Pope Francis fails to mention Rohingya in speech in Myanmar
Pope Francis failed to mention Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority as he shared a stage with the country’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in which he said the country was suffering from civil conflict and hostilities “that have lasted all too long and created deep divisions”.
His visit to Myanmar comes after an exodus of more than 620,000 Rohingya from Rakhine state to the southern tip of Bangladesh following a military crackdown that the US last week described as ethnic cleansing.
The trip is, however, so delicate that some papal advisers warned him against even saying the word “Rohingya”, lest he set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the country’s military and government against minority Christians.
“The arduous process of peacebuilding and national reconciliation can only advance through a commitment to justice and respect for human rights,” Francis said, speaking after Aung San Suu Kyi had made an address.
“Religious differences need not be a source of division and distrust, but rather a force for unity, forgiveness, tolerance and wise nationbuilding,” the pope added.
Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens or as members of a distinct ethnic group with their own identity, and it rejects the term “Rohingya” and its use.
The meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi was the most anticipated of the pope’s visit, given the international outcry over the crackdown on Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority.
The operation, launched in August after Rohingya militants attacked security posts, has sent more than 620,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they have reported entire villages were burned and looted, and women and girls were raped.
On Monday evening Oxford city council stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of the freedom of the city award it gave her 20 years ago, saying those who turn a blind eye to violence tarnish its own reputation.
Myanmar’s Catholic leaders have stressed that Aung San Suu Kyi has no voice to speak out against the military over the operation, and have urged continued support for her efforts to move Myanmar towards a more democratic future that includes all its religious minorities, Christians in particular.
Earlier in Yangon, Francis spoke to interfaith leaders at the archbishop’s residence and separately met a prominent but controversial Buddhist leader.
The pope stressed a message of “unity in diversity” in his 40-minute meeting with Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders. He told them they should work together to rebuild the country and that if they argue, they should argue like brothers, who reconcile afterwards, his spokesman Greg Burke said.
His meeting with the Buddhist monk Sitagu Sayadaw was “always in an effort to encourage peace and fraternal coexistence as the only way ahead”, according to Burke.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report