austraLasia #2781 Yangon's Prelate on
Holy Father's message for the 44th World Day of Peace YANGON, Myanmar: 7 January 2011 -- Archbishop Charles Bo of
Yangon has preached on the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI's
message on “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace,” to about 4,000
people at three different liturgical celebrations over these days:
New Years Day, Epiphany, and Independence Day (Myanmar). The
majority of those present were Catholics, but also included other
Christian believers and some Buddhist friends.
Speaking in the local tongue, the archbishop
repeated the Holy Father's message more or less word for word,
adding in personal reflection on the context in Myanmar.
“Each person must be able freely to exercise
the right to profess and manifest, individually or in community,
his or her own religion or faith, in public and in private, in
teaching, in practice, in publications, in worship and in ritual
observances. There should be no obstacles should he or she
eventually wish to belong to another religion or profess none at
all”, were amongst the Pope's precise words quoted in the
homily. The archbishop then added that
in the 17th century it happened that some Christian colonisers had
forced the Burmese people to embrace Christianity under threat of
persecution and death. He also said that it was undeniable, in the
past, that some Christian missionaries had persuaded people to
become Christian by providing them with animals, house, water.
This kind of evangelisation by force and threat, though, was also
evident for Muslims and Buddhists. In Myanmar, there were cases
where a Christian, to be promoted to higher positions, had to
convert to Buddhism and renounce the use of his Christian name. In
some tribal areas, Christian symbols, such as churches, crosses,
and place of worship, were dismantled through the influence of
Buddhist monks.
Again quoting the Holy Father, “The
contribution of religious communities to society is undeniable.
Numerous charitable and cultural institutions testify to the
constructive role played by believers in the life of society”
the archbishop commented that before nationalisation on 1 April
1965, Myanmar had many hospitals and schools run by the Catholic
Church. At that time the education system of the country was
famous in Asia. But after nationalisation the country became very
poor and continues to be further impoverished. This is an
undeniable fact.
The archbishop emphasised the need for dialogue
between civil and religious institutions. “A healthy dialogue
between civil and religious institutions is fundamental for the
integral development of the human person and social harmony” he
said and indirectly asked political leaders in the country to
enter into dialogue with religious leaders. He said that it is not
enough to direct from the top; there is also a need for dialogue
and to listen to others.
Myanmar is a country with some 55 million
people. Catholic Christians make up just a little over 1 percent
of that total.
_________________ AustraLasia
is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia
Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For
queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com
. Use Bosconet-wiki
to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on
austraLasia 2010 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon
in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be
interactive with the EAO
blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital
Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
