ASIA/MYANMAR - The Vicar of Mandalay: "We thank Pope Leo for his words and his attention to the suffering of the civilian population"

Mandalay (Agenzia Fides) - "Throughout Myanmar, there are areas where fighting is taking place, where people are displaced, where civilians are suffering great hardship while fleeing the conflict. In our Diocese of Mandalay, in particular, the Sagaing area is the most affected by clashes, bombings, and immense suffering of the civilian population," Fr. Peter Sein Hlaing Oo, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Mandalay in north-central Myanmar, told Fides. The Vicar General and the entire local Church appreciate the words of Pope Leo XIV, who, during the Sunday Angelus prayer yesterday, June 15, recalled the ongoing fighting in Myanmar. "We thank him for his words and his attention to the suffering of the civilian population," he said. The Catholic priest tells Fides about the situation in Sagaing: "Many villages have been abandoned or reduced to rubble due to the constant bombing. The helpless people do not know where to find refuge. There are Catholic churches and parishes in this area, and all of them are in serious difficulty. We have Catholic believers in both the regime-controlled areas and those controlled by the resistance. And there are believers who are caught in the crossfire. The people are helpless and defenseless. But our priests are courageously working for the people, especially the elderly, women, and children, who often lack even the bare necessities to support themselves. Together with religious and catechists, they are providing social services in areas that are very dangerous because they have been affected by the firefights." "We continue to pray every day, hold Masses and prayer vigils for our people, for peace, for the future of the nation," the Vicar General concluded. "We continue to trust in God in this terrible situation. And let us not forget that in Mandalay, in addition to the war, we are also experiencing the devastating effects of the earthquake." Also speaking to Fides, Joseph Kung, a Catholic from Yangon, who is active in the local Church and teaches at a private university, added: "As the Pope has noted, civilian infrastructure continues to be attacked and destroyed by the army throughout the country. The most painful thing is when schools are attacked, when pupils and students are attacked, young people who only wanted to continue their education." "There is still so much pain and outrage over the massacre a month ago, when an airstrike on the village of Oe Htein Kwin in the Sagaing region killed 20 pupils and two teachers," he emphasized.
"Among the areas most affected by the conflict are Sagaing, Rakhine State, and areas in Chin and Kachin States. We are constantly receiving reports from the dioceses of Bamaw and Myitkyina, both in Kachin, where many villages have been destroyed and civilians continue to be displaced," he continues. Kung concludes: "We are grateful to Pope Leo for his appeals. When the Pope mentions Myanmar, it gives us hope because we know we are not alone and abandoned. The population is exhausted and scarred by four years of civil war. We wait and pray every day, placing our suffering in the hands of God and the Virgin Mary." (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 16/6/2025)

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armed conflicts

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civil war

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displaced persons

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