Christian leaders unite to oppose assisted suicide in Australia

St. Mary’s Cathedral in Yangon. / Ronald Woan via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Naypyitaw, Burma, Aug 3, 2021 / 14:01 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of Burma on Monday launched a national prayer campaign as coronavirus cases in the country continue to surge.

“I call upon all people to enter into a campaign of prayer, raising our hands and hearts to the  Almighty, for healing. Let us come together as one community, let compassion become the common religion in these dark days. Transcending our  various religious and faith identities, let us come together for inter religious prayer meetings on line.  Let us support one another through continuous prayer,” read an Aug. 2 message to the people of Burma signed by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, president of the Burmese bishops’ conference.

The message said the country needs “to get ready to face (the) extraordinary challenge” of the new wave of COVID-19 infections.

Infections in Burma, also known as Myanmar, have surged since June, with about 6,000 cases and 300 deaths reported daily in the past weeks, according to the health ministry.

Medics and funeral services put the toll much higher.

“These are very threatening times for the dignity and survival of our people,” read the bishops’ statement.

“Once again, we plead, unity is needed. No conflict, no displacement. The only war we need to wage is against the virus,” it added.

Britain’s UN ambassador warned last week that half of Burma’s 54 million people could be infected with COVID-19 in the next two weeks.

Burma has been in chaos since the military ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February, with protests and fighting between the army and newly formed militias.

The United States, Great Britain, and others have imposed sanctions on the military rulers over the coup and repression of pro-democracy protests in which hundreds have been killed.

“The coup has resulted in a near total collapse of the healthcare system, and health care workers are being attacked and arrested,” said British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward.

“The virus is spreading through the population, very fast indeed. By some estimates, in the next two weeks, half of the population of Myanmar could be infected with COVID,” she said.

In his statement, Cardinal Bo urged the people to support each other and to help all health workers “reach out to the suffering people.” He urged everyone to “raise our hands and hearts to the Almighty, for healing.”

“Let us support one another through continuous prayer,” read the cardinal’s statement. “I urge the Catholic Church to have continuous prayers, adorations, Rosary chains in the families and communities,” he added.

“Let us knock at the divine doors, to melt the hearts of all people, to bring healing, peace and reconciliation,” said Cardinal Bo.

“Our people’s destiny is more and more in the hands of God as we sail through these stormy seas of fear, despair, anxiety and pandemic,” he said.

“Let the divine hand reach out and bless our country and protect our people from the pandemic and all other calamities,” added the cardinal.

“Our problems press us like mountains. But let us use faith. Let us become prayer warriors; heal ourselves. Let God’s healing hand touch everyone and bring health to all our people,” said Cardinal Bo.

[…]

Yangon, Burma, Oct 3, 2019 / 12:01 am (CNA).- Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon has decried Burma’s ongoing violence, and encouraged religious leaders to raise their voices in defense of the vulnerable.

“Not a single day passes without the heart wrenching news of innocent civilians being displaced or killed or maimed by the ongoing conflict in Lashio, other Northern regions and Rakhine State,” Cardinal Bo said Oct. 1.

“[I was] pained by the silence of religious leaders,” he added.

Beginning in late 2016 the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group who have mostly occupied Burma’s Rakhine state, faced a sharp increase in state-sponsored violence in their homeland. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced, and the military has been accused of conducting numerous human violations such as rape and murder.

Despite widespread use of the word Rohingya in the international community, the term is controversial within Burma. The Burmese government refuses to use the term, and considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They have been denied citizenship and numerous other rights since a controversial law was enacted in 1982.

Burma is also known as Myanmar, a name which the U.S. government and many democracy activists oppose, because they say it was illegally imposed on the country by its military dictatorship.

According to UCA News, on the day of the cardinal’s statement, five civilians were injured during an artillery attack in Rakhine. A Buddhist monk, novice, teacher, and two students were harmed.

Bo criticized the government asking, “where is the mercy?” He said the military forces are not concerned with the people’s safety nor have these groups shied away from heavy weapons, like arial bombs. He also said many citizens lack basic necessities.

“I had served as the priest and bishop in this area for almost 20 years. Most of these people are extremely poor and innocent people,” he said. “Striving for basic needs is their daily unending struggle. No group had done any economic development for these people.”

“A ferocious conflict rages in around them, forcing them to flee. With pain and sorrow, I have been witness to their tears, their blood and their brokenness,” he added.

Bo expressed disappointment with the lack of response from the Buddhist and Christian communities. He said that in Burma the Buddist population has 500,000 monks and 70,000 nuns, and the Christian community has over 1000 pastors and 2000 Catholic nuns.

“Some silence can be criminal. The war pursued is unjust and unholy. Our prayers and rituals are nullified by the blood and tears of innocent people,” the cardinal said.

“Myanmar people are peace-loving and follow the guidelines of their religious leaders. There is a huge potential for peace through religious leaders. Kindly raise your voice against this mutilating war,” he said. “Kindly speak out. Peace is possible, Peace is the only way.”

