PM Modi visits Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in Delhi on Easter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in New Delhi’s Connaught Place Sunday evening on the occasion of Easter.

The Prime Minister who spent half an hour there greeted the priests and the people and also joined them for prayers.

He later took to Twitter and posted photographs of his visit to the cathedral. “Today, on the very special occasion of Easter, I had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi. I also met spiritual leaders from the Christian community,” he said.

“Happy Easter! May this special occasion deepen the spirit of harmony in our society. May it inspire people to serve society and help empower the downtrodden. We remember the pious thoughts of Lord Christ on this day”, he greeted the people in the morning.

Easter Sunday is a religious Christian holiday that is observed globally to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and while Christmas has a fixed date, the date for Easter changes from year to year.

PM Modi’s visit to the cathedral, his first in the country as Prime Minister, is seen as a major outreach to the Christian community by the ruling party.

At the cathedral, he listened to hymns and planted a sapling in the front lawn, church office-bearers said, adding that the initiative for the visit was taken by the Prime Minister.

Before Modi arrived, Fr. Francis Swaminathan, Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic Church, Delhi, said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to our church today and we are excited about it. I think it’s for the first time that a Prime Minister is coming to a church.”

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it is also projecting itself as a pan-India inclusive party.

According to the sources, BJP’s performance in the recent Assembly polls in the Christian-dominated states of Nagaland and Meghalaya, the party has now set its eyes on Kerala.

With veteran Congress leader AK Antony’s son Anil Antony joining the party earlier this week, BJP sources said many people from the minority community will follow him in the days to come.

In Kerala, the BJP has launched efforts to woo the Christian community, realising the need for an ally. The party is working to make fresh headway in the state after tasting little success in previous elections.

The party, which is also in a fierce battle with the Congress in Karnataka where the Christian community and the church leadership are influential, believes Anil’s entry will blunt fears among the minority community and also attract more Christian youth to the BJP.

Referring to Anil as a “faithful (of Christianity)” who holds “national interest above political interest”, Minister of State V Muraleedharan welcomed him into the party, saying it proves wrong the charge that the BJP does not welcome “non-Hindus”. “It is a befitting reply to those who spread it,” he said.

During the recent Parliament session, the head of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, met the Prime Minister, inviting him to visit their headquarters at Kottayam in Kerala.

“I met Prime Minister Modi as I was here for the Easter services in New Delhi at Hauz Khas church. He knows our church very well as our church is in Gujarat as well. He knows about the church’s institutions like education and charity that are run along with it across India,” he said, adding, “We are supporting the programs the Government of India is doing for development.”

The Orthodox Church, with a following of around 2.5 million, is the second biggest Christian church in numbers in Kerala after the Roman Catholics.

In October 2021, the Prime Minister, during his visit to Italy and Vatican City, met Pope Francis, and invited him to visit India, to which the Pope said, “This is the greatest gift you have given me”.

After Modi’s meeting with the Pope, BJP chief J P Nadda had said, “India is a vibrant and inclusive democracy, where the Christian community has played a pivotal role in areas like politics, films, business and armed forces. Under Modi Ji’s leadership India is marching ahead on the path of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’.”

The RSS had also endorsed the meet, with its general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale saying, “We welcome it because we believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family). We respect all religions.”