Simonia Aida

Myanmar Catholics Mourn the Death of Pope Francis

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2025, №2(67), 160-173

 
Annotation: Pope Francis returned to the Lord on April 21, 2025. The Pope passed away on the first day of Easter week. He was the last universally recognized moral authority on a global scale and a special Pope for Myanmar Catholics. Pope Francis was well aware of the situation in that country. He was the only Pope to visit this Buddhist country, where there are only 700,000 Catholics. When everyone forgot about Aung San Suu Kyi, Pope Francis asked for her release and offered her asylum in the Vatican. In his last Easter sermon, he reminded the world of the tragedy of the Burmese people – the brutal civil war and the devastating earthquake on March 28 that claimed the lives of thousands of people, and called for help to the long-suffering population. Myanmar Catholics mourn their pastor. The article contains excerpts from an interview with Vatican News by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the first Burmese appointed by Pope Francis. The Cardinal remembers the late Pope "as a loving and compassionate pastor," whose "voice became our echo," whose "heart understood our grief," and whose "presence brought healing." The Cardinal recalls the late Pope's "deep affection" for the peoples of Asia and his "love" for the suffering people of Myanmar.

Keywords: Pope Francis, Myanmar, Apostolic visit to Myanmar, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Aung San Suu Kyi, Angelus, legacy of Pope Francis