The bishop of Banmaw in Myanmar pleaded for prayers after fire damaged a historic cathedral and fighting destroyed most of a Catholic mission compound in Kachin State.
“Please pray for us to sustain our faith and hope in peace and justice in this situation,” said Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam in a statement.
The Roman Catholic Mission Compound, located in Kokko Taw Quarter in Banmaw, has been caught in the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since December 2024.
“By February 202, the Mission Compound and the neighborhood became a fighting ground between the two parties,” the prelate said. “The old clergy house was burned down on the 26th of February. The cathedral was set on fire on the 16th of March, 2025, at 4:00 pm and badly damaged.”
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, built between 1958 and 1959 by the Missionary Society of St. Columban and dedicated in 1960, was among the key structures affected.
While initial reports feared the cathedral’s destruction, Bishop Gam confirmed in a statement that “the cathedral was miraculously seen standing the next day on the feast of St. Patrick.”
In an interview with Fides News Agency, the bishop said he was “moved and surprised” to see the cathedral still standing despite the fire that had engulfed it.
Bishop Gam explained that “since the beginning of December last year, the area where our Catholic complex in Banmaw is located (the cathedral, two clergy houses, the pastoral center, the residential shelter) has been at the center of clashes between the army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). We, along with all the staff, religious, priests, and lay people, had to flee.”
“At the end of February, the battle, unfortunately, took place within our very structures,” he said. “The cathedral was set on fire on March 16, the eve of St. Patrick’s Day,” possibly under suspicion by the military that resistance fighters were taking shelter in the compound.
The KIA, representing the Kachin ethnic minority, has been demanding autonomy for six decades. It joined forces with the People’s Defense Forces following the 2021 military coup, forming part of the broader armed resistance against Myanmar’s ruling junta.
Fides also reported that “while there is ash and rubble throughout the complex, and we are all truly in shock, we see the cathedral still there and it seems like a small miracle to us,” quoting the bishop.
