Pope Francis has avoided any specific mention of Myanmar’s multiple conflicts, including the Rohingya refugee crisis, during his Nov. 28 public address set piece at the national capital Nay Pyi Taw.
Instead, the first trip ever to a country by any Pope, he chose to broadly address the importance of peace, tolerance, respect for religious differences and the duty of current generations toward the young, when he spoke to diplomats, politicians and civil society representatives at the national parliament.
“The arduous process of peace-building and national reconciliation can only advance through a commitment to justice and respect for human rights,” Pope Francis said. “Religious differences need not be a source of division and distrust, but rather a force for unity, forgiveness, tolerance and wise nation-building.”
“The future of Myanmar must be peace, a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity, respect for the rule of law, and respect for a democratic order that enables each individual and every group – none excluded – to offer its legitimate contribution to the common good.
“The future of Myanmar in a rapidly changing and interconnected world will depend on the training of its young, not only in technical fields, but above all in the ethical values of honesty, integrity and human solidarity that can ensure the consolidation of democracy and the growth of unity and peace at every level of society.”
Human rights groups expressed disappointment that the pontiff had remained silent about the Rohingya tragedy, which has seen 620,000 people flood into neighbouring Bangladesh with stories of murder, rape, pillage and property destruction by the Myanmar military.
But the pontiff had been begged by Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, the country’s only cardinal, as well as former UN chief Kofi Annan not to mention the group by their self–determined name of Rohingya, for fear of sparking sectarian violence.
Rohingya is a term that majority of Myanmar’s people now shun in favour of “Bengali” or as civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi says, “Rakhine Muslims” while referring to their home state and religion.
Francis met earlier in the morning for about 30 minutes with about 20 other religious leaders, including several Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus; and an Anglican, a Baptist, and a representative of the Jewish community.
