Myanmar: A Bishop Talks about the Living Conditions of Christians

A Bishop Describes the Conditions Endured by Christians in His Diocese 

The military junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, came to power in a coup d'état in February 2021, ousting the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, ending a ten-year interlude of “Western-style” democracy and plunging the country into unprecedented violence. In addition to pro-democracy activists, the junta, whose power is wavering, is fighting several ethnic armed groups.

Bishop Celso Ba Shwe of Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, gave the news agency AsiaNews his personal account of his time in Rome, where he “took part in a training course for newly appointed bishops” (see our article “The New Bishops Receive Training”).

“Last November,” AsiaNews reports, “he was forced to flee the Cathedral of Christ the King, whose complex was seized by the military. Today he lives with internal refugees in Kayah State, forced to shelter in tents and makeshift bamboo structures, some of which were recently swept away by the rains brought by Typhoon Yagi, piling more misery on already troubled people.

“’No one lives in Loikaw anymore,’ the bishop told AsiaNews. ‘Most of it was torched and destroyed, especially in Christian areas. In many parts of the city, it is also impossible to return because of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance.’”

A danger that members of the People's Defence Force (PDF)—the name given to the units fighting the junta and often made up of young Christians in the state of Kayah—nevertheless dare to brave.

“Now young people know that there is a place where they can express their freedoms, convinced that they are fighting for justice. And not only young people. None of us wants to go back to the times of the military dictatorship,” the Bishop of Loikaw says, as reported by AsiaNews. He states that “even young people know that war is not the way to achieve a democratic state. [...] What the Church wants and asks for is that the PDF present themselves as a united group. One day perhaps. For now it is still very difficult.”

When asked about leaving the region for a safer place, the prelate replies: “I am a bishop without a cathedral, but I am happy. [...] how can I leave my people? I have to go where my flock is. People don't have a church, but they have their own places to pray. With all its difficulties, it is an experience that reminds me of the life of the first Christians.”

In this state of emergency experienced by Myanmar's Christians, the nuns and priests act as first responders: “We are not able to set ourselves up as an NGO, but we are always close to the people, with a mobile clinic for medical examinations and a support group for those most seriously traumatised.

“The nuns, above all, are close to those who suffer. So we reach people in remote areas that international agencies cannot reach,” says Bishop Celso Ba Shwe, who has also trained emergency catechists to support the overwhelmed religious.

Will Myanmar's future lie in the creation of autonomous regions? Perhaps, because since the country's independence in 1948, ethnic militias have always been more or less at war with the central government, which is in the hands of the majority Bamar ethnic group, which is predominantly Buddhist.

But in the past, “ethnic militias,” AsiaNews explains, “have created administrations that do not reflect the will of the civilian population.” The future therefore remains uncertain, all the more so as neighboring China has numerous interests in the country and remains a key player in the region.

But the Bishop of Loikaw remains hopeful: “Even if there are a lot of challenges and difficulties, God is helping us” [...] “When they tell me: ‘Bishop, we don’t have rice for the children’, someone else always comes to me to offer help. What we have is not enough, but we work a little bit at a time.”