Pope addresses Myanmar bishops

(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.