SANCTIFYING OFFICE
Devotion to Liturgy, Our Lady, the Eucharist
With a deep devotion to the liturgy, Our Lady and above all the Eucharist, Cardinal Bo constantly emphasizes the teachings of Jesus Christ, His Crucifixion and Resurrection. In his Easter message in 2014, he said: “The path of Jesus is the only way. That is the path of reconciliation. The core message of the Resurrection is reconciliation. The hope that swells in the heart of every citizen needs to be cemented through reconciliation. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and has given us the ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christians have a special duty for reconciliation … The whole message of reconciliation is centred around the love of God and the death of Christ.”
Cardinal Bo has a particular fondness for the Marian Shrine at Nyaunglebin, in Bago province, and every year leads a pilgrimage there for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In 2015, just two weeks after being created cardinal, he addressed 100,000 pilgrims at Nyaunglebin with these words: “Let us not live with indifference. Let us not challenge God, like Cain, the murderer, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ God will reply: ‘Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! You have a duty to take care of him.” Cardinal Bo then released a flock of doves, and called on Myanmar’s military to initiate a peace process. “People are suffering because of the war, and it is up to the Tatmadaw (the Armed Forces) as parents [of the nation] to lead the negotiations.”1 Rogers., page 137
In his 2023 homily celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Cardinal Bo hailed Our Lady’s courage and reassured us that she is with us in all the world’s challenges and will protect us. “The Assumption,” he said, “is not just Mary ascending from the grave,” but is “the hope, it is the longing, the affirmation of God that what happened to Jesus and happened to Mary will happen to all of us.” He reflected on the “role for faith in the battle between good and evil,” explaining that “Mary, the mother of Jesus whom we celebrate, helps us to root that battle – and our faith – firmly in the real world instead of a world of fantasy. Her song, the Magnificat is a rallying cry for the transformation of the world.”
As he so often does, he made a direct connection between Our Lady and the struggle for justice. Despite being a young, unexpectedly pregnant woman from a humble background, he said, Mary “sings with absolute confidence in a God who confounds expectation,” and “names the dragons of her own day, and of ours: poverty, power imbalance, injustice, hunger.” She “speaks of God’s utter commitment to their destruction,” he said. Her song, Cardinal Bo, added, calls us to a relationship with God, “where we work with Him to bring about the Kingdom on earth.” We must, he concluded, continue to “love, care, sacrifice and believe”. This calling “will never perish, never die, because the little Virgin of Nazareth said ‘Yes!’ when the angel came and asked her if she was willing to become the mother of the Messiah.”
In 2021, Cardinal Bo delivered a one-hour lecture at the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, titled “The Divine Patience in the Eucharist”. He emphasized the contrast between the patience of the Lord and modern man’s rush.2“Look at our world and our lives. The modern man lives in a feverish pitch. He is in a tearing hurry. He is rushing all the time. He is restless; he wants to acquire more, consume more,” he said. “He is not content. He abhors silence. He cannot wait. Speed, speed is the No. 1 value today. Being slow is considered a vice, a waste of time. But Jesus waits. He came to us because he loves us.”
Outspoken Defender of Human Rights, Social Justice
Cardinal Bo has been a persistent and outspoken voice for human rights, religious freedom, inter-religious dialogue, justice and peace in Myanmar, and these have been consistent themes in his homilies over the years. Upon his elevation to the College of Cardinals, he told the media, “I want to be a voice for the voiceless.”
