Pope’s trip brings hope to tiny Catholic groups

Many in South Asia hope visit will highlight discrimination

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Pope Francis on Monday begins a six-day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. While attention will focus on how Francis addresses the Rohingya Muslim crisis, the trip also holds huge significance for the tiny Catholic communities in each country.

Those Catholics face obstacles that include discrimination, an inability to land leadership roles and threats of violence. Many Christians hope the pope’s visit will highlight the plight of the poor and of minority religious groups, including their own.

There are 660,000 Catholics in Myanmar, just over 1 percent of the population of 53 million. In total, Christians make up just over 6 percent of the population. Catholicism was brought to the country more than 500 years ago, and for generations Catholics have played a vital role in developing far-flung rural areas that authorities have found hard to reach. But when the socialist government took power in 1965, most Catholic-based missionary schools, boarding houses and properties were seized by the military at gunpoint. Catholics were later able to slowly rebuild their missions.

Myanmar Catholic leaders say that as members of one of the smallest religious groups in a country dominated by Buddhism, they face discrimination, even if it isn’t typically overt threats or torture.

“There are always challenges to stand up as Catholic and to have strong faith here,” said Rev. Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for Myanmar’s Bishops’ Conference.

Christianity is viewed by many as a colonial belief after the country was ruled by the British for a century until its independence in 1948. Likewise, the separation of church and state is considered a foreign imposition.

For the past 18 years, Myanmar has been listed by the U.S. as a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for having engaged in, or tolerated, severe violations of religious freedom.

But unlike Rohingya Muslims, Christians haven’t faced widespread violence and persecution. Christian leaders say they’re afforded “peaceful coexistence” and an understanding the government won’t interfere.

The Catholic Church runs about 300 boarding houses across Myanmar, hosting children from villages who can’t afford to go to school. It’s done without any significant support from the government in a country that remains among the poorest in the world.

But Catholics don’t play a broader leadership role in society. “To be honest, if you are a Christian in this country, you will never get promoted,” Rev. Mariano said. “There are no Catholics in the government administration or in any significant leadership positions.”

The profile of Catholics was boosted when Archbishop Charles Maung Bo became Myanmar’s first Roman Catholic Cardinal in 2015. And they are getting another boost by having a pope visit the country for the first time. Catholic leaders hope the community will benefit in the long run.

“Because of the pope’s visit, Catholics will be more visible to many people and they will be aware of the existence of the Catholic community in Myanmar,” Mariano said.