A file image of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo during a meeting of the advisory forum on national reconciliation and peace in Myanmar in the capital Naypyidaw on Nov. 21, 2018. (Photo: AFP/UCAN files)
Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon has urged Catholics across Myanmar to pray and fast on Oct. 27, the day designated by Pope Francis, to seek an end to the Israel-Hamas war.
“I do appeal to you all to join fasting and make prayers on Friday in your respective places as seen fit following the pope’s appeal for peace,” Bo, who is president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, said in a letter on Oct. 20.
The pope at the end of his general audience on Oct. 18 called for a day of fasting, prayer and penance, inviting men and women of every Christian denomination, other religions and anyone committed to the cause of peace, to participate in any way they feel is appropriate on Oct. 27.
There will be an hour of prayer starting at 6 p.m. Rome time in St. Peter’s square “imploring for peace in the world,” he said and invited local churches to organize similar initiatives.
Bo, who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, quoted the pope saying, “The number of victims is rising and the situation in Gaza is desperate. May weapons be silenced, and let us heed the cry for peace of the poor, the people, the children.”
“Brothers and sisters, war does not solve any problem: It sows only death and destruction, foments hate, and proliferates revenge. War cancels out the future,” Bo further quoted the pope in his letter.
Bishop Alexander Pyone Cho of Pyay diocese said he has conveyed the message from Cardinal Bo to all parish priests.
“I urge the parish priests to tell the faithful and religious to take part in fasting and prayers for peace on Oct. 27,” he told UCA News on Oct. 23.
Sylvester, president of the pastoral council at Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, said their parish priest during the Sunday Mass urged Catholics to seek peace in the world with prayers and fasting.
Sylvester, who uses only one name, told UCA News that around 200 people including those displaced by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar are praying the Rosary every evening before the Marian grotto at the cathedral compound as part of their observance of the month of Rosary in October.
“We make an intention for peace in the world including Myanmar during our Rosary prayers,” he added.
Myanmar is witnessing an intense civil war with military atrocities on the rise in ethnic areas including Christian majority Kachin, Kayah, Chin and Karen states.
Historic Catholic villages in the Bamar heartland have seen thousands of people forced to flee from their homes and seek shelter in churches or forests.
Churches and other Christian institutions like convents, schools and health clinics have been prime targets for military air strikes and artillery shelling across the country.
Pope Francis, who visited Myanmar in November 2017, has repeatedly prayed for peace in the conflict-torn country and called for an end to violence and a return to the negotiation table.