Over the years as Cardinal and as Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Bo has regularly spoken powerfully in homilies, public statements, Christmas and Easter messages, opinion-editorial articles, lectures and media interviews about these themes. In his Easter message in 2014, he said, “The task of Christians is to move fences, to tear down walls,” and in his Christmas homily that same year he said: “Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid to seek your rights to dignity. Do not be afraid to dream, to reimagine a new Myanmar where justice and righteousness flow like a river.”3 The Catholic Church in the European Union, “The Cardinal Who Brings Poetry to the Faith”
In his homily at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in the Philippines, Cardinal Bo – as Papal Legate – said: “The Eucharist calls us to justice. No other religion elevates justice to this level. No other religion elevates the poor to this level as Mary narrates after the Word was made flesh in her: ‘The mighty will be brought down and the lowly will be raised up’”. He called it the major challenge in a world that “kills children in the womb” and “spends more on arms than on food”. He also described the Eucharist as “a dream and a reality because Jesus is truly present”. It is “a dream because it is the hope of the future, the eschatological meal of human equality. Today you have gathered from various backgrounds, the rich and poor, the noble and peasant, aristocrat and the servant. But when you approach the altar, the Eucharist strips you of all your social status. You are just an equal among unequals. In an unequal and uncaring world, the Eucharist steadfastly remains the beacon of human equality.”
Climate Change Focus
The environment has also been a major theme of concern for Cardinal Bo. “Climate change is real,” he told a conference of religious from across Asia in 2017, and is “an atom bomb waiting to explode.” He warned that “today we face an environmental holocaust”, outlining “ecological sins” and calling for “ecological conversion” and said “we are gathered here today not against ISIS terrorists. We are gathered here against economic terrorists and ecological terrorists”. He spoke supportively of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudate Si, noting that Myanmar ranks as the second most vulnerable nation to global warming, facing cyclones, floods and other natural disasters. He called for a “new green theology of liberation”, saying: “We need a major revolution — a revolution in thinking — a revolution in our theology. We need to evolve an eco-theology — a theology that integrates God’s creation as our cause and source of our contemplation.”
On another occasion, Cardinal Bo said that “the environment has been borrowed from the young, and the inheritance due to them, a more peaceful world with the integrity of creation intact, is in jeopardy.” Global warming, he added, “has devastated communities and the livelihoods of millions, threatening to slip away from the next generation.”
A profile in La Stampa headlined “The cardinal who brings poetry to the faith” described him as one who “speaks like a poet but his evangelical message covers the economy, society and politics.”
Relations With Benedict XVI and Pope Francis
Regarded by some as “solidly orthodox”, Cardinal Bo was deeply inspired by and loyal to Pope Benedict XVI and has developed a close relationship with Pope Francis. In November 2017 Francis became the first pontiff in history to visit Myanmar, and Cardinal Bo hosted that papal visit, with the motto: “Love and Peace”. The visit took place at an extremely tense time for inter-faith relations in Myanmar, given the atrocities perpetrated against the predominantly Muslim Rohingya people and the wider anti-Muslim campaign that had been fuelled by Burman Buddhist nationalists. Pope Francis made these issues a priority in his talks with the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as with the Commander-in-Chief of the military Min Aung Hlaing, senior Buddhist monks and other religious leaders.
Cardinal Bo received criticism for advising the Pope not to use the term “Rohingyas”, for fear of inflaming tensions, but overall the visit was mostly regarded as a success and both Cardinal Bo and the Vatican were generally seen as having navigated walking a challenging tight-rope well.4A large open-air Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis, attended by at least 150,000, and a youth Mass was held in St Mary’s Cathedral, Yangon, the following day.
As well as becoming Myanmar’s first ever Cardinal and hosting the first ever papal visit to the country, Cardinal Bo also oversaw celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Catholicism in Myanmar, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Myanmar, and the announcement of the beatification of Isodore Ngei Ko Lat, putting him on course to be Myanmar’s first saint. Blessed Isodore Ngei Ko Lat was a lay catechist who was killed by rebel forces in 1950.
GOVERNING OFFICE
Skilled Diplomat
Despite being outspoken on issues such as human rights, poverty and the environment, Cardinal Bo has also proven to be a skilled diplomat. He is a close friend of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate whose elected civilian government was overthrown in a coup on 1 February 2021, but he has also maintained channels of communication with the military. Having served as a priest and bishop in Myanmar’s war-torn ethnic states, he has learned how to negotiate with the military without compromising his values.
