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November 29, 2017

Pope Francis Avoids Saying "Rohingya" in Anticipated Speech in Burma
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Pope Francis gave a highly anticipated speech in Burma Tuesday, in which
he chose not to speak publicly about the Burmese military's ethnic
cleansing campaign against Muslim Rohingyas in the majority Buddhist
nation. More than 600,000 Rohingyas have fled Burma into neighboring
Bangladesh amid the military's campaign of murder, rape and arson.
On Tuesday, Pope Francis did not even say the name "Rohingya" after
church leaders warned him that using the highly polarized word could
aggravate the Burmese military. The Pope has also met in private with
the head of Burma's armed forces, as well as Burma's de facto leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. He's slated to meet with Rohingya refugees in
Bangladesh later in the week.


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