Papal Envoy in Myanmar for Religious Celebration
Cardinal Renato Martino is Pope Benedict’s special envoy to Myanmar to attend the 100th anniversary of Yangon cathedral, where, among the attendees will be Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, a Buddhist.
Representatives of all religions in Myanmar, where Catholics represent only around one per cent of the population, are being invited to Thursday's event, when Martino will read a message from Pope Benedict XVI.
The Holy Father has called on Martino to transmit "a message of goodwill" to political and religious authorities in Myanmar where the military dictatorship has given several signs of openness in recent months, including freeing Suu Kyi from house arrest. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met recently with Suu Kyi, the first such visit in 50 years by a high-ranking U.S. official.
The country’s name was changed to Myanmar in 1989. Surrounded by Bangladesh, China, India, Laos and Thailand, Myanmar has a population of about 44 million people: 89 percent are Buddhist, 4 percent are Christian, of whom one percent are Catholic. There is one archdiocese, 10 dioceses, 20 bishops, 613 priests, 400 seminarians and 1660 men and women religious. The hierarchy was established here only in 1955. Buddhism was declared the state religion in 1961 but Myanmar - then Burma - has been officially secular since 1965. Yangon’s St. Mary’s cathedral has been undergoing major renovation for the December 2011 anniversary.
Source: ETWN
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Community Noticeboard
Interfaith Calendar
Check out the Interfaith Calendar for the month ahead.
We, as leaders of faith communities, need to develop a more inclusive view of the religious other, to recognise the humanity of the religious other as a starting point. We need to recognise the essential equality of all human beings regardless of religious beliefs. We need to affirm the mutuality and interdependency of all people... We may need even to extend this and recognise that religious other may, just may, have at least some access to the Truth. We may need to accept that the religious others also adopts more or less the same set of essential universal ethical-moral principles we share; that the religious other has feelings of pain and pleasure just like us; that the religious other has similar expectations about their children and family and the preservation of life, property and security; and that the religious other has the same fears and anxieties about the world and the future, just like us.