Cardinal Charles Maung Bo Says Myanmar Faces “Polycrisis” Five Years After Coup

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, said Myanmar is experiencing a deep “polycrisis” five years after the military coup that plunged the Southeast Asian nation into prolonged instability.

Speaking on the opening day of the biannual plenary assembly of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney on May 8, Cardinal Bo drew attention to the country’s overlapping economic, employment, social, health, and education crises.

The cardinal said prices were rising rapidly, jobs were disappearing, and more than 3.5 million people had been displaced by conflict and unrest. He also pointed to the collapse of basic health care and education services in many parts of the country.

Among young people in particular, Cardinal Bo noted, daily life is increasingly marked by insecurity, psychological distress, and a growing loss of hope for the future.

“We remain a people of hope,” Cardinal Bo told the bishops’ gathering.

He thanked Australian Catholics and Catholic Mission for what he described as their “unwavering solidarity” with the people of Myanmar.

“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.”

Referring to the centenary of World Mission Sunday this year, Cardinal Bo said the occasion serves as a reminder that mission “is not the work of missionaries alone, but the responsibility of the whole Church.”

“Your partnership with us is not just charity, it is communion,” he added.

Cardinal Bo also appealed for continued prayers for the people of Myanmar, saying they still believe “one day peace will return.”

“We will remember the Church in Australia walked with us,” he said.

During the gathering, Cardinal Bo led a brief commissioning ceremony for Peter Gates, the newly appointed director of Catholic Mission in Australia.

Myanmar’s first cardinal, Cardinal Bo was born in Monhla village in 1948 and joined the Salesians of Don Bosco as a young man. He was ordained a priest in 1976 and served in remote and vulnerable communities where education, pastoral care, and human dignity were often under threat.

While serving as Bishop of Lashio in 1990, Cardinal Bo founded the Missionaries of St. Paul with a small group of missionaries dedicated to supporting marginalized communities in northern Myanmar.

Appointed Archbishop of Yangon in 2003 and created cardinal in 2015, Cardinal Bo is widely regarded as a prominent voice for peace, reconciliation, and human rights in Myanmar and across Asia.

Through his partnership with Catholic Mission, he continues to support initiatives aimed at expanding access to quality education throughout Myanmar.