SDB Cardinal Bo Promises Francis the Prayers of Burmese Catholics

Cardinal Bo: “Holy Father, this small flock will continue to pray for you”

Francis poses with Burma's bishops, including Cardinal Charles Bo, SDB

(at the Pope's left in the photo)

(ANS – Rangoon – November 30) – On November 30, the Holy Father departed Burma for Bangladesh, his second and final stop on his apostolic journey. Among the last appointments in Burma on the 29th was Mass at the Kyaikkasan Ground area in the heart of Rangoon, filled with circa 150,000 faithful from all over the country. After the Eucharist, Rangoon’s archbishop, Salesian Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, who worked hard for the preparation and success of the papal journey, expressed words of thanks to the Pope.

“This is an experience of Mount Tabor,” the cardinal began. “Simple Catholics are living a truly emotional experience. Today we are transported to a mountain of the Beatitudes, and life will never be the same again for Catholics in Burma.”

“Only a year ago,” he continued, “the thought that this little flock would have shared Bread with our Holy Father Francis would have been nothing but a dream. We are a small flock. We are like Zacchaeus. In the midst of the nations, we could not see our shepherd. Like Zacchaeus, we were summoned: ‘Come down. I must stay at your house.’ Such is our Holy Father Francis: a good shepherd who looks for the little ones and those on the margins. You, Holy Father, broke the Bread of the Eucharist with us. Let us make our own the moving words of our mother, the Virgin Mary: ‘He raised the humble. My soul magnifies the Lord.’”

“Like the disciples on Mount Tabor,” he concluded, “we return home with an extraordinary spiritual energy, proud to be Catholics, called to live the Gospel. This day will be imprinted in every heart present here, and full of gratitude, we thank your generosity. . . . Thank you, Holy Father. This small flock will continue to pray for you.”

Among the other activities carried out by the Pope in Burma on the 29th was a meeting with the Supreme Council of Sangha of the Buddhist monks with whom the Pontiff reaffirmed a common commitment “for peace, respect for human dignity, and justice for every man and woman”; a meeting with the bishops of Burma, whom he reminded that “prayer is the first task of the bishop”; and on November 30, a Mass with young people, whom he exhorted to be “courageous, generous and, above all, joyful!”