Founded by PIME missionaries in the second half of the 19th century, the Diocese of Taungngu has a new pastor, Bishop John Saw Gawdy. Five local young men have been studying for the priesthood for just over a year at the Monza seminary. They are happy for the new bishop. Speaking to AsiaNews, they talked about the hardships Christians and the Church continue to face in Myanmar.

Milan (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Isaac Danu of Taungngu on Sunday, and appointed John Saw Gawdy as his successor, the coadjutor bishop since 2020.

The first PIME missionaries arrived in Taungngu, Pegu division, in 1868, where they founded the diocese. Its new bishop was born in 1955. He studied in Yangon and the United States and was ordained a priest in 1983.

Since the military ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi two years ago, the area has been spared so far the violence that has afflicted other parts of the country.

Nevertheless, the military is heavily present, creating fear and tensions among locals, this according to two seminarians (out of five) studying at the PIME seminary in Monza. The two chose Graziano and Giustino as Christian names, aged 22 and 23 respectively.

The Diocese of Taungngu is surrounded by mountains, so the situation is not like in big cities or forests, they told AsiaNews.

Stuck for more than a year at the minor seminary in Leikhto, about half an hour from Taungngu, they could not continue their studies at the national seminary in Yangon due to the civil war.

In 2021 they almost never went out because it was too dangerous for young men, easily suspected of being part of the resistance.

After the army seized power in February 2021, young people led street protests against the military junta. Initially peaceful protest and led by the Civil Disobedience Movement.

As a result of the military’s intense crackdown, many young people fled “into the forest” to join ethnic militias or the People's Defence Forces, the armed wing of the exiled National Unity Government.

For the junta, attacking civilians is one way to weaken the resistance. "Last week the parish where my father was born was bombed. All the residents fled the village, while the army set fire to the houses", said Giustino.

Despite the distance from home, the two try to contact their families from Italy but it is complicated. "In general, people don’t use phones or the Internet that much because the military monitor communications. In my village, it is even harder since it is in the mountains and you have to climb to higher ground to get a signal. And there are military checkpoints all over.”

In Graziano’s village, soldiers have set up a base. “Some places are off-limits. Most people, including my  relatives, used to go to work in the fields on foot or by bike, but now this is no longer possible. They're terrified; they don't feel safe.”

Both seminarians expressed joy for the new bishop whom they met in November 2020, but they are still close to Bishop Isaac Danu because he was the one who, last year, asked the PIME superior if the institute could accept at least two aspiring priests because of the uncertain situation in Myanmar.

The Monza seminary offered to take five, ethnic Karen and Kayan, who arrived in April 2022.

"We split into two groups to arouse less suspicion, but getting a passport was not easy," they said. “In peak season, military authorities charge more for travel permits. We were advised to give the soldiers everything we had to have the document to leave."

Although they are very eager and immensely grateful for the opportunity to continue their theological studies in Italy, they still look with uncertainty to the future of their country:

"It is hard to see anything positive. The Church has lost so much; Christian villages have been bombed; priests lost their apostolate or were forced to collaborate with the military," Giustino explained.

“Among refugees, the number of young people who want to commit suicide has grown tremendously,” Graziano lamented. “The country’s future is threatened, and most people are just trying to survive day by day.”

Although local sources are not very reliable, the United Nations estimates that almost two million people are internally displaced.

Perhaps Myanmar's strength lies precisely in its people who have found a way to live even amid  tragedy and fear.

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• taungngu
• new bishop
• italy
• monza
• seminary
• civil war
• seminarians