A magazine brought out by the Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay has apologised for placing slain US Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on its cover alongside the likes of Mother Teresa and Stan Swamy.
In the latest edition of The Examiner, its editor Joshan Leslie Rodrigues said: “The Examiner has received several letters of protest decrying the inclusion of Charlie Kirk’s picture alongside other Catholic personalities of note, that appeared on the cover of the Sept. 20-26, 2025, edition....
“However, it was largely felt across the board that including him on the cover of The Examiner alongside other persons of repute such as Mother Teresa and Stan Swamy was an error of judgement. We agree with this view, and we apologise to all our regular and faithful readers of The Examiner for the distress it may have caused them.”
The edition in question had an image of Kirk — who opposed civil rights for African Americans, promoted white supremacy and Christian fundamentalist conspiracy theories and slammed the late Pope Francis as a “Marxist” — on the cover titled
“Luminaries of Love and Leadership”.
“Her (Mother Teresa’s) life reminds us of a simple but profound truth: Love is the only answer to opposition…. In a different setting, across the ocean, stood Charlie Kirk — a polarising figure who, in life and in death, divided opinion. In the aftermath of his assassination, commentators have scrutinised his legacy, conceding that some of his methods may have lacked compassion, that he might have leaned harder into the gentler spirit of Christ. Yet, what remains indisputable is his courage,” Rodrigues, a priest, wrote in the edition.
“He stood unflinching before an increasingly hostile, ‘woke’ culture, refusing to barter truth for acceptance, or retreat into the complacency of ‘live and let live’. He denounced the evil of abortion, challenged gender ideology, and championed the sanctity of marriage and family. He walked into hostile university halls, inviting debate with a rare fearlessness, convinced that the One Truth must not be diluted into many ‘truths’,” he added.
Cedric Prakash, an Ahmedabad-based Jesuit and human rights activist, has penned an article on fellow Jesuit Cyril Desbruslais in the same edition.
Prakash told The Telegraph that featuring Kirk in The Examiner reflected a fundamentalist deviation within the faith: “Of saying prayers loudly, but showing little social concern.”
He added: “There is a groundswell of protest from people from all walks of life to The Examiner putting Kirk on the cover and equating him with the likes of Mother Teresa, Stan Swamy and others, which was pathetic. Kirk epitomised hate…. He legitimised the death penalty (which is against Catholic dogma) and even the right to have guns and to kill others.”
Prakash said Kirk’s killing must be condemned unequivocally. “However, it is not for any of us to comment or to decide on what God our Father has in store for Charlie Kirk in eternal life. We also do not know what has happened to Judas or Hitler after their death, but we surely do not glorify or sanctify them or give them prominence on our cover page with the likes of Mother Teresa and Father Stan Swamy,” he added.
An open letter to The Examiner from former Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Anthony J.C. de Sa went viral on social media last week.
De Sa wrote: “What Charlie Kirk really stood for needs to be recognised for what it was — bigotry, racism, sexism, illiberality and inequality…. Irrespective of what he may or may not have said about our Blessed Mother, every social and political utterance of his was at odds with what Mary was.
“Charlie Kirk believed that blacks in America were better off under the Jim Crow laws than after their emancipation, he believed that the loss of lives in shootings were ‘acceptable’, he believed that even those who had been granted citizenship by the US should be deported if they had immigrated, he believed that the visas of all Indians in the US should be revoked, he thrived on hate and social division.”
The Examiner’s latest edition published letters of both Kirk supporters and opponents such as de Sa.
Kirk’s death has drawn an emotional response from Christian conservatives, with billboards in his honour appearing even in places like Dimapur in Nagaland. Praise for Kirk from a bishop and a cardinal in the US has evoked sharp criticism from within the Church.