Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon in Myanmar (Burma) has issued a new appeal for peace in his deeply troubled nation, where the military has seized power and has been conducting a campaign of frequently violent repression that has reportedly left more than a hundred people dead.
On Sunday, March 14th, government forces fired on crowds of people protesting the military coup and demanding the release of civilian leaders including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi — a Nobel peace laureate, national icon and head of the National League for Democracy, which won sweeping victories in November elections the military declared fraudulent after performing poorly.
As many as fifty people perished in the violence on Sunday, believed to have been the worst single day of bloodshed since the unrest began.
The weekend also saw Chinese-owned property and businesses damaged and destroyed in several Yangon districts. Reports say Chinese-owned factories were the target of opprobrium because of China’s support for the military coup leaders. The Civil Disobedience Movement, which has been coordinating protests, denied responsibility for the attacks, stating the “terrorist junta is totally responsible for burning down of Chinese factories.”
Terrorist junta is totally responsible for burning down of Chinese factories. Any crime that happens after Feb 1 2021 is because of power-hungry murderous Min Aung Hlaing and his terrorist junta. @CGTNofficial@ChinaAmbUN@XHNews@SpokespersonCHN@MFA_China
— Civil Disobedience Movement (@cvdom2021) March 14, 2021
The letter from Cardinal Bo appeared Sunday, urging all parties in the increasingly deadly crisis to seek peace. “Over the last weeks, we have undergone great challenges as a nation,” Cardinal Bo wrote. “The killings must stop at once. So many have perished.”
“This crisis will not be resolved by bloodshed,” he also wrote. “Seek peace!”
Burma’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 126 people have died since the military seized control of the country in February1st.
Cardinal Bo wrote: “The blood spilled is not the blood of an enemy,” but “the blood of our own sisters and brothers, our own citizens.”
Calling Myanmar “a nation of dreams” in which the nation’s young people “have been living in hope,” Cardinal Bo wrote: “Let us not become a nation of senseless disappointment.”
“Stop all killing,” Cardinal Bo urged again. “Cease from violence. Abandon the path of atrocities. Let all the innocent be released. They are our own people.”
Cardinal Bo’s letter also stressed Pope Francis’s solidarity with the people of Myanmar. Pope Francis visited the country in 2017. “I pray that those who have responsibility in the country will place themselves with sincere willingness at the service of the common good, promoting social justice and national stability, for a harmonious coexistence,” Pope Francis said on February 8th.
“Fortified by the mandate and encouragement of the Vatican,” Cardinal Bo wrote, “we, the Catholic Church, commit ourselves, together with all people of good will, to the task of seeing this nation rise up again in mutual understanding and peace.”
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