www.rfa.org
Open in
urlscan Pro
2a02:26f0:6c00:2a7::1177
Public Scan
URL:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/archbishop-12022022190251.html
Submission: On December 08 via manual from MY — Scanned from DE
Submission: On December 08 via manual from MY — Scanned from DE
Form analysis 3 forms found in the DOM
Name: searchform — https://www.rfa.org/english/@@search
<form name="searchform" id="searchGadget_form" action="https://www.rfa.org/english/@@search" role="search" class="searchPage">
<label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchGadget">Search</label>
<input name="SearchableText" type="text" size="18" id="searchGadget" title="Search" placeholder="Search" class="searchField" value="">
<input class="searchButton" type="submit" value="">
</form>Name: searchform — https://www.rfa.org/english/@@search
<form name="searchform" id="searchGadget_form" action="https://www.rfa.org/english/@@search" role="search" class="searchPage">
<label class="hiddenStructure" for="searchGadget">Search</label>
<input name="SearchableText" type="text" size="18" id="searchGadget" title="Search" placeholder="Search" class="searchField" value="">
<input class="searchButton" type="submit" value="">
</form>POST https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/archbishop-12022022190251.html/P4StoryView
<form data-pat-autotoc="levels: legend; section: fieldset; className: autotabs" class="rowlike pat-formunloadalert kssattr-formname-P4StoryView view-name-P4StoryView"
action="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/archbishop-12022022190251.html/P4StoryView" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<!-- Default fieldset -->
<div data-pat-inlinevalidation="{"type":"z3c.form"}" class="field pat-inlinevalidation kssattr-fieldname-form.widgets.in_reply_to empty None" data-fieldname="form.widgets.in_reply_to" id="formfield-form-widgets-in_reply_to">
<div class="fieldErrorBox"></div>
<input id="form-widgets-in_reply_to" name="form.widgets.in_reply_to" value="" class="hidden-widget" type="hidden">
</div>
<div data-pat-inlinevalidation="{"type":"z3c.form"}" class="field pat-inlinevalidation kssattr-fieldname-form.widgets.author_name empty None" data-fieldname="form.widgets.author_name" id="formfield-form-widgets-author_name">
<label for="form-widgets-author_name" class="horizontal"> Name </label>
<div class="fieldErrorBox"></div>
<input id="form-widgets-author_name" name="form.widgets.author_name" class="text-widget textline-field" value="" type="text">
</div>
<div data-pat-inlinevalidation="{"type":"z3c.form"}" class="field pat-inlinevalidation kssattr-fieldname-form.widgets.author_email empty None" data-fieldname="form.widgets.author_email" id="formfield-form-widgets-author_email">
<div class="fieldErrorBox"></div>
<input id="form-widgets-author_email" name="form.widgets.author_email" value="" class="hidden-widget" type="hidden">
</div>
<div data-pat-inlinevalidation="{"type":"z3c.form"}" class="field pat-inlinevalidation kssattr-fieldname-form.widgets.text empty None" data-fieldname="form.widgets.text" id="formfield-form-widgets-comment-text">
<label for="form-widgets-comment-text" class="horizontal"> Comment <span class="required horizontal" title="Required"> </span>
</label>
<div class="fieldErrorBox"></div>
<textarea id="form-widgets-comment-text" name="form.widgets.text" class="textarea-widget required text-field autoresize"></textarea>
</div>
<div data-pat-inlinevalidation="{"type":"z3c.form"}" class="field pat-inlinevalidation kssattr-fieldname-form.widgets.user_notification None" data-fieldname="form.widgets.user_notification"
id="formfield-form-widgets-user_notification">
<div class="fieldErrorBox"></div>
<span class="option">
<input id="form-widgets-user_notification-0" name="form.widgets.user_notification:list" value="selected" class="single-checkbox-widget bool-field" type="hidden">
</span>
</div>
<div data-pat-inlinevalidation="{"type":"z3c.form"}" class="field pat-inlinevalidation kssattr-fieldname-form.widgets.captcha empty None" data-fieldname="form.widgets.captcha" id="formfield-form-widgets-captcha">
<label for="form-widgets-captcha" class="horizontal"> Captcha </label>
<div class="fieldErrorBox"></div>
<script src="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?hl=en&fallback=False&" async="async" defer=""></script>
<div class="g-recaptcha" data-sitekey="6Lf_TyMTAAAAAEMn_3fTLEzKgt74y1XGDX4bsH3a" data-theme="light" data-type="image" data-size="normal">
