Faith and hope are the response to Myanmar's ‘polycrisis’, says Cardinal Bo
The prelate last week addressed the plenary session of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference (ACBC), highlighting his country’s multiple challenges, from earthquakes and healthcare to war and the economy. He bore witness to the devastation caused by the 2021 military coup while reiterating the strength of the local Catholic community. The US State Department acknowledges religious persecution.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, spoke on 8 May at the opening of the plenary session of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference (ACBC). In his address, he said that his country was caught up in a “polycrisis”, a series of crises, fuelling each other with no light on the horizon.
The country he described is going through economic collapse, mass displacement, a crumbling health system, shattered schools, and the trauma of a devastating earthquake, all linked to the military coup of February 2021, the starting point of a disaster characterised by one tragedy after another.
The concept of "polycrisis”, Cardinal Bo noted, is now Myanmar’s defining trait, not one emergency, but overlapping economic, employment, social, health, educational emergencies crushing a population that has already endured five years of civil war.
The numbers the cardinal cited in Sydney reflect the critical situation: more than 3.5 million displaced people, healthcare and education systems in tatters across much of the country, and a significant and troubling increase in the number of people forced to abandon their homes.
Prices are rising rapidly, jobs are being shed, and there is a widespread failure of basic healthcare and education. The structures that once held daily life together have been dismantled by years of conflict, military rule, and economic breakdown.
What is more, nature has compounded man’s faults. A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar in March 2025, killing thousands, adding more suffering to that caused by the ongoing war.
Among all the affected groups, Cardinal Bo spoke with particular concern about Myanmar’s youth, whose daily lives, he explained, are affected by insecurity, psychological strain, and a loss of trust in the future.
A generation is growing after either witnessing or living through the 2021 coup, the crackdown that followed, the armed resistance, and now a multilayered humanitarian emergency. Many have lost years of schooling, seen family members killed, arrested, or forced to flee. The psychological impact of this is serious and lasting.
However, the Archbishop of Yangon did not travel to Australia solely to bear witness, but wanted to personally thank and express gratitude on behalf of the Catholic Church of Myanmar for the help and solidarity that reached across the border. They are, he noted, an important contribution to his country in its current situation.
Speaking to the bishops of the Catholic Mission in Australia, he confirmed that they have showed "unwavering solidarity" towards Myanmar.
"Your solidarity is not an abstract idea. It is a light in the darkness," he said. “Your support reminds our suffering people they are not forgotten by the universal Church,” he added, praising the generosity of the Australian Church through the Catholic Mission Australia, Caritas, religious congregations, priests and ordinary believers.
In light of this, the prelate offered a clear and decisive answer to the question of whether hope is still possible. "We remain a people of hope," he told the bishops.
Last week, the US Department of State formally acknowledged the persecution and violence committed by Myanmar’s military against Christians, including the junta’s devastation of Christian churches in the Southeast Asian country.
It also officially committed to reviewing and evaluating 10 specific recommendations made by a coalition of Christian leaders and organisations, calling for greater action to protect the faithful in the country.
The recognition came in an official letter dated 6 May 2026, signed by Michael George DeSombre, Under Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, written in response to a petition by the Burma Research Institute (BRI) addressed on 23 March to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on behalf of the coalition.
In this regard, the US State Department expressed appreciation for the BRI’s "comprehensive documentation", with details of the military's attacks against Christians in the country.
The letter cited two specific attacks against Christian places of worship. The first was the destruction of the Catholic Church of Christ the King in Falam on 8 April 2025, which had already been the scene of previous attacks, as reported by AsiaNews. The second was an airstrike against the Baptist Church in Mindat on 13 April 2025, Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar.
For DeSombre, the United States "remains deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict" and has "repeatedly condemned the violence that has harmed the people of Burma and discrimination against members of religious and ethnic minority groups."
The US diplomat confirmed that the Department of State continues to apply visa restrictions and financial sanctions against those responsible for human rights abuses, adding that that the 10 recommendations submitted in the coalition's letter would be carefully reviewed to assess how the United States can most effectively pressure the military regime.
According to the Chin Human Rights Organisation, at least 107 religious buildings, including 67 churches, have been destroyed by military airstrikes in Chin State alone since the 2021 coup.
Chin is the only state in Myanmar with a Christian majority, and testament to the scale of the devastation, which has become a "systematic pattern”, not just a side effect of the ongoing conflict.
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30/01/2025 19:23
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