Yangon, Burma, Oct 2, 2019 / 23:01 pm
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon has decried Burma's ongoing violence, and encouraged religious leaders to raise their voices in defense of the vulnerable.
"Not a single day passes without the heart wrenching news of innocent civilians being displaced or killed or maimed by the ongoing conflict in Lashio, other Northern regions and Rakhine State," Cardinal Bo said Oct. 1.
"[I was] pained by the silence of religious leaders," he added.
Beginning in late 2016 the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group who have mostly occupied Burma's Rakhine state, faced a sharp increase in state-sponsored violence in their homeland. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced, and the military has been accused of conducting numerous human violations such as rape and murder.