Pope meets Rohingya

BANGLADESH: Pope Francis met a group of Muslim Rohingya refugees and referred to them by name for the first time on his Asian visit.

“The presence of God is today also called Rohingya,” the pontiff said on Friday at an interfaith prayer service also attended by a small group of Rohingya in Dhaka.

Francis had been advised not to use the word during the first leg of his trip to Myanmar, where the minority Muslim group are referred to as Bengalis, implying they are interlopers from Bangladesh.

The Pope’s Asian visit wrapped up yesterday.