The Catholic Bishops Conferenceof India (CBCI) today sharply criticized the head of the troubled Gujarat state for a public attack on Pope John Paul II. Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state government in Gujarat, had issued a statement ridiculing Sonia Gandhi for her opposition to a Hindu-pride march across the state. Modi suggested that "the Pope in Rome must have advised her" to oppose his plans for a pre-election march. India's Catholic bishops quickly protested that statement. "The Pope is not only the spiritual leader of millions of Catholics all over the world but also the head of Vatican City, which has diplomatic relations with India, and he does not interfere in the internal matters of any country," said the CBCI statement. Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is now the national leader of the Congress Party, which forms the main opposition to India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition. Modi heads the BJP in Gujarat-- a state that has seen repeated violent ethnic and religious clashes this year in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed.