CNA Staff, Mar 4, 2021 / 10:34 am (CNA).- Ten years after his assassination, various world leaders have praised the life and death of Shahbaz Bhatti, a Pakistan cabinet minister killed after defending religious minorities persecuted under the country&r… […]
CNA Staff, Mar 2, 2021 / 05:15 am (CNA).- Preaching on the deadliest day of protests since Burma’s military coup, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said on Sunday that “innocent blood” must not be shed in the country.
In a Feb. 28 homily, the archbishop of Yangon lamented that the streets of Myanmar, as the country is officially known, had seen “so much of pain, suffering, and resistance” since the coup on Feb. 1.
“Slowly hatred seemed to infiltrate the peaceful marches. We pray that no violence happens. Innocent blood may not be spilt on this land,” the cardinal said.
“We are all sons and daughters of the same land, same mother Myanmar and we need to exercise patience and tolerance.”
Bo was speaking on the day that clashes between priests and protesters left at least 18 people dead and more than 30 wounded, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
The UN said that the deaths reportedly resulted from live ammunition fired into crowds in Yangon, Dawei, Mandalay, Myeik, Bago, and Pokokku.
Bo is the first cardinal in the history of Burma, a country with a population of 54 million people bordering China, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India.
Since his appointment as Archbishop of Yangon, the former capital city, in 2003, he has emerged as a leading advocate for democracy in the country.
In his homily on the Second Sunday of Lent, he called for the transformation of his homeland, focusing on the Gospel reading of the day, which told the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration.
He said: “As Christians, our first duty is to bring peace. Hatred has no place in Christ. No hatred wins anything. For the last one month, we have pleaded with everyone: Peace is the only way; peace is possible.”
“Pope Francis has called for resolution of all differences through dialogue. Those who call for confrontation do not wish good for this nation.”
He continued: “Social media, especially Facebook, is a virtual hell where hatred rules supreme; good people become violent in that virtual hell, destroying others. Humanity is disfigured in Facebook.”
“On this day when we contemplate transfiguration, we need to be extremely cautious about virtual reality and our mental health. Transfiguration was a virtual reality. It deeply impacted the disciples who were participants in it. They went back to announce the Good News.”
“On this day we also pray for the transfiguration of this nation. For the last 70 years [since Burma’s independence from Britain in 1948], we are looking for the grace of transfiguration of this nation. Like Jesus, leaders can make supreme sacrifices, like Moses, our leaders can lead this nation to peace and prosperity.”
“Like Elijah, our nation can proclaim a new Kingdom of hope ruled by great men of peace and wisdom. This remains a dream, but like disciples we are not only to be engulfed by the magnificence of the dream, we need to return to hard life of creating hope and peace. Let it start in each one of our hearts.”
Bo, who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, described the coup as “shocking” in an outspoken statement issued after the military detained Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s elected civilian leader, and Burma’s President Win Myint.
The UN reports that more than 1,000 people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in the last month, with some remaining unaccounted for.
Catholic nuns have reportedly taken part in protests held across the country.
In Myanmar, a nun asking the police not to hurt the people pic.twitter.com/HeFHbzPGk6
— Myanmar Burma (@MyanmarBurma7) February 28, 2021
The Vatican newspaper published an article on March 1 praising the actions of a nun who was photographed kneeling before a line of advancing police officers in Myitkyina, the capital of Burma’s northern Kachin State.
L’Osservatore Romano said that Sister Ann Nu Thawng, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis Xavier, ran out into the street on Feb. 28 as police fired tear gas at protesters.
“On her knees, she raised her hands to God and begged: ‘Don’t shoot, don’t kill innocents. If you want, hit me,’” the newspaper reported, adding that the police halted their advance.
Concluding his homily on Sunday, Bo said: “Let our present suffering be a sign that this nation is in the throes of a new birth. Let all of us enter into a mindset of reconciliation and dialogue. A new nation is possible, let it be born through Love.”
“Like the disciples, let us get down from our own mountains of virtual reality and come down and meet one another as brothers and sisters.”
“Let wars and conflicts become history. Let this nation be transfigured. Let a new nation be born!”
CNA Staff, Feb 26, 2021 / 06:05 am (CNA).- Australia’s Catholic bishops on Thursday issued a working document ahead of the first assembly of a landmark plenary council in October.
The text, released on Feb. 25, will inform discussions … […]
Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb 24, 2021 / 01:26 pm (CNA).- The Sri Lankan government must release its report on the Easter 2019 terrorist attack on Christian churches and hotels, say Catholic leaders.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo reportedly will… […]
Rome Newsroom, Feb 22, 2021 / 08:00 am (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Burma have called for a “return to dialogue” as two protesters were killed during demonstrations over the weekend.
“The heartrending scenes of yout… […]
CNA Staff, Feb 19, 2021 / 06:26 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Charles Brown, the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, applauded the government’s decision to ease restrictions on religious services, which he said is especially timely as the Church enters the se… […]
Canberra, Australia, Feb 18, 2021 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Australia‘s Catholic bishops marked the 200th anniversary of Catholic education in the country this week, calling for continued renewal of Catholic education in the country and the primacy of C… […]
Dinajpur, Bangladesh, Feb 16, 2021 / 03:22 pm (CNA).- Bangladeshi Christians expressed concern and discontent with the local authorities after a Protestant church was reportedly vandalized and looted last week.
On Feb. 10, four Muslims allegedly enter… […]
Lahore, Pakistan, Feb 16, 2021 / 11:40 am (CNA).- Two Christian evangelists could face the death penalty after being charged with violating Pakistan’s blasphemy law after an encounter in a park in Lahore prompted a complaint that they made deroga… […]
CNA Staff, Feb 11, 2021 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis on Thursday named a 54-year-old successor to Cardinal Joseph Coutts as Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan.
The Holy See press office announced on Feb. 11 that the pope had chosen Bishop Benny Mario Travas to lead Latin Rite Catholics in Pakistan’s largest city.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province in southern Pakistan, has an estimated population of more than 16 million people, making it the world’s 12th-largest city.
The pope also accepted the resignation of the 75-year-old Cardinal Coutts from the pastoral governance of Karachi archdiocese after nine years in charge.
Travas was born in Karachi on Nov. 21, 1966, and ordained a priest on Dec. 7, 1990.
He gained a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, an institution belonging to the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
He served as the rector of the St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Karachi, vicar general of Karachi archdiocese, and vice president of the Catholic Board of Education. He was also a professor of canon law at the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Karachi.
In 2014, he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Multan, southern Punjab. He became the bishop of Multan a year later. He is the chairman of Caritas Pakistan.
According to the website catholic-hierarchy.org, there were 197,700 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Karachi in 2019. The Diocese of Karachi was initially established in 1948 under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay, India. It was elevated to an archdiocese in 1950.
Coutts, an outspoken defender of persecuted Christians, received the red hat from Pope Francis on June 28, 2018.
He served as president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference from 2011 to 2017, and was chairman of Caritas Pakistan from 1998 to 2017.
There are around 1.3 million Catholics in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country with an estimated population of 233 million.
In January, the charity Open Doors named Pakistan, the world’s fifth-most populous nation, as the fifth-worst country in the world in which to be a Christian.
In a 2018 interview with CNA, Coutts reflected on the rise of extremism in his homeland.
“We’ve always had these kinds of people on the fringes, but they weren’t dominant,” he said. “Now they are becoming more assertive.”
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