Posts Tagged ‘Myanmar’

Civilians, clergy forced to flee Myanmar cathedral amid army takeover

Thursday, November 30th, 2023

Civilians, including elderly residents and patients seeking refuge, were compelled to evacuate a Myanmar cathedral as junta soldiers forcibly seized control on November 27. Bishop Celso Ba Shwe of Loikaw and clergy members, alongside a congregation of worshippers, found themselves displaced from Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw due to the intrusion. “It’s sorrowful to Read more

More than 550 doctors fired by Myanmar junta for refusing to work in protest

Thursday, November 3rd, 2022

The Myanmar junta’s Ministry of Health has fired 557 government-employed doctors who left their jobs to protest against the military government, revoking their licences at a time when medical professionals are in short supply, sources in the country’s medical community said on Tuesday, citing an official list. The striking doctors joined other government workers in Read more

Myanmar military surround Catholic church with landmines

Monday, September 19th, 2022

Surrounding the church with landmines does not surprise Frank Bird (pictured). The New Zealand priest has just returned from the Myanmar-Thai border. Landmines surround a Catholic church in Myanmar. Before mining it, the military had been using the church as a kitchen. The military junta’s mining of the Mother of God church in Mobye, a Read more

30,000 and counting … Myanmar’s troops burn homes, churches, villages

Thursday, September 1st, 2022
Myanmar's burning

Myanmar’s military junta has burned nearly 30,000 homes, churches and villages during the past 19 months. That’s how long it is since the junta overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government. Domestic research group Data for Myanmar says troops had torched 28,434 houses since the military seized power on 1 February 2021. This year in May and Read more

Real power comes from service

Thursday, August 26th, 2021
real power

Governments get their legitimacy from service to the people says Cardinal Charles Bo. “Real power, as Pope Francis often cited, comes from service. Not imposing power on the innocents,” the Myanmar cardinal said recently in a homily. “For any government, in any just country, the government is not above the people. “The government is one Read more

‘We cannot wait!’ pleads Catholic missionary in Myanmar

Monday, May 17th, 2021

On Sunday, May 16, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass in Rome for Myanmar Catholics on the Feast of the Ascension, underlining his religious and diplomatic efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in the troubled Southeast Asian country. Myanmar, once known as Burma, spiralled into violence when military forces took over the country on Feb. 1, Read more

Myanmar steps back into darkness

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021
myanmar step back

Since the February 1 coup, the Tatmadaw – the official name of Myanmar’s armed forces – has escalated its crackdown on citizens protesting against the military takeover that ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government. Unfortunately, this brutal reaction is only the latest in a series of repressive moves across Southeast Asia in recent years as political groups, backed by powerful Read more

Democratic values compete with Buddhist ones in Myanmar

Monday, February 22nd, 2021

The military coup in Myanmar has been difficult for many Westerners to comprehend. Why did the generals act when they had effectively been in control of the country since allowing elections in 2011? Why move against civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, when she had gone along with so much of their program, even defending Read more

Pope and NZ show solidarity with Myanmar

Thursday, February 11th, 2021

Pope Francis spoke of his solidarity with the people of Myanmar and appealed to its leaders to show willingness to serve the common good “promoting social justice and national stability”. Myanmar is “a nation that I carry in my heart with much affection, ever since my apostolic visit there in 2017,” he said after the Read more

Myanmar cardinal decries lethal virus of hunger

Thursday, August 6th, 2020
hunger

While religious leaders play a vital part in conveying messages of peace, solidarity and harmony, a prominent Catholic leader in Myanmar has used that important role to decry the hunger and food crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, who advocates for peace, minority rights and economic justice, has Read more