Since 2018, conflicts between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army have displaced 33,000 people in Rakhine and Chin states, UCA News reported.

At a United Nations forum in New York in July, Cardinal Bo emphasized the important role of religious leaders in Burma. He urged world leaders to recognize the positive influence of religion and its members.

“The nation has been wounded by festering wars,” Cardinal Bo said, according to UCA News. “For the nearly six decades of its existence, the country has been at war, brother against brother. So much blood and tears have been shed.”

“[The role of religious leaders] in maintaining peace through imparting values like compassion is an extraordinary contribution to the peace of Myanmar,” he added. “Religious people impart great values in society.”

[…]

Pope Francis speaks to religious leaders on the grounds of Indonesia’s national mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept 5, 2024. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Jakarta, Indonesia, Sep 5, 2024 / 00:13 am (CNA).

Pope Francis visited the grounds of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque on Wednesday for an interfaith meeting in Indonesia, where he signed a joint declaration condemning religious-based violence with Muslim leader Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar.

The Istiqlal Joint Declaration 2024 is titled “Fostering Religious Harmony for the Sake of Humanity.” 

Named for Indonesia’s national Istiqlal Mosque, the document calls for religious leaders to work together to promote human dignity, interreligious dialogue, and environmental protection.

“The values shared by our religious traditions should be effectively promoted in order to defeat  the culture of violence,” the declaration says. 

“Our religious beliefs and rituals have a particular capacity to speak to the human heart and thus foster a deeper respect for human dignity.”

Pope Francis became the first pope to visit the grounds of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque on Sept. 5. The massive mosque is among the largest in the world, accommodating up to 250,000 people at a time. John Paul II, who visited Indonesia in 1989, was the first pope to ever visit a mosque during his visit to Damascus in 2001. 

According to the mosque’s grand imam, Istiqlal is second only in size to Mecca and Medina, and its influence extends to Indonesia’s roughly 242 million Muslims.

The interfaith meeting sought to promote religious tolerance and moderation in Indonesia, which faces challenges with the rise of hardline Islamist groups and instances of violence against Christians.

Speaking to representatives of Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions —  Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Catholicism, and Protestantism — Pope Francis articulated his vision for interreligious dialogue.

“Sometimes we think that a meeting between religions is a matter of seeking common ground between different religious doctrines and beliefs no matter the cost. Such an approach, however, may end up dividing us, because the doctrines and dogmas of each religious experience are different,” the pope said.

“What really brings us closer is creating a connection in the midst of diversity, cultivating bonds of friendship, care and reciprocity.”

Pope Francis added that when religious leaders cultivate bonds, it enables them “to move forward together in pursuit of the same goals: defense of human dignity, the fight against poverty and the promotion of peace.”

Pope Francis arrived at the mosque through the Alfattah Gate, where Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar warmly greeted him. The two leaders then proceeded to the newly constructed “Tunnel of Friendship,” an underground passage connecting the mosque to Jakarta’s Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, built by the Indonesian government to foster dialogue and unity.

Before entering the “Tunnel of Friendship,” Pope Francis expressed his hope that it would become “a place of dialogue and encounter.”

Pope Francis told the grand imam, “I hope that our communities may increasingly be open to interreligious dialogue and be symbols of the peaceful coexistence that characterizes Indonesia.”

´The interfaith event took place in a red and white tent on the mosque grounds. It unfolded with a traditional Muslim welcome dance known as Marawis, followed by a brief chanting of a passage from the Quran by an Indonesian woman and a reading from the Gospel of Luke.

Representatives of the other four recognized religions stood in solidarity as the declaration was read aloud to participants in the tent.

The Istiqlal document identifies dehumanization and climate change as two serious crises facing the world today, emphasizing the shared responsibility of religious communities in tackling global challenges. It also affirms the need for interreligious dialogue to resolve “local, regional and international conflicts, especially those incited by the abuse of religion.”

The joint declaration at the Indonesian mosque was reminiscent of the Abu Dhabi declaration on “Human Fraternity” that Pope Francis signed with Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar in the United Arab Emirates, when he became the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula in 2019.

On Thursday, the Indonesian grand imam underlined the significance of the meeting, pointing to Istiqlal Mosque’s influence across Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country.

As Indonesia’s only state mosque, the Istiqlal Mosque is “expected to provide guidance to more than one million mosques and prayer rooms scattered throughout the islands of the Republic of Indonesia,” he explained.

“This mosque also seeks to promote religious tolerance and moderation in Indonesia,” the Muslim leader underlined.

In a moving gesture of solidarity and friendship at the closing of the event, the imam kissed Pope Francis on the head, while the pope kissed the grand imam’s hand and then touched it to his cheek.

Pope Francis will conclude the third day of his apostolic journey to Southeast Asia and Oceania by celebrating Holy Mass in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. On Friday he is expected to depart Indonesia for Papua New Guinea.

[…]