Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - "We expect our rulers to be good parents. In our culture, parents are revered as gods. According to our traditions, our leaders have the right and the duty to promote the welfare of all": is the appeal launched by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon to the Burmese leaders of the nation. In a message sent to Fides and published on the occasion of the "Day of parents", the Cardinal said: "For 50 years, in the dark days of dictatorship, the people had no family. When democracy came, we hoped that it would bring the family spirit of all. The nation has expectations of seeing our leaders making this country a real family".
Cardinal Bo notes, however, that there are major difficulties: "Our economy is breaking families. Millions of our young people are away from their parents. They have made us poor, and the integrity of the family is eroded by poverty in the country. The family spirit is weak. Most of the sons and daughters of Myanmar are poor". The recent census - says the Cardinal - highlights that 40% of the Burmese people live below the poverty line, and in Chin and Rakine poverty reaches 70%: poverty generates the phenomenon of migration, and in many villages there are only very old people.
"Families are further divided due to human trafficking in the border towns. Families disintegrate because of lack of education, threats of drugs, or for armed conflict", says the Archbishop.
This is why the Cardinal noted that "our leaders have not been up to our expectations as parents. They have become patrons of a crony capitalism, as the Pope pointed out in South America, in an economy that has the only aim of gaining profit".
The text of the message continues: "The world is asking a question: are our leaders leaders for all or only for a few? For centuries we have lived together as brothers and sisters. The different faiths lived in harmony. For five decades, Myanmar was a model society, although the people were oppressed by evil men". But starting from 2010, "our leaders, who are like our parents, have failed to control hatred spread by religious extremist fringes. War has been going on in various parts of the country. Our brothers and sisters, of all religions and races are affected by this hatred. More than 200,000 of our brothers are now internally displaced persons".
The Cardinal concludes: "Will the rulers of this country know how to avoid any temptation to discriminate against people based on race or religion? Will they accept equality and build a nation united as one family? Regardless of their will our leaders need our prayers. Let us pray for our parents: the rulers". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 20/07/2015)
