(UCAN): Myanmar’s junta forces continued their attacks on Christian communities by torching the 129-year-old Assumption Church in Chan Thar in Ye-U township, in the northwestern Sagaing region, on January 15.
The church was completely destroyed in the inferno. However, there were no casualties as villagers managed to flee before the army arrived.
“We are deeply sorrowful as our historic church has been destroyed. It was our last hope,” a Catholic villager, who did not want to be identified for fear of repercussions by the army, said.
Villagers said a Marian grotto and the adoration chapel were spared. But the parish priest’s house and the nuns’ convent were destroyed.
They said the army arrived in the village on the evening of January 14 and set many houses on fire and stayed in the church overnight before setting it ablaze early the next morning, when local Catholics were expected to arrive for worship.
More than 500 houses were also destroyed in what was the fourth raid on the village in eight months.
“We have no more houses and in the church there was an antique painting of St. Mary, which can’t be replaced,” said another resident who wished to remain anonymous.
The junta is targeting the Sagaing region to tackle growing resistance to its rule by people’s defense forces who are suspected to be based there.
Christians make up around 8.2 per cent of Myanmar’s population of 55 million. The junta has repeatedly raided Chan Thar since May, 2022. Nearly 20 houses were destroyed and two Catholics, including a mentally disturbed person, were killed during a raid on May 7, 2022. More than 100 houses were set ablaze a month later on June 7. In a raid on December 14, more than 300 houses were torched.
Thousands have fled the village since last May and taken shelter in churches near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, and at relatives’ homes in other parts of the country.
Chaung Yoe, Mon Hla and Chan Thar, which are part of the Archdiocese of Mandalay, are known as Bayingyi villages because their inhabitants claim that they are the descendants of Portuguese adventurers who arrived in the region in the 16th and 17th centuries. These villages have produced many bishops, priests, and nuns for the Church.
The Assumption Church was consecrated on 18 February 1894.
The ongoing strife in the southeast Asian nation, triggered by the military ousting of the democratically elected civilian government in February 2021, has seen churches and convents attacked in Christian-majority Kayah, Chin, Karen and Kachin states. Many priests and pastors have been killed and arrested.
More than 460 civilians have been killed in junta bombing campaigns, according to the parallel civilian National Unity Government.
