Catholics prepare for Pope Francis’ visit to Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP) — Clutching her entrance badge to see the Pope, Vietnamese Catholic refugee Ko Sa says attending the pontiff’s mass this week is a great honor — a rare bright spot in her “miserable” life in limbo as an asylum seeker in Bangkok.
Ko Sa is one of just a handful of Vietnamese Catholic refugees registered to attend the mass by Pope Francis, who arrives in Thailand today carrying a message of peace and religious tolerance.
The four-day jaunt is the Pope’s first trip to Thailand, where about 1,400 Vietnamese Christians and ethnic minorities have settled, many fearing religious persecution in communist Vietnam.
Like Ko Sa, they are unable to legally settle in Thailand since the government has not signed on to UN conventions protecting refugees.
Many live in fear of arrest and long detention in immigration centers while they scrape by on underthe-table jobs for a few dollars a day. Some wait years for resettlement in a third country.
The chance to glimpse the Pope at the Thursday mass is a welcome respite.
“It’s difficult to describe the feeling. It is a great honor for us to see him,” said 34-year-old Ko Sa, sitting on a mattress on the floor of a rented house where she lives with eight other people.
Her UN refugee ID does not shield her from police, and she has had to move several times to avoid immigration crackdowns.
Though she’s now fully free to practice her religion, she worries about the future.
She arrived in Thailand seven years ago, hiding in a truck to cross the Cambodian border during a three-day journey.
She fled Vietnam after she was accused of helping hide a relative who got caught up with police.
Francis will hold two masses and meet with the Catholic community and top officials before jetting on Saturday to Japan, where he will visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the sites of the world’s only atomic attacks.
Some 50,000 people from Thailand and all over Southeast Asia are signed up for the Pope’s first mass on Nov. 21 in Bangkok.