Vatican's dubious meddling in Indian affairs through its network of Churches across India

Since India's independence, the Church has directly or indirectly influenced the electoral process in our country. During hey days of Congress, Church's role was relatively subtle in comparison to its present day involvement. It seems BJP's recent electoral successes have ruffled the ministries of Church.

Without doubt, the rise in public outcry by Church over threat to secularism and random acts of vandalism stems from growing influence of Hindutva in India. As a result, since 2014, different churches across India have been issuing letters (or fatwas) to their followers and warning them about the grave threat to secularism due to rise in Hindu nationalism.

Following are some of the examples of Church's growing interference during elections:

In December 2015, the Archbishop of Faridabad-Delhi Syro Malabar Church, Kuriakose Bharani Kulangara in a letter, wrote that victory of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is a victory of secular forces over sectarian forces
In November 2017, the Archbishop of Gandhinagar, Thomas Macwan spoke about rising insecurity among minorities, OBC, SC etc.
In May 2018, the Archbishop of Delhi, Anil Couto spoke about the existing political turmoil which threatens the secular fabric of the nation.
In Jun 2018, the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri highlighted that constitution is in danger.
In December 2018, a group of priests, pastors and bishops from South Indian Churches vowed to support DMK's Stalin.

Typically, these letters preceded different state elections and were circulated to influence voter's mind in favor of secular parties. Apart from interference in elections, Indian churches have been involved in instigating anti-national sentiments, which was seen during 2011 Kudankulam nuclear plant protests.

Another intriguing fact is that majority of Bishops at Church are appointed only through the approval of Vatican. As a result, the Bishops are more inclined to follow Vatican's instructions, which are usually against India's national interests. In 2012, the Vatican had intervened to secure release of Italian marines involved in the murder of Indian fishermen. Apparently, Dr Subramanian Swamy wasn't too pleased and he had written a detailed letter to then UPA government seeking end of diplomatic ties with Vatican.

In 2018 as well, after Delhi Archbishop, Anil Couto's unwarranted comments before Karnataka state elections, Dr Swamy wrote a letter to PM Modi asking to shut down Vatican embassy in India. The root cause of such brazen disrespect for India's sovereignty is due to Nehru's recognition of Vatican as a state.

As a first step, de-recognizing Vatican as a state could put a lid on its anti-India activities.

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