<div style="width: 304px; height: 78px;">
<div><iframe title="reCAPTCHA"
src="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/anchor?ar=1&k=6Lf_TyMTAAAAAEMn_3fTLEzKgt74y1XGDX4bsH3a&co=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmZhLm9yZzo0NDM.&hl=en&type=image&v=Km9gKuG06He-isPsP6saG8cn&theme=light&size=normal&cb=8f1875kdo0sv"
width="304" height="78" role="presentation" name="a-5wrnjhy4mlil" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-modals allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div><textarea id="g-recaptcha-response" name="g-recaptcha-response" class="g-recaptcha-response"
style="width: 250px; height: 40px; border: 1px solid rgb(193, 193, 193); margin: 10px 25px; padding: 0px; resize: none; display: none;"></textarea>
</div><iframe style="display: none;"></iframe>
</div>
<noscript>
<div style="width: 302px; height: 480px;">
<div style="width: 302px; height: 422px; position: relative;">
<div style="width: 302px; height: 422px; position: relative;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/fallback?k=6Lf_TyMTAAAAAEMn_3fTLEzKgt74y1XGDX4bsH3a&hl=en" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width: 302px; height:422px; border-style: none;">
</iframe>
</div>
<div style="border-style: none; bottom: 12px; left: 25px;
margin: 0px; padding: 0px; right: 25px;
background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #c1c1c1;
border-radius: 3px; height: 60px; width: 300px;">
<textarea id="g-recaptcha-response" name="g-recaptcha-response" class="g-recaptcha-response" style="width: 250px; height: 40px; border: 1px solid #c1c1c1;
margin: 10px 25px; padding: 0px; resize: none;" value=""></textarea>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</noscript>
</div>
<!-- Secondary fieldsets -->
<div class="formControls">
<input id="form-buttons-comment" name="form.buttons.comment" class="submit-widget button-field context" value="Comment" type="submit">
<input id="form-buttons-cancel" name="form.buttons.cancel" class="submit-widget button-field standalone hide" value="Cancel" type="submit">
</div>
</form>Text Content
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Search
Advanced Search…
Sections
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Home
News
* Cambodia
* China
* Laos
* North Korea
* Tibet
* Myanmar
* Uyghur
* Vietnam
* Pacific
* South China Sea
Cartoons
Special reports
Video
Commentaries
About
* Press Room
* Contact
* Jobs and internships
Search
Advanced Search…
MYANMAR’S ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR DIALOGUE AFTER MILITARY RAID ON HIS HOME VILLAGE
Nine people were killed, including a 7-year-old, in the attack on the majority
Christian tract.
By RFA Burmese
2022.12.02
Charles Maung Bo, Cardinal, archbishop of Yangon, attends the ceremony of
interfaith prayer service in Yangon, Myanmar, Oct. 10, 2017.
Reuters
Myanmar’s Catholic Archbishop has called for a peaceful solution to the
country’s political crisis following a brutal attack by the military on his home
village in embattled Sagaing region, despite public criticism over his dealings
with the junta.
Speaking to RFA Burmese on Thursday, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of
the Catholic Episcopal Church of Myanmar, said he was deeply saddened by the
bloody Nov. 23 raid on his home village of Mon Hla in Sagaing’s Khin-U township.
A 7-year-old child, a 40-year-old woman, and a 30-year-old man – all civilians –
were killed in the fighting as more than 200 military troops launched a joint
land and air attack on the village.
Six members of the anti-junta People’s Defense Force were also killed in the
fighting, and military troops set fires that destroyed more than 200 of the
village’s 700 buildings in the raid, including a church and school built with
donations from the religious leader.
A member of the Khin-U Township PDF told RFA at the time that fighters with his
group returned fire to defend Mon Hla, stopping the military’s advance, but
attack helicopters were sent to the area to assist the troops, allowing them to
enter the village.
The raid followed one in May, when troops attacked Chaung Yoe in Taze township
and Chan Thar in Ye-U township – two other Christian-majority villages in the
area. In total, nearly 500 buildings were destroyed and some 6,000 people were
forced to flee their homes for safety.
