FRANCIS IN BANGLADESH
– Pope Francis is greeted by a huge crowd of Christians as he arrives to lead Mass in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Pope’s visit has been overshadowed by the plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar. See story
DHAKA (AFP) – Pope Francis led an open-air mass Friday for around 100,000 Catholics in Bangladesh, which is grappling with a rise in Islamist extremism and a massive influx of Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar.
The head of the Catholic Church also met refugees in Dhaka, a day after urging the world to take "decisive measures" to resolve a crisis that has forced more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh from neighboring Myanmar.
Francis arrived Thursday from Myanmar, where he walked a diplomatic tightrope, staying away in public from allegations that the country's army is waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya despite pressure to confront the incendiary issue.
Shortly afterwards, he praised overcrowded and poor Bangladesh for giving refuge to the Rohingya refugees who have flooded in since a military crackdown in their native Rakhine state in August, and urged the world to help.
"This has been done at no little sacrifice. It has also been done before the eyes of the whole world," he said, calling on other countries to offer "immediate material assistance to Bangladesh in its effort to respond effectively to urgent human needs".