A newly designated Catholic cathedral has been bombed by the ruling navy regime in Myanmar.
In keeping with Worldwide Christian Concern (ICC), The Sacred Coronary heart of Jesus Church was bombed on 6 February, simply two weeks after being designated a cathedral by Pope Francis.
No-one is believed to have been killed within the incident as the realm was evacuated in anticipation of a doable assault. Nevertheless, the cathedral is now reportedly unusable because the roof has been blown off and the home windows shattered. One of many native monks stated that the cathedral shall be restored.
The cathedral is positioned in Chin state, which, with 85 per cent of its inhabitants following Christianity, is the one Christian-majority state in Myanmar. Total the nation is round 90 per cent Buddhist.
Since early 2021, when the present navy authorities took energy, battle has been ongoing in Myanmar. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and an estimated 2.3 million have been displaced.
In Could final yr the UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk described the Myanmar authorities as an “illegitimate navy regime” and accused it of finishing up beheadings, midnight bombings of properties and different atrocities.
He stated, “The disintegration of human rights continues at breakneck pace”.
Though the present battle dates again solely 4 years, ethnic and spiritual violence has lengthy been a scourge in Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi, whose authorities was ousted in 2021, was for a few years a political prisoner of a earlier navy authorities and lauded as an advocate for peace and democracy.
In authorities nevertheless she was criticised for her obvious inaction at an alleged genocide by the Myanmar navy in opposition to the minority Rohingya Muslim neighborhood.
Previous to her authorities, the navy was recognized for finishing up atrocities on ethnic minority teams, such because the Karen. The plight of the Karen even impressed the 2008 movie, Rambo 4.
