MANDALAY (UCAN): As thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Myanmar to show their opposition to the military coup, Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay, expressed his moral support for them.
Standing at the entrance of the Sacred Heart Cathedral on February 8 with some priests, holding a placard with the words “People’s desire—Free detained leaders, oppose military rule” in the Myanmese script as thousands of anti-coup protesters rallied in the streets of Mandalay.
It was a rare display of moral support in a country where Christians are a minority and Catholics account for around 700,000 of the population of 54 million people.
The bishop’s support came as priests, nuns and laypeople joined the protests that have followed the February 1 military coup (Sunday Examiner, February 21).
Archbishop Tin Win said the people of Myanmar were deeply concerned about the situation as they lose hope and feel the future is uncertain.
The country’s Catholic bishops designated February 7 a day of special prayers and fasting for peace in the country. Christian leaders have appealed to the military to release detained leaders including state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The people are worried that the new generation might encounter the same journey they passed through,” he said in a homily on February 14.
The country’s Catholic bishops designated February 7 a day of special prayers and fasting for peace in the country. Christian leaders have appealed to the military to release detained leaders including state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Charles Cardinal Bo of Yangon, called on the public to stay calm and never fall victim to violence.
“We have shed enough blood. Let no more blood be shed in this land,” the cardinal said.
After more than five decades of military rule, Myanmar was on the road to democracy, but the political, economic and social freedoms that began to sprout in 2011 were abruptly ended by the military coup.
Christian strongholds where the Kachin, Kayah, Karen and Chin dwell, have also joined the protests to show their solidarity and demand an end to military rule and the abolition of the military-drafted 2008 constitution.
Young Catholics are among the thousands of people who have staged nationwide anti-coup protests since February 6. In the second week of February, parishioners from Mandalay, led by priests, marched on the streets reciting prayers and rosaries.
February 17 saw the biggest turnout to date as tens of thousands of people thronged the streets to show support for deposed leader, Suu Kyi, and pledged to continue their peaceful protests.
The daily protests range from major cities in Bamar-majority areas to remote and far-flung regions that are home to ethnic minority groups.
Christian strongholds where the Kachin, Kayah, Karen and Chin dwell, have also joined the protests to show their solidarity and demand an end to military rule and the abolition of the military-drafted 2008 constitution.
Ethnic groups have suffered oppression and persecution at the hands of the military for decades and thousands of civilians bear the brunt of decades-old civil wars that are still raging.
Long-running conflicts in Myanmar’s smaller states with large Christian populations—Chin, Karen and Kayah—have ended but forced more than 100,000 people across the Thai border and into refugee camps.
The renewed conflict in Kachin that flared in 2011 after a 17-year truce has pushed more than 100,000 people into internally displaced persons camps in Kachin and northern Shan states.
In the relatively peaceful Karen state, more than 3,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to fighting between the military and the Karen National Union since December.
Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, who led the country to independence from Britain, reached an agreement regarding self-autonomy and federalism with the Kachin, Shan and Chin in 1947, but failed to secure several other ethnic groups.
Soon afterward, he was assassinated and the deal was never fulfilled. In the aftermath, ethnic groups took up arms against the central government.
The latest coup, led by military chief Min Aung Hlaing, has faced strong condemnation from world leaders, including Pope Francis, who have called for the release of detained leaders while expressing solidarity with the people of Myanmar.
