Pope Francis begins today a four-day trip to Myanmar (November 27-30) to be followed by a three-day visit to neighboring Bangladesh (November 30-December 2).
These will not be the usual visits to countries like Colombia last September and the Philippines in 2015, where he was welcomed by cheering crowds lining the streets and joining giant prayer rallies. Myanmar is a Buddhist nation while Bangladesh is Muslim, two countries which happen to be joined in the news lately by reports of Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
For years now, about 600,000 Rohingyas have fled their villages in the northern Rakhine state in the face of mass murder, rape, and terror allegedly by the Myanmar military. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has described government actions by security forces joined by armed Rakhine Buddhists as “a textbook case of ethnic cleansing” aimed at driving the Rohingyas out of Myanmar. The Myanmar government and people see the Rohingyas as foreigners – Bengals – and claim Muslim fighters want to seize resource-rich lands owned by the local Buddhist people.
Into this violence, Pope Francis travels today, although, according to Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Holy Father will go only to the capital Nay Pyi Taw and to Yangon (Rangoon). “The places the Holy Father will visit are peaceful. There is no reason to fear for his security,” the cardinal, who is archbishop of Yangon, assured.
But Pope Francis is going to Myanmar not merely to visit the country’s tiny Catholic population of about 700,000 out of the total national population of 51.4 million. He has long appealed for the cause of the world’s refugees and he has been particularly outspoken about the plight of the Muslim Rohingyas. He is bound to speak out in their behalf during this visit.
He may indeed be safe as he faces the Myanmar officials and the military, who will deny any ethnic cleansing is happening. But there is fear that when he speaks out against the persecution of the Rohingya – as he is bound to do – it may lead to increased persecution of local Christians.
The world will be following Pope Francis as he travels to Myanmar today on his unique pilgrimage. He will reach out to Myanmar’s Christians but he will also be a prophetic voice to the leaders of that country on the side of the Rohingyas who, thus far, have had no one to speak up for them in their ordeal.