Myanmar Church to promote dialogue and harmony: Ab Charles Bo
Yangon, Myanmar, 25 June 2013: "In Myanmar there is tension and fear. Buddhist extremist
groups feed hatred and communal violence against Muslims, but they are few. Some Buddhist
monks have offered shelter to the victims and issued a statement of peace and reconciliation.
The Church is committed to promoting dialogue and building harmony " this is what
the Archbishop of Yangon, Charles Bo said in a note sent to Fides news agency, describing
the commitment of the Catholic community to defuse tensions and sectarian violence
that are worrying civil society and religious leaders in the country. An escalation
of inter-religious violence, in fact "could wreak havoc for the entire country" and
also trigger "terrorist attacks" by Muslim extremist groups, even putting at risk
the difficult path of reforms undertaken in Myanmar. For this reason the healthy forces
of civil society and religious communities are working hard to find solutions to the
phenomenon: "The Catholic Church has issued statements for peace and reconciliation,"
says Archbishop Bo. "In the past five centuries we have cooperated with Buddhists
and Muslims, without any conflict. We are doing everything possible to build bridges",
he says, recounting that he had also contacted the embassies of foreign countries
to seek support from the international community. "On June 27 - announces the Archbishop
- a high level meeting will be held between religious leaders to discuss methods and
appropriate ways to promote peace."
Tensions between Buddhists and Muslims
started in Rakhine State, where there is a traditional presence of Muslims. According
to the Archbishop, "many Muslim immigrants have arrived recently and the issue was
initially a problem linked to the massive influx of immigrants", then degenerated
into a conflict between different religious communities. In Myanmar 75% of the population
are Buddhists, around 4% Muslims, 8% Christians, the rest are followers of animist
cults. Source: Fides