Originally published at The Crux
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Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon said that Myanmar is facing simultaneous economic, employment, social, health, and education crises.
He was visiting Australia last week and spoke at the plenary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney on May 8, 2026.
He told the bishops that Catholic Mission in Australia had shown “unwavering solidarity” with his country.
“Your solidarity is not an abstract idea … it is a light in the darkness,” he said. “Your support …reminds our suffering people they are not forgotten by the universal church.”
Bo informed the bishops prices were rapidly rising in his country, jobs were being shed, more than 3.5 million people were displaced, and there was a failure in basic health care and education.
Myanmar spent decades under military rule from 1962 to 2011 after its independence from the United Kingdom, and its short period of democracy vanished in 2021 after a military coup. The resulting civil war has led to over 75,000 deaths and millions of displaced peoples. Many of the rebels come from minority groups and a large number are Christians in the Buddhist majority country.
Last week, the military rulers said the 80-year-old detained former Myanmar leader Aung
