Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - "Pope Francis' words of closeness, so strong and clear, that message 'Do not lose hope', are a special encouragement for all the suffering people in Myanmar. We feel called to remain faithful to the Gospel also at the risk of life. We sincerely thank the Holy Father because he has the fate of our country at heart": this is what Joseph Kung Za Hmung, Catholic lay leader, director of "Gloria News Journal", a Burmese Catholic newspaper on the web, tells Fides expressing the sentiments of the Burmese people who, thanks to the web and social network channels, followed the Holy Mass celebrated on Sunday May 16 in St. Peter's by Pope Francis, dedicated to the faithful of Myanmar residing in Italy. As Fides has learned, thousands of Catholic faithful joined and followed the event celebrated in St. Peter's live via the web, joining the Youtube and Facebook platforms. "The Burmese faithful are surprised and even moved: we would never have imagined being able to hear the words and sounds of our land proclaimed in the Basilica. We truly feel in the heart of the universal Church. Thanks to the Pope for his profound humanity. We felt the profound communion with the universal Church", Za Hmung points out to Fides. In particular, a woman from Banmaw saw her brother, a Burmese priest studying in Rome, reading the Gospel during the Eucharistic celebration. Expressing her great joy, she said. "This is an authentic blessing from God on our family and on all our people". Speaking on behalf of the Bishops, priests and religious and for all Burmese Catholics, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo expressed deep gratitude, saying "thanks to the Holy Father for his prayers and because he has our beloved people at heart". The Holy Mass was also attended by non-Christian citizens who greatly appreciated the Pope's special prayer and his attention to the nation, still upset by military repression. The Pope asked the faithful, in Myanmar and abroad, to safeguard faith, unity and truth, also risking their lives for the Gospel. "To keep the faith - he stressed - is to keep our gaze lifted up to heaven, as here on earth, battles are fought and innocent blood is shed. To keep the faith is to refuse to yield to the logic of hatred and vengeance, but to keep our gaze fixed on the God of love, who calls us to be brothers and sisters to one another". "Keeping the truth - continued the Pontiff - does not mean defending ideas, becoming guardians of a system of doctrines and dogmas but remaining bound to Christ because He is "the truth". "To keep the truth means to be a prophet in every situation in life, in other words to be consecrated to the Gospel and bear witness to it even when that means going against the current. At times, we Christians want to compromise, but the Gospel asks us to be steadfast in the truth and for the truth, offering our lives for others. Amid war, violence and hatred, fidelity to the Gospel and being peacemakers calls for commitment, also through social and political choices, even at the risk of our lives. Only in this way can things change He said, Jesus "has no use for the lukewarm. He wants us to be consecrated in the truth and the beauty of the Gospel, so that we can testify to the joy of God’s kingdom even in the dark night of grief, even when evil seems to have the upper hand". Pope Francis then launched an appeal to brotherhood, against division: "How much need there is, especially today, for fraternity. I know that some political and social situations are greater than you, but the commitment to peace and fraternity always comes from below: each one can do his part. Each one can commit himself to be a builder of fraternity, to be a sower of brotherhood, to work to rebuild what has been broken instead of feeding violence. We are called to do so, also as a Church: we promote dialogue, respect for the other, custody of the brother, communion". Jesus Christ, he concluded, "prays to the Father and intercedes for all of us, so that he may protect us from the evil and free us from the power of evil". And therefore, he said, we must not lose hope. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 17/5/2021)
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