Card Bo calls for a ceasefire in Myanmar to help quake relief efforts
The prelate released a message on behalf of the Bishops' Conference while hundreds are still under the rubble. Despite the natural calamity, Myanmar’s air force conducted air strikes yesterday. Twinned with Myanmar for many years, the Archdiocese of Tokyo expressed its closeness. Showing its resilience, St Michael's Church in Mandalay will rise out of the rubble for a third time.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – “This humanitarian crisis calls for an urgent cessation of hostilities,” writes Card Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon and president of the Bishops' Conference, in an appeal released last night.
Thus far, the provisional death toll from the earthquake exceeds 1,600 but many people remain under the rubble.
Yesterday, while the whole world was thinking about how to help, the junta strongman General Min Aung Hlaing was visiting Mandalay, the city most affected by the earthquake, while his air force was carrying out raids in the Sagaing, a region near the epicentre of the quake.
Conversely, the exiled National Unity Government announced that its forces would stop attacks for 15 days to assist the population, but only in the areas affected by the earthquake.
In his appeal, Card Bo writes: “We urgently call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire by all parties involved in the conflict to ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of essential humanitarian aid by local and international supporters. Such a ceasefire is imperative to address the immediate need for food, medical supplies, shelter, and protection for those affected by both the earthquake and the prolonged conflict.”
The prelate goes on to say, “The Catholic Church in Myanmar, with the prayer and wishes from Pope Francis, joins our country's men and women in solidarity as they face yet another crisis.” He laments that, “This tragic event has further exacerbated the profound multi-dimensional humanitarian crisis already gripping Myanmar, where, as per the UN estimate, nearly 20 million people, including 6.3 million children, are in dire need of assistance.”
“The Catholic Church affirms its unwavering support for the affected people and sends out condolences to families that lost their dear ones. We especially pray for those who perished in the places of worship in pagodas and mosques. [. . .] The Catholic Church will mobilize support to assist with the life-saving needs of food, medicine, and shelter.”
The Church itself is dealing with the damage caused by the earthquake and the challenge of getting back on its feet once again and heal from its wounds. To this end, Card Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo and president of Caritas Internationalis, expressed special closeness to Myanmar.
Tokyo’s Catholic community, together with the German Archdiocese of Cologne, have been twinned with the Church of Myanmar for decades. “[W]e have been supporting the training of seminarians in the Mandalay Diocese for several years, including the construction of a seminary building for the philosophy course,” Card Tarcisius Kikuchi writes.
“I myself visited the seminary in Pyin Oo Lin, Mandalay Diocese, together with a delegation of priests from the Tokyo Diocese in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, and agreed with Archbishop Marco of the Mandalay Diocese to build further cooperative relations.”
Since Thursday, “We have received information from the Mandalay Diocese that the recent earthquake has caused great damage, including to churches, and that the church has begun relief efforts,” Card Kikuchi says. “I would ask that you please pray during Mass for all those affected by the earthquake, and especially for our sister church in Myanmar.”
The fate of St Michael Catholic Church is emblematic. Of all the churches in Mandalay, it is the most affected by the quake. Established in 1894 by Fr Jean Lafon, a French missionary, it has been destroyed twice before, and so it has to start again for a third time, overcoming trials and tribulations, digging out the rubble.
A devastating fire torched it in 1928, leaving Fr Lafon with the arduous task of rebuilding not only the place of worship, but also the orphanage, the school, and the leper institute that the missionary had set up in Mandalay.
Fr Lafon, however, did not give up. In an extraordinary show of determination, he revived sewing and carpentry training programmes, and raised funds through the sale of lottery tickets to restore the church and its charitable institutions.
In more recent years, another earthquake seriously damaged the church. Now for this community of almost 300 Catholic families in the heart of Mandalay, the new challenge is to start over, as Fr Lafond did a century ago.
(Santosh Digal and Joseph Masilamany contributed to this article)
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