Pope arrives in a Myanmar tarnished by Rohingya crackdown
YANGON, Myanmar — Pope Francis landed in Myanmar, and in a diplomatic minefield, Monday.
In his first visit to the country — and his first to any majority-Buddhist nation — the pope met with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, commander in chief of Myanmar’s military, which has driven more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims out of the country in what the United States has called a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The pope is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and de facto leader of the government, who has been widely criticized as complicit for her silence in the face of the slaughter of the Rohingya.
In Myanmar, the pope will seek to strike a careful balance by maintaining his moral authority without endangering his tiny local flock.
The United Nations, the United States and others have denounced the murder, rape and pillaging of the Rohingya in western Myanmar as ethnic cleansing, but the pope has been advised by the Roman Catholic Church here not to utter the word Rohingya, for fear of aggravating the situation or of being exploited for domestic politics.
Despite the criticisms of Suu Kyi, the pope’s allies have urged him to lend her his support — and, they hope, political strength — as the country’s best chance to prevent a backslide into absolute rule by the military.
The constitution, written by the military, puts the armed forces out of her control. And the military has enough support in Parliament to prevent any changes that could loosen the grip on power held by Min Aung Hlaing, who has ambitions to run the country.
So for Francis, his first meeting here with the general, which was added at the last minute, might well be the more important one.
“It’s smart to meet the commander in chief first, because he is very important and the principle person to solve this challenge facing our country,” said Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst in Yangon, Myanmar’s main city.
According to the Vatican, the meeting with the general and top commanders from the Bureau of Special Operations lasted about 15 minutes and was a “courtesy visit” at the residence of the local archbishop, where Francis is staying.
Greg Burke, the Vatican spokesman who is traveling with the pope, said they had discussed “the great responsibility of the country’s authorities in this moment of transition.”
The pope then gave the general a medallion commemorating his visit. The general gave the pope an ornate rice bowl and a harp in the shape of a goat.