Pope Francis has appealed for an end to more than six weeks of violence and bloodshed in the Southeast Asian Nation of Myanmar.
The Catholic pontiff made the appeal on Wednesday at the end of his weekly general audience, held remotely from the Vatican library because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The plea is Pope Francis’ latest since the February 1 coup which toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“…With much sadness I feel the urgency to talk about the dramatic situation in Myanmar, where many people, most of them young, are losing their lives in order to offer hope to their country,” the Pope said.
In language symbolising the action of protesters, the pontiff said: “Even I kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say ‘stop the violence.’ Even I open my arms and say ‘Let dialogue prevail’.”
He told the country’s military rulers that “blood does not resolve anything:, adding: “Dialogue must prevail.”
In 2017, Pope Francis visited Myanmar, when the former British colony was in its sixth year of a fledgling transition to democracy.
According to figures compiled by the UN and rights groups, something between 170 and 195 protesters have been killed across towns and cities in Myanmar as security forces try to crush a wave of demonstrations triggered by last month’s coup.
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