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Archbishop Marco Tin Win stands in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a sign calling for the release of detained leaders while anti-coup protesters march on the streets in Mandalay on Feb. 8. (Photo: RVA Myanmar Service)
By UCA News reporter | Myanmar
As thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Myanmar to show their opposition to the military coup, a bishop from the Buddhist-majority country showed his moral support for them.
Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay did not hesitate to set aside his daily duties and stand at a church entrance with some priests.
He held a placard with the words "People's desire — Free detained leaders, oppose military rule" in the Burmese script as thousands of anti-coup protesters rallied in the streets of Mandalay on Feb. 8.
It was a rare display of moral support from a Catholic leader in a country where Christians are a minority and Catholics account for around 700,000 of the 54 million people.
The bishop's moral support came as priests, nuns and laypeople joined the protests that have followed the Feb. 1 military coup.
Archbishop Tin Win said the people of Myanmar are deeply concerned about the situation as they lose hope and feel the future is uncertain.
"The people are worried that the new generation might encounter the same journey they passed through," he said in a homily on Feb. 14.
Catholic bishops designated Feb. 7 a day of special prayers and urged the faithful to recite special prayers and fast for peace in the country. Christian leaders have appealed to the military to release detained leaders including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon called on the public to stay calm and never fall victim to violence. "We have shed enough blood. Let no more blood be shed in this land," he said.
After more than five decades of military rule, Myanmar was on the road to democracy, but the political, economic and social freedoms that began to sprout in 2011 were abruptly ended by the military coup.
Catholic youths are among the thousands of people who have staged nationwide anti-coup protests since Feb. 6.
Last week parishioners from Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, marched on the streets to say prayers and rosaries, led by priests.
Feb. 17 saw the biggest turnout to date as tens of thousands of people thronged the streets to show support for deposed leader Suu Kyi and pledged to continue their peaceful protests.
The daily protests range from major cities in Bamar-majority areas to remote and far-flung regions that are home to ethnic minority groups.
Christian strongholds where the Kachin, Kayah, Karen and Chin dwell have also joined the protests to show their solidarity and demand an end to military rule and the abolition of the military-drafted 2008 constitution.
Ethnic groups have suffered oppression and persecution at the hands of the military for decades and thousands of civilians bear the brunt of decades-old civil wars that are still raging.
Long-running conflicts in Myanmar's smaller states with large Christian populations — Chin, Karen and Kayah — have ended but forced more than 100,000 people across the Thai border and into refugee camps.
The renewed conflict in Kachin that flared in 2011 after a 17-year truce has pushed more than 100,000 people into internally displaced persons camps in Kachin and northern Shan states.
In relatively peaceful Karen state, more than 3,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to fighting between the military and the Karen National Union since December.
Suu Kyi's father, General Aung San, who led the country to independence from Britain, reached an agreement regarding self-autonomy and federalism with the Kachin, Shan and Chin in 1947 but failed to secure several other ethnic groups.
Soon afterward, Aung San was assassinated and the deal was never fulfilled. In the aftermath, ethnic groups took up arms against the central government.
Myanmar's military, which has long been accused of rights abuses in ethnic regions, seized power on Feb. 1, declaring a year-long state of emergency and detaining deposed leaders Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.
The latest coup led by military chief Min Aung Hlaing has faced strong condemnation from world leaders, including Pope Francis, who have called for the release of detained leaders while expressing solidarity with the people of Myanmar.
UN special envoy Christine Schraner Burgener has warned that the world is watching closely and that any form of heavy-handed response is likely to have severe consequences.
She got a rare chance of communication on Feb. 15 through video conferencing with the deputy military chief Soe Win over the Myanmar crisis.
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