ASIA / MYANMAR – Catholic priests arrested and released by the army: violence in Mandalay

ASIA / MYANMAR – Catholic priests arrested and released by the army: violence in Mandalay

Mandalay (Agenzia Fides) – The Burmese soldiers arrested and released six Catholic priests and a Catholic lay person in the village of Chan Thar, in the archdiocese of Mandalay, 700 km north of Yangon. As confirmed to Agenzia Fides by Fr. Dominic Jyo Du, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Mandalay, on the night of June 12 to 13, Burmese soldiers raided the church complex of the Assumption and the adjoining clergy house, and arrested the pastor and other priests who were visiting him, carrying out a thorough search of the structure. The raid was motivated by the fact that, according to some informants, some parliamentarians of the National League for Democracy are hiding in Catholic churches and Buddhist monasteries. In the night blitz, the soldiers knocked down the gate of the complex of the Catholic Church of the Assumption, built 200 years ago by the French missionaries of the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP). Due to the arrival of the army, many villagers, including the elderly, women, the sick, fled to the nearby forests and then the next day, at the end of the operation, they were able to return to their homes. . As Fr. Dominic Jyo Du reports that on June 13 at around 1:30 p.m., they were all released: “It was still a terrible experience, but when a priest was told to take off his sacred garment, the priest s ‘is opposed, saying they could also kill him. , but he wouldn’t. He was brave. The soldiers did not insist and they respected them. Sometimes the military respect the men of God, sometimes they don’t. It depends on the people. ”The local population was able to embrace the Catholic priests again.
The first French Catholic missionary priest, Fr. Joseph Pho, MEP arrived in this village in 1902, while today a clinic opened by Franciscan nuns in 1919 is still in operation in the village. The Catholic presence is greatly appreciated by the entire population. In the current crisis situation, thousands of people from all walks of life are arrested, imprisoned “because of false information, provided by pro-military informants”, reports a Fides source. In Mandalay, clashes continue between the People’s Defense Forces and Burmese police and army officers who continue to carry out nightly raids and searches of homes, civilian buildings such as schools, places of worship such as churches, pagodas, monasteries. In response, resistance forces organize to strike military targets. Mandalay, the former capital of Burma (now Myanmar) before the arrival of the British, is full of Buddhist temples and represents the mystical spirit of the country, marked by Hinayana Buddhism. (PA-JZ) (Agenzia Fides, 6/14/2021)

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