Bishop Lucius Hre Kung of Hakha has issued a rallying call for unity to rebuild the Church of Christ the King in Falam, destroyed by a military junta airstrike in April 2025.
Newsroom (27/08/2025, Gaudium Press ) In Myanmar’s embattled Chin State, Bishop Lucius Hre Kung of Hakha has issued a rallying call for unity to rebuild the Church of Christ the King in Falam, destroyed by a military junta airstrike in April 2025. The attack, part of the junta’s campaign against the Chinland Defense Force (CDF), a rebel group opposing military rule, obliterated the church consecrated just 17 months earlier in November 2023.
“They destroyed the walls of the church, but not the faith,” Kung declared during a recent visit to the site, addressing the resilience of Falam’s roughly 1,000 Catholics who helped build the church. “Our faith remains strong, the people of God in Falam continue to believe and hope,” he added. The airstrike followed the CDF’s seizure of Falam, part of the broader resistance by the People’s Defense Forces against the junta that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021.
The ongoing civil war has left a trail of destruction across Myanmar, particularly in Christian-majority Chin State. Gaudium Press reports that since the 2021 coup, the junta has destroyed at least 107 religious buildings in the region, including 67 churches, with airstrikes becoming the primary method of attack in 2023, according to a Myanmar Witness report. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners estimates over 6,000 civilian deaths in the junta’s violent crackdown on dissent.
Bishop Kung, who regularly visits affected communities, emphasized spiritual endurance. “In this moment of suffering and trial, we remain firmly anchored in prayer,” he said, invoking Jesus and Mary for “strength and hope to continue and hope for a future of peace.” His recent trip to Falam allowed him to assess the damage and console locals devastated by the loss of their sacred space.
Father Paulinus G.K. Shing, a local priest, expressed profound sorrow. “It was a very beautiful church, and the parish was happy to take care of it,” he told Fides. “I hope it can be rebuilt soon. I look with sadness at pictures of priests of the diocese being ordained there.” The destruction extends beyond Falam: the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Mindat, designated as the cathedral for the newly established Mindat Diocese under Bishop Augustine Thang Zawm Hung, was also severely damaged by junta airstrikes.
Gaudium Press further highlights the broader toll on religious sites, noting that on March 10, 2022, a convent of the Sisters of Reparation in Homalin, Sagaing Region, was bombed, forcing nuns to flee and seek shelter in nearby forests. This incident underscores the junta’s pattern of targeting religious buildings, which are protected under international humanitarian law. Despite such protections, the military’s actions, including the burning of a 129-year-old Catholic church in Sagaing in January 2024 and the destruction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Banmaw, Kachin State, in March 2025, reflect a deliberate strategy, according to human rights groups.
The conflict’s brutality has displaced millions, with Chin State’s Christians among the hardest hit. Yet, Bishop Kung’s call for collective action to rebuild and Father Shing’s hope for restoration signal an unyielding spirit. As Myanmar’s civil war grinds on, the faith of Chin State’s Catholics remains a beacon of hope for a future of peace and reconstruction.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCAN News and Fides
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