Salina, Kan., Dec 4, 2010 / 05:51 am
Fr. Alexander Cho goes where he's needed. The Burmese priest came to Kansas in 2007 to help fill a shortage of priests, but he'll soon be returning home to become the Bishop of Pyay, Myanmar.
Pope Benedict XVI announced the new appointment of the bishop-designate on Dec. 3. He will leave behind his two parishes in Kansas and return to the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar –also known as Burma– after Christmas. There, he expects to be consecrated as a bishop next spring.
While his adopted country struggles with a priest shortage and many cultural challenges, those difficulties pale before the obstacles facing the Catholic Church in Myanmar. The country became a military dictatorship in 1962, and citizens have almost none of the religious and civil rights that Americans take for granted. While worship is allowed, most other religious activities are not.
Four priests from Myanmar, where Western countries once sent their own Catholic missionaries, currently work in the Diocese of Salina in Kansas. Fr. Cho was ordained a priest for the Burmese Diocese of Pyay in 1975, and served for more than two decades as a pastor there. The bishop-designate was also rector of Myanmar's major seminary for seven years.