ROME — The Vatican announced Monday Pope Francis will celebrate a special Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica for all Myanmar Catholics living in Rome.
“According to notification from the Prefecture of the Papal Household, it is announced that on Sunday 16 May, Solemnity of the Ascension, at 10.00, the Holy Father will celebrate Holy Mass at the Altar of the Cathedra for the community of the faithful of Myanmar resident in Rome,” states a Vatican communiqué sent to Breitbart News.
This is not the pontiff’s first show of solidarity for the people of Myanmar (Burma), who face violence and unrest following a February 1 military coup.
In March, Pope Francis made a dramatic gesture pleading for an end to the armed conflict in Myanmar, saying he symbolically kneels on its streets to beg for a peaceful solution.
“Once again, and with great sorrow, I feel it is urgent to mention the dramatic situation in Myanmar, where many people, especially the young, are losing their lives to offer hope to their country,” the pontiff said following his weekly General Audience in the Vatican.
“I too kneel in the streets of Myanmar and say, ‘End the violence!’” he exclaims. “I too reach out my arms and say, ‘May dialogue prevail!’”
The week of the coup, the pope said he is following with “deep concern” the developments in Myanmar, “a nation that I carry in my heart with much affection, ever since my apostolic visit there in 2017.”
“In this delicate moment, I wish to assure my spiritual closeness, prayer, and solidarity to the people of Myanmar,” he said.
“I pray that those who have political responsibility show sincere willingness to serve the common good, promoting social justice and national stability,” he added, “promoting social justice and national stability, for a harmonious coexistence.”
Again on March 3, Francis appealed to authorities for an end to violence against protesters in the conflict-torn nation.
“Sad news of bloody clashes and loss of life continue to arrive from Myanmar,” he said following his General Audience. “I would like to draw the attention of the authorities involved to the fact that dialogue prevails over repression and harmony over discord.”
“I also appeal to the international community to ensure that the aspirations of the people of Myanmar are not stifled by violence,” he added. “May the young people of that beloved land be granted the hope of a future where hatred and injustice make way for encounter and reconciliation.”
“Finally, I repeat the wish I expressed a month ago: that the path towards democracy taken in recent years by Myanmar may be resumed through the concrete gesture of the release of the various political leaders imprisoned,” he concluded.
Unfortunately, Francis’ ongoing appeals for the beleaguered citizens of Myanmar amplify his deafening silence concerning the atrocities committed against more than a million Uighurs who are held in concentration camps in the autonomous Xinjiang territory of northwest China, where they have been subjected to genetic testing, hard labor, organ harvesting, torture, and forced abortions.
Vatican watchers attributed the pope’s scandalous silence regarding China’s egregious human rights violations to his heartfelt desire to establish diplomatic relations with the Asian giant and to visit the country someday.
The Vatican signed a secret accord with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in September 2018 regarding the naming of Chinese bishops, a move that elicited a flood of criticism at the time and has only been aggravated by ongoing CCP aggressions against Christians after the deal was signed.
The agreement was renewed last fall despite appeals from governments and human rights groups begging the Vatican to reconsider its appeasement policy toward the Chinese.
China is notoriously vindictive when it comes to public criticism and the pope is apparently unwilling to risk upsetting them or jeopardizing the precarious Vatican-CCP deal by coming to the defense of the victims of Chinese atrocities, Vatican watchers observed.
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