Under successive military regimes which ruled Myanmar until 2010, Cardinal Bo was more careful in what he said publicly. In his homilies, his messages would be more subtle, woven in a way that kept him just the right side of the line as far as the junta was concerned. In the decade of political opening from 2011-2021, which saw space for civil society and independent media open up, fragile ceasefires with some of the ethnic nationalities agreed, political prisoners released and the election of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy to government, he became more openly outspoken, particularly in regard to religious freedom, human trafficking and other human rights.
However, since the coup in 2021 Cardinal Bo has had to be more cautious and less frequent in his public pronouncements, due to the potential security risks to himself and the Church. During the protests in 2007 which became known as the “Saffron Revolution”, and the demonstrations against the coup in 2021, Cardinal Bo prohibited priests and religious from participating, fearing that they would be particularly vulnerable targets for the military, but in the background he quietly prayed for the protesters and did not attempt to restrict the participation of individual lay Catholics.
Justice and Peace Interventions
In 2016, Cardinal Bo addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, sitting alongside a Buddhist monk and a Muslim civil society activist from Myanmar. He called for action to promote inter-faith dialogue, prevent hate speech and incitement of violence and “to bring the perpetrators of hatred and violence to justice”, and he spoke out both about the conflicts in the ethnic states throughout the country and in particular about the persecution of the Rohingya people. “Whatever the perspectives – and there are, within my country, a variety of perspectives – about the origin of the Rohingya people, there cannot be any doubt that those who have lived in Myanmar for generations have a right to be regarded as citizens, and that all of them deserve to be treated humanely and in accordance with international human rights.”
Later that same year, addressing a meeting in the United Kingdom’s Parliament in London, Cardinal Bo went further, saying: “The plight of the Rohingyas is an appalling scar on the conscience of my country. They are among the most marginalized, dehumanized and persecuted people in the world. They are treated worse than animals. Stripped of their citizenship, rejected by neighboring countries, they are rendered stateless. No human being deserves to be treated this way. I therefore appeal for assistance: humanitarian aid, and political assistance to help us resolve this conflict. There is a need to bring Rakhine and Rohingya together, to bring them around a table, to bring voices of moderation and peace together to find a solution. Without this, the prospects for genuine peace and true freedom for my country will be denied, for no one can sleep easy at night knowing how one particular people group are dying simply due to their race or religion.”
In an article published in The Washington Post in 2014, Cardinal Bo described Myanmar as “a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country” which could only be “truly free, peaceful and prosperous” if “the rights of all ethnicities and religious faiths” are protected. “Religious leaders must preach the goodness of their own religions rather than attack others. Unity in diversity is Burma’s destiny, a unity in which we learn to respect the dignity of difference.”
Religious Freedom Defender
In 2016, Cardinal Bo joined with Alissa Wahid, the daughter of Indonesia’s former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), a prominent Islamic scholar, to co-author an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal defending religious freedom and pluralism. “We must learn to separate race, religion and politics,” they wrote. “Religion is also too often misused as a political tool. It should be an affair of the heart, mind and soul, not a matter of ethnicity or birthplace. We must fight for a vision that says people are citizens of their country of birth, with equal rights regardless of religion. … We must speak out for the freedom of religion or belief for all.”
Criticism of Perceived Compromise, Diplomatic Position
Although his track record of speaking out courageously is clear, on the occasions when he has adopted what would be perceived as a more compromising and diplomatic position he has faced criticism. Many Rohingyas and advocates for the Rohingya cause were very unhappy that Cardinal Bo advised Pope Francis not to use the term “Rohingya” during his visit to Myanmar, and were also disturbed by the decision to allow a meeting between Pope Francis and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces General Min Aung Hlaing during the papal visit in 2017. And in December 2021, when Cardinal Bo was pictured cutting a cake with coup leader and military dictator General Min Aung Hlaing just before Christmas, there was an outcry from many pro-democracy activists and ethnic people. The controversy was compounded by an appalling massacre on Christmas Eve in Kayah (Karenni) state, in which at least 35 civilians were killed by the Myanmar military.
