New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) Pope Francis would always “speak up” and did not believe in the Church remaining “on the sidelines”, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said as tributes poured in for the pontiff who died on Monday.

The first Latin American religious head of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis died at the age of 88.

In a post on X, TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP O’Brien, said, “Pope Francis would always speak up.” In his tribute to the pontiff, O’Brien also shared a previous quote by him.

“The Church, while respecting the autonomy of political life, does not restrict her mission to the private sphere. The Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines,” the TMC leader quoted Francis as saying.

O’Brien has been vocal demanding that the Church should take a position on various issues faced by Christian community in India.

The TMC leader said Christians should speak up on issues such as the ethnic conflict in Manipur, Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of some Christian organisations — which he says are being targeted and cancelled in recent years — and the new Waqf Act. PTI AO AO SKY SKY