ICC Notes:
In Myanmar, once known as Burma, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo warns against “merchants of hatred.” Despite the positive changes throughout the prior five years, Christians suffer under radical Buddhists groups. Discrimination in employment, forced conversions, violence and desecration of churches and Christian communities are only several atrocities Myanmar Christians endure. Thousands seek refuge under China’s communist regime. However, Chinese government patrolling the borders leaves Christians trapped. Bo calls on the government of Myanmar “to bring an end to the military offensive against civilians…” by condemning Christian persecution.  
02/22/2017 Burma (Crux) – Myanmar, once called Burma, is a rather opaque nation to most in the west. It is known for a few things such as the politician Aung San Suu Kyi who was under house arrest for nearly two decades and whose plight was made famous by the MTV Generation.
Also, the recent soap opera-like story of the Knights of Malta and their change of leadership began with Myanmar putting it in international news. It was there that a charitable program run by the Knights became involved in a condom-distribution scheme and was the ostensible reason that Albrecht von Boeselager was sacked, though he was later reinstated after an intervention by Pope Francis.
Other than these isolated stories with celebrity actors, Myanmar is one of those places that often falls below the radar.
Francis moved to correct that by giving Myanmar its first red hat, which went to Cardinal Charles Maung Bo in 2015. Francis is known for going to the peripheries, and for those in the West, Myanmar certainly counts.
Bo has brought positive energy to a country that hasn’t had much presence on the world stage, and to one that is now garnering mostly negative attention for possible war crimes against its citizenry.
Francis has been praying for Myanmar of late and pointing specifically to the tragedy that has befallen its minority Muslim population. The United Nations released a report earlier this month accusing the Myanmar military and police forces of forced evictions of the Rohingya from their homes, as well as the gruesome crimes of gang-rape of the women and mass murder of the population.
Bo has recently released a statement in which he highlights the UN report and the atrocities it points out. He says the report “is heart-breaking and very profoundly disturbing.”
“Over the past five years, Myanmar has experienced many positive changes and has become a more open country.” But the optimism doesn’t last long. He is forced to talk about the military’s brutality and the ugliest persecution of minority groups in the country.
Christians in Myanmar often suffer a double whammy. First, because they tend to be concentrated among ethnic minorities, especially the Kachin, they’re targeted for racial reasons. Second, because Christians are often (mis)identified with the West, they’re also seen by radical Buddhist groups as the cultural and political “other.”
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