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Editor: Aware that a number of our La Salettes are ministering in Myanmar, we share this information about their freedom and safety and ask for your prayers. Note that there are some 500,000 Catholics in Myanmar – around one percent of its 51 million people. Overall Christians are thought to make up about four percent of the country's population, Muslims are another four percent and Buddhists around 90 percent, with other religions including Hinduism and animism.
Some of our native Myanmar La Salettes (seated) welcome other La Salettes from around the world.As Wikipedia states: “A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level.”
“Recently Myanmar NGOs have asked the government about ‘protecting religious minorities from attacks by Buddhist nationalists’.
“They asked that the government to take urgent measures to protect the most vulnerable religious minorities in the country… A forum of eleven NGOs launched this appeal in order to protect human rights in Myanmar, after the two recent violent attacks against Muslims by Buddhist groups.
• On July 1, 2016, a mosque was destroyed by a mob in Hpakant, a village in the state of Kachin.
• On June 23, 2016, a massive attack destroyed a mosque, a school and several houses in a village of Bago District, in the center of Myanmar.
“The appeal of the NGO forum, sent to Fides, reads: ‘These attacks are the latest of an anti-Muslim hate campaign, led by Buddhist nationalist militants and has grown over the last four years. The campaign has included violent attacks, hate speech, and, at a political level, has resulted in the introduction of a discriminatory legislation restricting religious conversions and interfaith marriage’.
“Myanmar is living a new political season… (W)ith the vote in November 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power. The League has promised to ‘eradicate hatred from society and protect minorities’. NGOs, including ‘Christian Solidarity Worldwide’ (CSW), invite the Burmese government ‘to ensure that the perpetrators of these attacks are brought to justice, and that the police can prevent further attacks’.
“Then (they) urged the institutions to ensure respect for freedom of religion or belief and to invite the new UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion to visit the country.” (PA)
(from left): Shrine Church at Chanthagone, Myanmar;
Mass for 75th Anniversary of La Salette Foundation
in Myanmar; participants at Anniversary Mass.
(Reprinted with permission from Agenzia Fides, originally published on 06/07/2016)