[The semantic flexibility — saying migration instead of ethnic cleansing, Muslims of Rakhine State instead of Rohingya — has introduced a degree of diplomatic absurdity into the visit, especially for a pontiff who has a reputation for speaking his mind.]
By Jason Horowitz
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Pope
Francis after his arrival on Monday at the airport in Yangon, Myanmar.
Credit
Vincenzo Pinto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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YANGON, Myanmar — Pope Francis landed in
Myanmar, and in a diplomatic minefield, on Monday.
In his first visit to the country — and his
first to any majority-Buddhist nation — the pope met with Senior Gen. Min Aung
Hlaing, the commander in chief of Myanmar’s military, which has driven more
than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims out of the country in what the United States has
called a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The pope is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and de facto leader of the
government, who has been widely criticized as complicit for her silence in the
face of the slaughter.
In Myanmar, the pope will seek to strike a
careful balance by maintaining his moral authority without endangering his tiny
local flock.
The United Nations, the United States and
others have denounced the murder, rape and pillaging of the Rohingya in western
Myanmar as ethnic cleansing, but the pope has been advised by the Roman
Catholic Church here not to utter the word Rohingya, for fear of aggravating
the situation or of being exploited for domestic politics.
Despite the criticisms of Ms. Aung San Suu
Kyi, the pope’s allies have urged him to lend her his support — and, they hope,
political strength — as the country’s best chance to prevent a backslide into
absolute rule by the military.
The Constitution, written by the military,
puts the armed forces out of her control. And the military has enough support
in Parliament to prevent any changes that could loosen the grip on power held
by General Min Aung Hlaing, who has ambitions to run the country.
So for Francis, his first meeting here with
the general, which was added at the last minute, might well be the more
important one.
“It’s smart to meet the commander in chief
first, because he is very important and the principle person to solve this challenge
facing our country,” said Dr. Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst in Yangon,
Myanmar’s main city.
According to the Vatican, the meeting with
the general and top commanders from the Bureau of Special Operations lasted
about 15 minutes and was a “courtesy visit” at the residence of the local
archbishop, where Francis is staying.
Greg Burke, the Vatican spokesman who is
traveling with the pope, said they had discussed “the great responsibility of
the country’s authorities in this moment of transition.”
The pope then gave the general a medallion
commemorating his visit. The general gave the pope an ornate rice bowl and a
harp in the shape of a goat.
The timing of the meeting suggested that the
pope was mindful of the egos and agendas that he must navigate without making a
misstep that could endanger Myanmar’s 700,000 Catholics, who make up about 1.3
percent of the population.
If the gravity of the task weighed on him, he
did not show it on the flight from Rome.
On the plane, Francis seemed in good spirits,
apologizing beforehand for the scorching temperatures in Myanmar and
announcing, “Now I will salute you.” He also walked through the cabin, gamely
signing books and accepting the trinkets of reporters.
Upon arriving in Yangon, Francis was greeted
on the tarmac by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the city’s archbishop, followed by
local bishops and a delegation of children in traditional clothing.
As he left Yangon Airport in a Toyota Mark II
Grande sedan, Francis rolled down the window to wave at hundreds more children
cheering, “Viva, Papa” next to curious backpackers and wary security officials.
The surrounding streets were lined with young people in white T-shirts and
yellow hats with the trip’s official emblem, a heart under the motto
“Missionary of Love and Peace.” Some waved Vatican flags and had its
yellow-and-white colors painted on their cheeks.
Those crowds thinned, though signs on
lampposts extended “A Heartiest Welcome to the Holy Father Pope Francis,
Missionary of Love and Peace.”
Copies of the Vatican’s newspaper,
L’Osservatore Romano, which were made available on the plane, featured a
front-page interview with Cardinal Bo in which the prelate said that the pope
“will arrive in a moment in which the country is in the news because of the
migration of thousands of people.”
“There is great hope that his presence will
succeed in melting the heart of everyone and push the country towards a lasting
peace,” the cardinal said in the interview.
The semantic flexibility — saying migration
instead of ethnic cleansing, Muslims of Rakhine State instead of Rohingya — has
introduced a degree of diplomatic absurdity into the visit, especially for a
pontiff who has a reputation for speaking his mind.
In a certain sense, the trip may be a
needless headache for Francis.
After a visit to India fell through, Myanmar
filled a hole in the pope’s schedule. The trip was meant in part to celebrate
and solidify the new diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Myanmar
established during Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s stop at the Holy See in May.
As the onetime darling of the humanitarian
community and democracy activists, she was already starting to come under
criticism at that time for the poor treatment of the Rohingya. The situation
has since deteriorated, and her reputation has sunk as she has failed to
confront a military crackdown on the Rohingya — or “those who have crossed over
to Bangladesh,” as she has called them.
But the church’s leaders in Myanmar,
especially Cardinal Bo, whom Francis elevated in 2015, have argued that the
pope must invest in Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, as she is perhaps the country’s last,
and best, chance to proceed on a road to democracy and the protection of civil
rights.
Francis is scheduled to fly to the capital,
Naypyidaw, to meet her on Tuesday.