Cardinal Bo issued a strong statement condemning the massacre and appealing for peace, which went some way to reassure people. He said: “The fact that the bodies of those killed, burned and mutilated were found on Christmas Day makes this appalling tragedy even more poignant and sickening. As much of the world celebrated the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the people of Mo So village suffered the terrible shock and grief of an outrageous act of inhumanity. As many of us celebrated the light and life of the Prince of Peace, so many in Myanmar endured the darkness of death and destruction.” He said, “the whole of our beloved Myanmar is now a war zone” and urged “Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, to stop bombing and shelling innocent people, to stop destroying homes and churches, schools and clinics, and to begin a dialogue with the democracy movement and the ethnic armed groups.”
Association With the Soros Family
In January 2018, Alex Soros (son of George Soros), whose Open Society Foundation promotes agendas diametrically opposed to the Church’s moral teaching, posted a photograph of him and Bo on social media. “It isn’t a trip to Myanmar for me without seeing my friend, the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Muang Bo,” Soros wrote. He then praised the cardinal for being a “voice for peace, tolerance, and interreligious dialogue” and for helping to facilitate the Pope’s visit to Myanmar.
Sources close to the cardinal say that he and Soros met once or twice but do not know each other well. “During the period of Myanmar’s political relaxation, the Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros and his Open Society Foundation funded many of Myanmar’s civil society, independent media, pro-democracy, ethnic nationalities and human rights groups,” a source close to the cardinal said. “In that context Cardinal Bo met him on a few occasions during his visits to Yangon.”
Leading Voice Against Human Trafficking
In addition to human rights and religious freedom, Cardinal Bo has been a leading voice against human trafficking, and has worked closely with the Santa Marta Group initiated by Pope Francis and chaired by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. In 2022, addressing a meeting of the Santa Marta Group in the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican’s Casina Pio IV, Cardinal Bo drew attention to the trade in human organs, describing it as the new “organized crime” and a “new human cannibalism”. We are living, he added, in “an epoch of moral catastrophe …. The moral holocaust of commodification of human fragility rages. It happens in every country, in war zones, where millions are fleeing.” He also highlighted the three most common types of human trafficking, being sex trafficking, debt bondage, and forced labor, as well as forced marriage, forced begging, and forced reproduction.
Vatican-China Agreement, Relations With Beijing
Cardinal Bo has never spoken directly against Pope Francis’ approach to China, and is known to be close and loyal to the Holy Father, but his own outspoken position on the issues related to China contrasts significantly with that of the Pope and the Vatican.
And while Cardinal Bo has not been explicitly vocal about the Vatican’s agreement with China on the appointment of bishops, he has been a consistent critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s human rights violations, persecution of religion and dismantling of Hong Kong’s freedoms.
On 31 December 2019, Cardinal Bo – who was president of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences at the time – co-signed an open letter to Hong Kong’s then Chief Executive Carrie Lam, calling for an independent inquiry into police brutality against pro-democracy protesters. The letter read: “We have been horrified to see reports of police firing teargas, pepper-spray and rubber bullets at close-range at shoppers, peaceful protesters and innocent by-standers on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and again on Saturday 28 December.
In July 2020, as the CCP regime in Beijing imposed a draconian new national security law on Hong Kong, Cardinal Bo issued a statement calling for prayer for Hong Kong. “On behalf of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, I call on Christians of all traditions and people of all faiths, throughout Asia and the world, to pray for Hong Kong, and indeed for China and all her people, with great insistence,” he wrote. “The government of China has imposed a new national security law on Hong Kong. This was done without systematic consultation with the general public. This law seriously diminishes Hong Kong’s freedoms and destroys the city’s “high degree of autonomy” promised under the “one country, two systems” principle. This action brings a most significant change to Hong Kong’s constitution and is offensive to the spirit and letter of the 1997 handover agreement between Britain and China.”
