Don Bosco’s Sons Who Became Cardinals
Abp. Charles Maung Bo
(ANS – Rome – Sept. 27, 2023) – In the consistory of February 14, 2015,
Pope Francis created 2 more Salesian cardinals. One was Charles Maung Bo, who
was also the first Burmese cardinal in the history of the Church. Advocate for
the poor, ecumenical voice of great depth, Cardinal Bo is a pastor and a
Salesian who has always been committed to peace and harmony in a country that
has experienced and still experiences difficult situations of conflict.
Charles Maung Bo was born on October 29, 1948, to a farming family in Monhla, a small village in the Shwebo district in the heart of Burma (Myanmar). He is the youngest of the children of U John and Julian Daw Aye Tin. Having lost his father at the age of only 2, he was entrusted to the care of the Salesians in Mandalay, from whom he received a solid primary and secondary education. In this context his priestly vocation was born, and in the light of Don Bosco’s charism he completed all his formation, in particular the studies carried out between 1962 and 1976 in the Salesian Nazareth aspirantate at Anikasan in Pyin Oo Lwin. Here he made his first profession, on May 24, 1970, and his perpetual profession on March 10, 1976.
After being ordained in Lashio on April 9, 1976,
he had his first pastoral commitment as pastor in Loihkam, where he remained
until 1981, when he was recalled to Lashio to carry out the ministry of pastor
until 1983. For the next two years he was a formator at the Anisakan seminary,
where he himself had been a student.
In 1985 he was entrusted with the prefecture
of Lashio, in the troubled State of Shan – for a year as apostolic administrator
and then until 1990 as prefect apostolic. And when on July 7, 1990, the prefecture
was elevated to a diocese, he became its first bishop, receiving episcopal
ordination the following December 16. As his episcopal motto he chose Omnia
possum in Eo: “I can do everything in Him.”
After six years, on March 13, 1996, he was
transferred to the diocese of Pathein and then, in 2002, also appointed apostolic
administrator of the archdiocese of Mandalay.
On May 15, 2003, he was promoted to archbishop
of Rangoon (Yangon), the largest Burmese city and, at the time, the nation’s
capital. He entered his new see on June 7.
Committed to strengthening the faith of a
community marked by continuous difficulties and suffering, he has always worked
for dialog between religions, convinced that the commitment of the various
religious leaders is essential to calm the tensions that plague the country.
Within the Conference of Catholic Bishops of
Myanmar, he served as president for 6 years, from 2000 to 2006; in addition, he
was also secretary treasurer of the Episcopal Conference of Myanmar and
responsible in the Burmese Church for the major seminary and dialog between
religions.
He also played his role as an ecclesial leader
at the continental level: within the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences,
he was head of the Office for Human Development and a member of the Commission
for Religious, and on January 1, 2019, he became president of the FABC.
On January 4, 2015, after the Sunday Angelus,
Pope Francis announced his intention to make Abp. Bo a cardinal in the
consistory that was held at St. Peter’s Basilica on February 14.
With regard to service in the Roman Curia, the
Pontiff appointed him a member of the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; of the Pontifical Council for
Culture; and of the Dicasteries for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments; for Culture and Education; and for Communication.
A strong supporter of dialogue between peoples
and religions, concretely committed to the promotion of peace, reconciliation
and justice in a country whose history is also marked by dictatorship and
ethnic clashes, Charles Maung Bo is the first cardinal of Myanmar, a country in
which the Church, despite being a numerically small presence, has always given
testimony of faith in the midst of persecution.
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