At a time when Gandhi’s killer is being glorified in India by a segment of right wing Hindu outfits and a temple is being constructed to honour Naturam Godse, new information on Gandhi’s relevance beyond Hinduism continues to stupefy and amaze the world.
Recognized universally as an international icon, a new book, dares to ask if Gandhi’s influence extended to the Vatican as well. The Indian author Peter Gonsalves, himself a native of Godse’s Maharashtra, unravels the answer by pursuing six research targets.
His book, Gandhi and the Popes, opens with a historical inquiry into Moandas Karamchand Gandhi’s unsuccessful attempt to meet Pius XI, and then goes on to examine the writings and speeches of the Popes from Pius XI to Benedict XVI who alluded to Gandhi.
Adopting a hermeneutical slant, it also engages in a comparative study of the thoughts and actions of Pope Francis and Gandhi, and highlights some remarkable similarities that call for an explanation.
In the process, the book explores and assesses the popular claim that Gandhi was influenced by Christ, and the not so popular conjecture that Francis was influenced by Gandhi.
Peter Gonsalves , the author of Gandhi and the Popes answers the question in a pertinent and academically convincing manner. The book is an offshoot of his intensely researched study on Gandhi’s use of cloth and clothing to liberate India from the British that was published in two monographs: Clothing for Liberation (Sage 2010) and Khadi: Gandhi’s Mega Symbol of Subversion (Sage 2012).
On explaining what motivated him to write this third book on Gandhi that took him four years to produce, he says: “In the course of my previous research, I encountered a detail repeated in major biographies on Gandhi that I thought lacked evidence. It was about Gandhi’s visit to Rome to meet Pope Pius XI in December 1931 and the nonchalant declaration that stated: ‘The Pope refused to meet him because he was improperly dressed.’ Living and working in Rome, I decided to cease the opportunity to explore the truth of this statement. On studying the facts in the Vatican’s Secret Archives and Roman libraries, I came across three important details that had gone unreported by popular news stories on Gandhi’s visit: first, the untimely nature of Gandhi’s request (at the moment when the Pope was wedged between Italian fascism on the one hand and British imperialism on the other); second, Gandhi’s seemingly naïve acceptance of Mussolini’s invitation for an informal chat (that would cause a delay in India’s Independence by a decade); third, the personal esteem that Pius XI had for Gandhi (permitting the publication of an article praising him in the Osservato Romano barely two weeks before Gandhi’s arrival in Rome).”
While the first two events form part of the first chapter of his book, Gonsalves’ second chapter presents the esteem that the popes from Pius XI to Benedict XVI openly expressed for Gandhi. He shows how Gandhi-inspired movements actually contributed to changes in official Church documents on peace, and how Gandhi’s method of satyagraha (force of truth) became the catalyst to destabilize communism in Eastern Europe. Pope John Paul II who had read Gandhi well enough, went so far as to solemnly acclaim him ‘hero of humanity’ at his tomb in Delhi.
The coming of Pope Francis, and his unique manner of leading one billion plus Catholics through the first year of his papacy provoked Gonsalves to question further. After acutely analyzing Francis’ nonverbal communication and symbolic actions he highlights twenty-five elements of affinity in the leadership styles of Francis and Gandhi. He then looks deeper by comparing their thoughts on religion and demonstrates a striking correspondence yet again. At this juncture he asks some fundamental questions. How should one explain the strong affinity? Could the similarities be due to the fact that Gandhi was influenced by Christ? Could they be because Francis was influenced by Gandhian literature? Or could the answer lie in a combination of both these possibilities? The resultant investigation that Gonsalves sets out to pursue right up to the climaxing finish is an accomplishment in investigative scholarship no intelligent reader will deny.
Not for nothing his book is deemed worthy of inclusion in the esteemed series, Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity published by Peter Lang publications. The series is headed by a panel of world-renowned experts on the subject including Mariano Delgado, Jan A.B. Jongeneel, Frieder Ludwig, Werner Ustorf and Klaus Koschorke. Gonsalves’ book is volume no. 160 in the series’ forty year-long history.
Peter Gonsalves, PhD, teaches at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. A member of the Salesians of Don Bosco, a global network for the holistic development of youth, he coordinated its first five-language web portal. He was also president of Intersig, the international wing of Signis, which is an association of Catholic communicators for a Culture of Peace and the promotion of Media Education.