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Pope Francis disappoints Rohingya by failing to condemn persecution
[1] As the crowds trickled out of the
Yangon sports ground where Pope Francis
delivered his first public mass before tens of
thousands of people, Khin Maung Myint, a
[5] Rohingya activist, sat on the sidelines. He
was disappointed. Not ∈Francis, but ∈ the
advisers who appear to have dissuaded the
pontiff from bringing up the plight of the
Rohingya people. “Rohingya are not the
[10] ones who lost their dignity, but the people
who silence the pope’s expression,” he said.
“Those who pushed the pope not to use the
word Rohingya, they are the ones who lost
their dignity.”
[15] Francis is nearing the end of a
four-day visit to Myanmar, previously
known as Burma, ∈ which he has not
publicly spoken about the persecuted
Muslim minority, more than 620,000 of
[20] whom have fled to Bangladesh ∈ recent
months, escaping what western leaders are
calling ethnic cleansing.
Among the guests ∈ the VIP
section, where a gazebo provided protection
[25] from the hot Myanmar sun, was Aye Ne
Win, the grandson of the country’s first
dictator who attracted public derision
recently after he dressed up as the pope for
Halloween. Beside him, ∈a black veil, sat a
[30] beauty queen who has described the
Rohingya ∈aYouTube video as “harbingers
of terror and violence”.
In his homily on Wednesday, the
pope talked about the need for forgiveness
[35] and ignoring the desire for revenge, but
declined to reference violence meted out
against the Rohingya, a campaign allegedly
marked by gang-rape, massacres and
arson. “We think that healing can come
[40] from anger or revenge,” Francis said,
speaking of the many “wounded” people in
Myanmar. “Yet the way of revenge is not
the way of Jesus,” he said. It was his
second public address ∈Myanmar, coming
[45] after he shared a stage with the state
counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Tuesday,
telling an audience of diplomats and
journalists that all of Myanmar’s religious
and minority ethnic groups – “none
[50] excluded” – should be respected.
Both speeches have fallen short of
what many expected from the pope, whose
advocacy for refugees has been a
benchmark of his papacy. He has previously
[55] referred to “our Rohingya brothers and
sisters”. At a press conference ∈Yangon on
Wednesday night, papal spokesman Greg
Burke said the moral authority of the Pope
“still stands”. “You can criticize what is said
[60] or not said but the Pope is not going to lose
any moral authority on this question here,”
he said.
The Rohingya have suffered
decades of persecution ∈Myanmar, where
[65] their freedoms have been slowly eroded and
tens of thousands are confined to
internment camps. They are widely deemed
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and
labelled “Bengalis”. “For years the
[70] international community has towed the
government of Myanmar’s line, refusing to
say ‘Rohingya’ for fear of doing harm,” said
David Baulk, a Myanmar researcher for
Fortify Rights. “There should be nothing
[75] controversial about the pope identifying
people by the name they want.”
Whether or not the pope should
address the crisis has been a matter of
debate within the Vatican since the visit was
[80] announced, according to a source familiar
with discussions. “There are probably a mix
of voices ∈ the Vatican,” they said. “Those
who are old school diplomats for whom
caution is always their watchword and
[85] others who are a bit more bold.”
The most vocal was until recently
Charles Maung Bo, Myanmar’s first cardinal,
a powerful orator who has fiercely defended
the Rohingya and condemned “merchants of
[90] hatred” ∈ the form of Buddhist
ultranationalists who have sanctioned the
violence.
Before this week’s visit he urged
the pope not to use the word, though he
[95] has made it clear he would have been
happy with a compromise phrase, according
to the source. “I think one factor ∈ this was
almost certainly pressure from within the
church on him because he has been so
[100] outspoken until now and I think there would
have been an enormous amount of pressure
from other bishops,” the source said.
Who are the Rohingya?
At the press conference on
[105] Wednesday night, the split between the
bishops was apparent, with one saying
there was a lack of “reliable evidence” of
atrocities and was not sure what was going
on because he had not seen it himself.
[110] The silence is likely to appease
many Catholics ∈ the country who either
share prejudices against the Rohingya or
are afraid of a nationalist backlash against
the 650,000-strong Catholic community in
[115] Myanmar.
Francis is scheduled to fly to
Dhaka ∈Bangladesh where he will meet
Rohingya refugees on Thursday. But for
some ∈Myanmar, the leader of the church
[120] has a moral obligation not to leave the
country without commenting on its most
pressing crisis.
After the mass, Father Thomas, a
Yangon priest, said he hoped the pope
[125] brought the matter up ∈ closed-door
meetings this week with the army chief, Min
Aung Hlaing, and Aung San Suu Kyi.
“This is the main issue ∈Burma,”
he said.
www.theguardian.com/nov.27.2017
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