Approximately 40 Burmese soldiers forcibly took control of a Catholic cathedral in Mandalay prior to a Lenten prayer service on April 8 and detained an Archbishop and dozens of other worshippers, including a correspondent for CNA.
The soldiers entered Sacred Heart Cathedral at 2:30 p.m. local time April 8 and refused to allow worshipers to leave. Soldiers also occupied other buildings on the compound.
Abp Marco Tin Win and employees of the Archdiocese of Mandalay were similarly herded into the building and forced to sit in the pews along with the worshipers.
A correspondent for CNA was present and was detained for about three hours, then allowed to leave. The others detained were released several hours later.
“I was so afraid,” one elderly Sacred Heart Cathedral parishioner, who did not give her name for safety reasons, told. “The military was always crazy but they never acted like this before. We ran home as soon as we were allowed out of the church.”
“The soldiers kept demanding to know where the gold and money and weapons were hidden,” explained her nephew, who also asked for anonymity. “I told them there was none. Any money collected is for the relief of poor families.”
As soon as the soldiers entered the cathedral, alerts were sent out to the entire Catholic community to stay away from the compound.
Upon hearing of the intrusion, Monsignor Dominic Jyo Du, vicar general of the arch-diocese, confronted the soldiers and their officers inquiring as to their presence. The soldiers rushed him into the cathedral along with the archbishop.
About 30 of the soldiers moved away pews to make room for themselves and slept in the cathedral overnight. They were still inside the cathedral early Saturday morning.