Joe Torres Jr.
KENGTUNG (LiCAS.news): The Diocese of Kengtung in Myanmar’s Shan State told Father Dominic Wun Kyaw Htwe that he is banned from “active participation in politics, from posting on social media against the power system [the military junta] in place and against Church leaders.”
A June 22 letter signed by Father Peter Anwe, the diocesan administrator, noted that the 34-year-old Father Wun has “actively participated in politics” by joining protest rallies and through his social media posts. It said that the priest’s “active involvement in politics” and his social media posts “not only cause great perplexity but also public opinion” that resulted in divisions in the Christian community
Father Wun, who comes from the Akha ethnic group, had served the parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Kengtung for five years until the military coup in 2021 [Sunday Examiner, 7 February 2021].
“Our dreams, our hopes and our future have been taken away from us. Our lives were destroyed by terrorist and murderous soldiers,” he told AsiaNews in an interview in April. He said that when he joined the protest movement following the coup, he received warnings both from Church leaders and friends in the government.
Father Wun went into hiding for six months before crossing into Thailand where he now serves in a parish in the Diocese of Chiang Rai. While administering the sacraments and giving catechism lessons, he collects donations for refugees who live near the border with Thailand.
In his social media posts he continues to report on human rights abuses allegedly committed by the military in Myanmar.
“We want to see at least the right to life as human beings recognised,” he said in the AsiaNews interview.
“Myanmar should not only be an internal problem, it should be an international issue because these are crimes against humanity,” Father Wun said.
