Positive Change from Govt: Yangon Archbishop

October 18, 2011: The Burmese government has launched new "positive signals" such as the recent release of political prisoners and, before that, of Aung San Suu Kyi, now committed "actively in dialogue" with various ministers and the president Thein Sein, says Mgr. Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, the economic and trade capital of Myanmar. He says that “changes are in progress" the results of which will be visible in the near future, but right now the "effects" are real. "We are a people full of hope."- said the current President of the Office for Human Development (OHD), of the Federation of Asian Bishops (FABC).
"For over half a century - said Msgr. Bo, in India for the meeting of the Asian bishops - the country has been led by a military regime that has confiscated our mission schools, expelled foreign priests and today we have only local priests". The Archbishop of Yangon Myanmar emphasizes that the Church is not the victim of "direct persecution", but there are "restrictions" and "discrimination" as a religious minority that counts "only 1.3% of the population." However, he adds, "there are positive signs within the Church in Burma", including the thousands of baptisms last year throughout Myanmar.

Archbishop Bo recalled the words of Pope John Paul II: Asia is the protagonist of the third millennium, in Asia, the Catholic Church should revive the missionary journey of evangelization. "Asia is the birthplace - said the archbishop – of the world's major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. The Holy Spirit leads the Church in its Mission and the Church's social doctrine is the guideline. "