Pope faces a difficult challenge amidst tension in Myanmar

With Francis due this weekend, hopes are high that his visit can inspire reconciliation, writes Chai Brady from Myanmar

The development of diplomatic relations between Myanmar and the Vatican are at infant stage as the Pope prepares to travel to the embattled nation this weekend, during a time of international condemnation and ongoing conflict with local militia.

The Papal visit to Myanmar (also known as Burma) and Bangladesh begins this Sunday. Francis arrives at 1.30pm, he receives his official welcome in Yangon International Airport and will stay in the country until November 30.

A lot can happen in four days, and hopes are high the Papal trip to Myanmar will be a welcome instigator of much-needed peaceful dialogue.

There are about 659,000 Catholics in Myanmar, over 1% of the total population of 51 million, while about 88% of the population is Buddhist.

But his decision whether to use the word ‘Rohingya’ during his visit, which he has used several times in the past, is becoming a point of contention.

Most of the Western world has agreed the predominantly Muslim Rohingyas are an ethnic minority in the predominantly Buddhist country. The term is dismissed by politicians and a lot of the public in Myanmar, who view them as illegal Bangladeshi migrants even though Rohingya people have lived in the country for generations. They are excluded from being recognised as one of the country’s 135 national races.

Already more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine State from Myanmar military operations that were sparked by a rebel group’s attack on police posts in the region in late August. This resulted in the deaths of 12 members of the security forces and almost one hundred insurgents. The retaliation was extreme.

The military have been accused of a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the UN and prominent NGOs such as Human Rights Watch.

The Pope has previously spoken in solidarity with the Rohingya Muslims. Following the Angelus prayer on August 28, he said: “Sad news has reached us of the persecution of our Rohingya brothers and sisters, a religious minority. I would like to express my full closeness to them – and let all of us ask the Lord to save them, and to raise up men and women of good will to help them, who shall give them their full rights.”

Chased 
away

Last February, while marking the feast of former slave St Josephine Bakhita during a General Audience, the Pope said “Let us pray to St Josephine Bakhita for all migrants and refugees who are exploited and suffer so much”.

“And speaking of migrants who are exploited and chased away, I want to pray with you today in a special way for our Rohingya brothers and sisters.

He said the Rohingya “have been suffering for years” and that they have been tortured and killed because they want to keep their traditions and their Muslim faith.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon and most senior Myanmarese Catholic clergy, has urged the Pontiff not to use the term ‘Rohingya’ again while on his visit.

“We have asked him at least to refrain from using the word ‘Rohingya’ because this word is very much contested and not acceptable by the military, nor the government, nor the people in Myanmar,” Cardinal Bo said in an interview in Yangon. However, he said the Pope would raise the need to assist the Muslim minority.

“They are also human beings, they have a human face and they also need human dignity, so eliminating or killing any one of them, that’s not justified..,” Cardinal Bo said.

Previously the cardinal said the Pope was coming to “heal the wounds of the country”.

“Vatican and others need to work toward healing the wounds of our nation, by showing a future that can bring positive results for all communities.”

He added this isn’t a problem that has suddenly appeared – as it has been ongoing for 60 years – but that the persecution of the Rohingya has not been this intense since 1982 when an unjust citizenship law was passed which has led to the people living in a limbo in which they became neither full citizens of Bangladesh or Myanmar – the law seemed to target them specifically.

Many victims of the violence have said Myanmar soldiers are committing massacres, rape and the mass burning of homes and property. The stories from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh – where many refugees have escaped to – are horrific.

Catholic charities such as Caritas and the Irish charity Trócaire are intervening to alleviate the suffering of the fleeing Rohingya.

There has also been international criticism of democratically elected State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi, who was accused of not doing enough to quell the violence. However Myanmar’s military is still a powerful force in the country ever since it seized power in 1962 through a coup’état. Suu Kyi has the backing of the citizens, but the country’s generals still control the army, leading to a delicate balance of power. It was the military’s decision to change the name of Burma to Myanmar, the capital Yangon to Rangoon, and then to move the capital to another site, naming it Naypyidaw.

Even after the government allowed elections to be held in 1990, the first in almost three decades, and despite Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party winning 80% of the seats, the military junta did not cede some power until around 2011.

With the Pope’s visit close his timetable has been published. Nothing is scheduled except an official welcome when the Pope arrives in the afternoon of November 27 in Yangon. The following day he will travel by plane to Nay Pyi Taw (sometimes spelt Naypyidaw) where he will meet the President at 4pm – 9.30am in Ireland – and then Aung San Suu Kyi half an hour later. This will be followed by meetings with various civil society organisations, authorities and diplomatic corps.

Monks

He will return to Yangon on November 29 and celebrate Mass in the Kyaikkasan Ground, a sports ground, in the morning. He will then meet the Sangha, the supreme council of Buddhist monks in the late afternoon followed by a meeting with the Myanmar bishops in St Mary’s Cathedral.

On Thursday November 30, Francis will celebrate a Mass with young people in St Mary’s Cathedral in the morning, before leaving for Bangladesh in the afternoon.

The beginning of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Myanmar began when Mr San Lwin, Myanmar’s first ambassador to the Holy See, presented his credentials to Pope Francis in a ceremony on November 9 after the decision was made to establish ties when the Pontiff met Suu Kyi in the Vatican on May 4 of this year.

Chai Brady is in Myanmar for the visit of Pope Francis. Follow his updates on Twitter @ChaiBradyIC. See next week’s edition of The Irish Catholic for full coverage.