with due respect along with a warm reception, which was also covered in Social Media.
Moreover, in 2021, when the Prime Minister visited the pope during his visit to Italy for the G20 meeting, the PM was given due respect too. Now, a question arises here. While developing the heritage corridor of Jagannath and Lingaraja temples, a lot of opposition and difficulties arose. A Puja was done at the Jagannath temple praying for smooth completion of the work, which was attended by the Puri King, Odisha Governor along with the CM.
The CM sat on a separate Pandal during the ritual, and was given a separate pedestal, and was not directly involved in the rituals, as though, he was a little indifferent and not part of the event. If this was his preferred approach to religious events, why did the CM and his office keep quiet when it came to the Pope? It is known that in January 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs refused to renew the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) license of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, which banned them from accepting donations abroad. A few days later, the Odisha government allocated nearly Rs. 79 lakhs from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) to support 13 institutions run by the Missionaries of Charity (MOC) in the state. In addition, this money was released from the treasury of the Puri temple. A question arises whether this was an isolated incident, or are there any dots that need to be connected? On the one hand, the present government of Odisha is doing major renovation work and direct intervention in major temples in Odisha, while on the other, the CM is meeting the Pope and not getting proper respect. How is this acceptable?
If the Chief Minister meets the Puri Shankaracharya, and is not being given respect, will that be acceptable too? We need to understand that the Pope is a religious head, and being a Pope does not make them a
Saint. In fact, to become a Saint, there is a formal process in Christianity called Beatification and Canonization. For example, the previous Pope John Paul became a Saint 9 years after his death. Also, only nearly 30% of all popes are Saints. In the last 1,000 years, just seven Popes have been made Saints. If the Pope is not a Saint but a religious figure, how did it come to pass that a public political figure like CM who represents 4.72 crores of people was not given due respect, and there was no reaction from the other side either?
Guest Editor: Gautham Kumar