Catholic leaders also urge all dioceses in the country to pray and work for peace
Passers-by help people injured after a bomb blast in a busy neighborhood of conflict-torn Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon on May 31. (Photo: Aung Khaing Thein’s Facebook/AFP)
Catholic bishops in Myanmar have demanded respect for human life and the sanctity of places of worship, hospitals and schools in the conflict-torn Southeast Asian nation.
“Human dignity and the right to life can never be compromised. We strongly demand respect for life, respect for the sanctity of sanctuary in places of worship, hospitals and schools again,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar (CBCM) said in a statement on June 11.
CBCM president Cardinal Charles Bo, general secretary Bishop John Saw Yaw Han and 17 other bishops signed the document released after the general assembly held in Yangon from June 7-10.
Myanmar’s military junta has continued to target churches and its institutions in recent months.
Dozens of churches including Catholic churches in Kayah and Chin states have been destroyed in airstrikes and artillery shelling while thousands of people including Christians have been displaced, some fleeing into neighboring India.
At least 450 homes were set ablaze by junta troops in the historic Catholic villages of Chan Thar and Chaung Yoe in the Sagaing region during the past month or so.
“As the CBCM stands for justice, peace, reconciliation, it strongly demands all concerned to facilitate humanitarian access to suffering and internally displaced people in order to provide them the basic humanitarian assistance”
The bishops’ statement, however, did not specifically mention the burning of homes in Catholic villages, although it expressed deep concern over the worsening situation in Myanmar and the situation of affected people regardless of race and religion.
They called on concerned parties to allow much-needed humanitarian assistance for displaced people across the country.
“As the CBCM stands for justice, peace, reconciliation, it strongly demands all concerned to facilitate humanitarian access to suffering and internally displaced people in order to provide them the basic humanitarian assistance,” the bishops said.
The Catholic leaders also urged all dioceses in the country to further peace by making all efforts through intense prayers, reciting the rosary daily and celebrating Mass at the start of every month.
More than 1,900 people including over 100 children have been killed and over 14,000 detained since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
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