Pope avoids angry reaction in Myanmar 🇲🇲

Pope Francis visit to Myanmar was planned well before the Rohingya refugee crisis erupted in August. 

The visit was intended to upgrade diplomatic ties between the Holy See and Myanmar, and to enhance the status of the small Roman Catholic community in the country, many of whom come from other vulnerable minorities.

The Pope was visiting as much as a diplomat and statesman as he was a moral leader. In the end, he let pragmatic considerations prevail over the expectation that he speak out against the treatment of Rohingya. His Keynote speech was delivered in Naypyitaw, the new capital that was hewn out of the bush by a paranoid military regime a decade ago and is still the seat of power in Myanmar. 

It was easy to spot the thinly-veiled references to the plight of the Rohingya; the need to "ensure respect for the rights of all who call this land their home", to build a democratic order which "enables each individual and every group - none excluded - to offer its legitimate contribution". 

But by avoiding the name Rohingya, Pope Francis headed off an angry reaction from hard-line Buddhist nationalists, and any embarrassment for Aung San Suu Kyi, who hosted him in Naypyitaw.

UCJ, UNILORIN.