(May 30, 2008) Pope Benedict hopes that with Myanmar government recently agreeing
to allow aid into the country following the recent cyclone, the international community
will be able to bring the required help to the affected people, especially where it
is needed most. Speaking on Friday to 14 Catholic bishops of Myanmar, on their 'ad
limina' visit to Rome, Pope Benedict assured them the universal Church’s spiritual
closeness with those mourning the loss of their loved ones. 'Ad limina' visits are
made by bishops every 5 years or so to report on the state of their dioceses. The
May 2-3 cyclone, nicknamed Nargis, devastated the delta of Irrawaddy river, leaving
some 134,000 dead or missing and some 2.4 million homeless and hungry. Archbishop
Paul Grawng of Mandalay, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myamnar,
CBCM, thanked the Holy Father for his fervent prayers and concern for all the peoples
of Myanmar in their difficult moments, such as the protests of last September and
the cyclone disaster, saying, they "are a source of divine strength and comfort'.
"Your appeal to a sense of justice and charity provided hope for peace and reconciliation,”
the archbishop said. The bishops of Myanmar told the Pope that evangelization work
in the predominantly Buddhist country was gaining momentum, with a membership of 650,000
Catholics, 658 priests, 1330 religious men and women and 2084 catechists. The Holy
Father expressed satisfaction over the good number of vocations to religious and life
and priesthood and urged the bishops to ensure that candidates are adequately prepared
for the service of prayer and apostolic life with sound academic, spiritual and human
formation. He urged that the lay faithful in their enthusiasm of organizing many
new catechetical and spiritual initiatives, are encouraged to turn continually to
the nourishment of the Eucharist through participation in the liturgy and silent contemplation.
Two Myanmarese bishops, namely Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon and Bishop Louis Cacu
of Kengtung, were unable to make the ad limina visit to Rome as they are busy overseeing
relief work in Myanmar.