Prominent Catholic leader Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon has sought Our Lady of Mary’s protection, healing and mercy for conflict-torn Myanmar, which has been in turmoil since last year’s military coup.
“Our Lady becomes the mother of all people, of all races and all religions. The whole Myanmar came here for healing and celebrating,” Cardinal Bo said in a homily on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes held at the National Marian Shrine of Nyaunglebin on Feb. 11.
“But this year we have come here as a wounded nation, a wounded people,” he said of the feast held annually since 1902.
Thousands of Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists from across the Southeast Asian country participate in the feast, but this year the novena and celebrations were held online due to the coronavirus and political instability.
Cardinal Bo highlighted the five wounds inflicted on Myanmar in the form of the Covid pandemic, the military coup, civil wars, the collapse of the economy and the displacement of people.
“More than ever we need our Mother of Mercy in Myanmar today. Our pain is her pain,” he said. “As a mother, she was with her son at the most needed time. Not abandoning us, she stands with the people of Myanmar today. She is the mother most faithful and most merciful.”
Churches and other community institutions are being targeted by junta forces in predominantly Christian Kayah and Chin states
The appeal from the cardinal amid protests and armed resistance across the country against the military junta, which has unleashed airstrikes, artillery shelling and burning of civilian homes, forcing thousands of people including women, children, the elderly and the infirm to flee and seek refuge in nearby jungles or churches in the villages and towns.
Churches and other community institutions are being targeted by junta forces in predominantly Christian Kayah and Chin states.
Catholic bishops in Myanmar have appealed for humanitarian assistance for the thousands of displaced people while seeking “the fellowship of the universal Church and donor community to seek support to all our Myanmar people without any discrimination.”
Pope Francis has shown his solidarity with the people of Myanmar by repeatedly calling for an end to the violence and returning to the negotiation table for peace and reconciliation.
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The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has crossed the 800,000 mark since the coup in February 2021, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The UN refugee agency said some 440,000 people have been newly displaced since then, adding to an existing 370,000 IDPs in the country.
More than 1,500 people have been killed while at least 12,000 have been detained by the junta in the 12 months following the coup.
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