Myanmar army arrested Catholic missionary
The parish of Banmaw, Myanmar, announced that the army arrested a Catholic priest and missionary on the 14th of May, who was on his way to Myitkyina. He was going to the village to collect donations for the poverty-stricken families who participated in the civil disobedience movement against the military putsch of the 1st of February.
The priest was released four days later, on the 18th of May. His arrest sparked a wave of disapproval within the Catholic Church in Myanmar and the civil community in general. Tensions were already running high between the Myanmar army and religious leaders opposed to the putsch.
Since the beginning of April, in Kachin State, many Catholic, Baptist, and Anglican churches have been ruthlessly searched by the army, looking for hidden anti-coup activists and proof of illegal activities. These military interventions in places of worship are felt as “acts of serious intimidation by the army which generate tension and growing hostility within the Burmese population”, given that the army carried out these searches aggressively.
Source: Christianophobie.fr
