Myanmar’s military has bombed a Catholic pastoral centre in the northern Kachin State. According to the Vatican’s Fides news agency, the St. Mi-chael’s Catholic Church pastoral centre in the rural area of Nan Hlaing in the Diocese of Banmaw was struck and destroyed on 3 March by a bombing carried out by the Burmese army. The church has over one hundred years of history.
Jesuit Fr. Wilbert Mireh, who assists the parish priest, told Fides that five shells and two air bombs were fired at their church complex, hitting and causing damage to the structure, but without any casualties. The local Catholic community in Kachin State is enduring a fierce conflict that continues between the regular army and the ethnic Kachin forces, which have taken over positions near the city of Banmaw. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which fights for self-determination in the state, is one of the best-organized ethnic militias, active for decades, and has joined the resistance against the ruling military junta.
The war has intensified, and in the past two years, it has affected nine out of the thirteen parishes in the Diocese of Banmaw, increasing the number of refugees. Fr. Mireh explained that to report the incident, he had to travel to a distant location to find a place with electricity and an internet connection. “Electricity, phone service, and utilities,” he explained, “have been completely cut off in our area since July 2024.”