As on every papal trip, Pope Francis’ visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh included a mix of meetings with government officials and events focused firmly on the nations’ Catholic communities.
International News
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When the first wave of Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States in the 1970s, many of them settled in Astoria – one of New York’s most diverse immigrant neighborhoods.
Pope as Diplomat Tries to Bridge Ethnic Differences
The themes chosen by the local bishops for Pope Francis’ visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh – “Love and peace” and “Harmony and peace” – sounded naive or just too “nicey-nice” to some people. But when love, peace and harmony are missing, the situation is pretty much hell on earth. The Rohingya refugees from Myanmar now living in teeming camps in Bangladesh could testify to that.
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Catholics in India Were Hoping for a Papal Visit
As Pope Francis began his tour to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Catholics in neighboring India regret missing a chance to meet him in their homeland, nostalgically recalling past papal visits, reported ucanews.com.
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Pope’s Peace Mission to Myanmar
At a distance, it’s easy to judge Pope Francis’ visit to Myanmar, the first by a pope to this overwhelmingly Buddhist nation, in absolutes – will he or won’t he publicly acknowledge the plight of the Rohingya, for instance, or will his presence push the nation in the direction of greater democracy and peace, or won’t it?