Cardinal Bo told RFA that the attack on Mon Hla had left him “grief-stricken,”
and he called for an end to the violence that has left at least 2,553 civilians
dead since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup, according to
Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).
“We can never find any solution through war,” he said.
“It is of great importance to tame our mind and stay humble and not to choose
the path of war and killings to find a solution,” he said. “War brings us only
death and destruction. It pollutes the wholesome state of mind in human nature.”
The majority of the 3,000 residents of Mon Hla village, the birthplace of
Cardinal Bo, are Christians of Portuguese descent, known as the Bayingyi.
Bayingyi have been living in Mon Hla, Chaung Yoe, and Chan Thar – three villages
along the Chindwin and Mu rivers, since the beginning of the 17th century,
during the reign of Myanmar’s King Thalon.
The junta has yet to release any information about last month’s attack on Mon
Hla.
Motives questioned
Thursday marked the third time Cardinal Bo has called for an end to violence,
following an open letter he sent to the junta in March 2021 amid the military’s
brutal crackdown on anti-coup protests and a plea for junta troops to stop
targeting religious sites in May this year, after four people were killed by
artillery fire while sheltering inside a Catholic church in the Kayah state
capital Loikaw.
While some have welcomed Cardinal Bo’s call for an end to violence in Myanmar,
others have questioned his motives after he appeared in public with junta chief
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during Christmas last year, provoking a strong
outcry.
The archbishop also came under fire last year after pictures of him cutting a
cake with the regime leader were circulated on social media.
In an interview with America Magazine’s Jesuit Review marking the one-year
anniversary of the coup, Cardinal Bo said that while the leak of the photos to
the media was “unfortunate,” he did not regret his actions, which he said he
took in the pursuit of peace.
“That was out of our control, once I had agreed to the meeting. But I was very
candid in my intention,” he said at the time.
“I do not regret it in any way. We need to engage the major stakeholders in this
country,” he said. “From day one of the political shift, I sought to meet both
the democracy leaders and the army. The invitation was always there.”
Cardinal Bo said of the meeting with Min Aung Hlaing that it entailed a “long
private conversation on that occasion in which he promised many things,” without
providing further details.
In the interview he acknowledged that “the photos conveyed quite a different
message” than what he had agreed to the meeting for, and that “it was not to the
liking of some,” but he said he remains hopeful for “good results in the long
run, at a time when resolution can be found through dialogue.”
Cardinal Bo was among six Christian leaders who invited public criticism after
Min Aung Hlaing bestowed honorary titles on them during a ceremony to mark
Myanmar’s 102nd National Day on Nov. 17 this year.
It was unclear whether the archbishop’s view of the junta had changed following
this week’s attack on Mon Hla village.
According to a report released in October by the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 612,400 residents of Sagaing
region have fled their homes due to armed conflict since the military coup.
Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
MOST READ>>
RFA
* North Korea publicly executes 2 teenagers for distributing South Korean
movies
* North Korean bandits steal 200 kilos of gold bars worth US $12 million
* North Korea forcing citizens to change their names to sound more ideological
* Pair plead guilty to bribery in attempt to create semi-autonomous Pacific
region
* INTERVIEW: ‘If they had let my family out, they would still be alive’
MOST READ>>
MYANMAR
* 13 Rohingya found dead in Myanmar’s Yangon region
* Myanmar religious leader detained and banned from leaving the country
POST A COMMENT
Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are
approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use.
Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of
the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the
facts.
Name
Comment
Captcha
Navigation
* Myanmar
* Myanmar’s Archbishop calls for dialogue after military raid on his home
village
TOPICS
Cambodia
China
Laos
Myanmar
North Korea
Tibet
Uyghur
Vietnam
LANGUAGES
MORE
Cartoons
Commentaries
Special reports
E-books
Archives
LISTEN
Schedule
Frequencies
Podcasts
WATCH
Video
Photo galleries
SUBSCRIBE
RSS News Feeds
Email Alerts
FIND US
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Bypass Censorship
Site Map
Send Us Your News
Mobile
ABOUT RFA
Our Mission
Help
Terms of Use
Privacy
Jobs
Contact
CONTACT US
ADDRESS
Radio Free Asia
2025 M Street NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC
20036 USA
PHONE
1 (202) 530-4900
EMAIL
contact@rfa.org
© 2022 Radio Free Asia