The Catholic Church in Myanmar held a memorial Mass on Friday to remember priests, religious, and the people who succumbed to the coronavirus disease.
“They were our friends, our brothers, our sisters and sons and daughters, grandmothers and grandfathers,” said Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon in his homily during the occasion.
He said the remembrance was also “a call to strengthen our human fellowship, our Eucharist of common tragedies, our cup that overflows with sorrows.”
Cardinal Bo noted that the pandemic has robbed everyone even “the most sacred last moments from our dear ones,” adding that many of those who perished died alone, “with the sense of abandonment.”
“Many of them gone away without a farewell. We have shed silent tears, when they were buried alone, without the last dirge of the words too deep to express. Our sorrow has not minimized,” he added.
“I hear the news about priests dying, their anointed hands untouched in those lost moments, hear of the death of religious, their mission robbed of in the middle of life, hundreds of laity known to us gone away, leaving a hole in the hearts of the dear ones,” said the cardinal.
He said the gathering was “not only for those who have gone away.”
“We have gathered here to heal ourselves, redeem our humanity. We have gathered here to affirm, despite the cruelty of the virus, we still hold our dear departed in our hearts,” said Cardinal Bo.
“We have gathered around this altar fortified by the strong faith that through communion of saints we are still united with them in spirit. The physical contact might be gone; emotionally, spiritually we are united more now than ever,” he added.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme warned on Friday it may not have enough funding for the next six months to help millions of people in Myanmar facing food insecurity.
The WFP said in a statement it needs US$86 million dollars to help fight hunger in the country, which is battling rising COVID-19 infections and has been in chaos since the February 1 military coup.
“We have seen hunger spreading further and deeper in Myanmar,” said Stephen Anderson, WFP Myanmar country director, in a statement.
The world’s largest humanitarian organization estimated that 6.3 million people in Myanmar could face food insecurity in the next six months, up from 2.8 million before the military takeover in February.
“It is critically important for us to be able to access … all those in need and receive the funding needed to provide them with humanitarian assistance,” said Anderson. – with a report from Reuters
