The officials in Myanmar’s Kalay diocese have organized a pilgrimage program involving visits to churches and praying for peace in the conflict-stricken Southeast Asian nation.
Newsroom (11/05/2023 19:50, Gaudium Press) Priests and nuns were joined by hundreds of young people during the visits to seven churches in the Kalay diocese that covers parts of Chin state and Sagaing region on May 6.
Kalay diocese is one of the worst affected dioceses along with Kayah, Pekhon, Hakha, and Mandalay among the 16 dioceses in the country.
Catholics from parishes across the country have been saying the rosary in May, the Marian month, and seeking Mary’s intervention to bring peace to the troubled nation.
In the evenings, dozens of parishioners go to the Marian grotto to say the rosary and make prayers for peace, according to the organizers.
At Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw town, Kayah state, hundreds of parishioners including internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have taken shelter in the church compound, join the rosary prayers every evening starting from May 1, local Catholics said.
“Despite gunfire almost daily, we continue our church celebrations and prayers for peace,” a local Catholic from Loikaw said.
The prayers for peace continue amid air strikes and artillery shelling by the military junta against civilians since seizing power in February 2021.
Churches, convents and historic Catholic villages remain prime targets for the military junta in predominantly Christian regions of Chin, Kayah, Kachin and Karen states although it claims to be fighting the People’s Defence Forces waging an armed campaign against the military coup.
A Catholic church in Pekhon diocese that covers southern Shan state was damaged by a military airstrike on May 6 while a Baptist church in Chin state was hit by aerial bombing on May 2, according to church sources.
“My God My God, why have you forsaken me? Give us the courage to endure these hardships,” the Independent Catholics for Justice group said on Facebook along with photographs of the damaged churches.
Myanmar has an estimated 53.5 million people and 87.9 percent of them are Buddhists. Of the 6.2 per cent who are Christians, Catholics make up 1.24 per cent and are organized into 16 dioceses, including three archdioceses.
Raju Hasmukh with files from UCAN