Cardinal Zen, Hong Kong, and the Uyghurs
In May 2022, when Hong Kong’s Bishop Emeritus Cardinal Joseph Zen was arrested, Cardinal Bo issued another robust statement. “As president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, and following the arrest on May 11 of my brother cardinal and fellow Salesian, Cardinal Joseph Zen, I wish to express my profound concern about the situation for human rights and threats to religious freedom in Hong Kong,” he wrote. Hong Kong had been transformed from “one of Asia’s freest and most open cities” into “a police state”, he argued, and so he called on Catholics and Christians of all traditions to pray for Hong Kong. “For the people of Hong Kong, it is now increasingly difficult to speak out freely, so those of us outside Hong Kong who have a voice must use it on their behalf, and devote our prayers and efforts to showing solidarity with and support for them, in the hope that one day their freedoms will be restored.”
Cardinal Bo has also spoken out for the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim population facing severe persecution in China’s western Xinjiang region. In 2020, he was one of only two Asian cardinals to sign a statement calling for an investigation into the crimes perpetrated against the Uyghurs. “After the Holocaust, the world said, ‘Never Again.’ Today, we repeat those words ‘Never Again’, all over again. We stand with the Uyghurs. We also stand with Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and Christians throughout China who face the worst crackdown on freedom of religion or belief since the Cultural Revolution,” the statement said. “We make a simple call for justice, to investigate these crimes, hold those responsible to account and establish a path towards the restoration of human dignity.”
Covid-19 and China’s Culpability
In one of his most dramatic interventions, Cardinal Bo said what many people thought but few were willing to say about China’s responsibility for the Covid-19 pandemic. In an article published by UCANews, Cardinal Bo said that “there is one government that has primary responsibility for what it has done and what it has failed to do, and that is the CCP regime in Beijing.”
Citing the Chinese government’s initial suppression of news of the virus, silencing whistleblowers, arresting citizen journalists who tried to report on the virus in Wuhan and then its rejection of initial offers of international assistance, he said that “lies and propaganda have put millions of lives around the world in danger.” He went on to argue that: “Through its inhumane and irresponsible handling of the coronavirus, the CCP has proven what many previously thought: that it is a threat to the world. China as a country is a great and ancient civilization that has contributed so much to the world throughout history, but this regime is responsible, through its criminal negligence and repression, for the pandemic sweeping through our streets today.”
He concluded by calling for an apology and reparations. “The Chinese regime led by the all-powerful Xi Jinping and the CCP — not its people — owes us all an apology and compensation for the destruction it has caused. As a minimum, it should write off the debts of other countries to cover the cost of Covid-19. For the sake of our common humanity, we must not be afraid to hold this regime to account.”
The following year, Cardinal Bo called on Catholics and all Christians to turn the annual Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Church in China, established in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI and held on the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, into a week of prayer that was held May 23-30.5In a statement issued on 14 March 2021, the fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), he said: “On behalf of the Church throughout Asia, as President of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences, I would like to call on the faithful to extend that to a Week of Prayer for the Church in China and the peoples of China, from Sunday 23 May until Sunday 30 May. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the peoples of China have faced increasing challenges, which impact us all. It is right that we should pray not only for the Church but for all persons in the People’s Republic of China. We should ask Our Lady of Sheshan to protect all humanity and therefore the dignity of each and every person in China, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer, “to believe, to hope, to love.” In fact, we are reminded that “the whole of the Church’s social doctrine, in fact, develops from the principle that affirms the inviolable dignity of the human person.” … So I urge the faithful, throughout the world, to join me in prayer for the Church and the peoples of China, from 23-30 May, and especially to join with Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and the whole Church to ask, in the words of Benedict XVI, the “Mother of China and all Asia” to support the faithful, that “they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus”, and “always be credible witness to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter”.
A group of lay Catholics from around the world responded to Cardinal Bo’s request and established the Global Week of Prayer for China, which the Cardinal said he was “heartened” by.
TEACHING OFFICE
On Education
Education, in particular, has been a priority for Cardinal Bo. In 2016, he said “education is a fundamental right. A deliberate policy of not educating our youngsters exposed them to modern forms of slavery in nearby countries, to a drug menace, to human trafficking. Youth is a wounded generation.” He later said: “Knowledge is power … We want to empower the poor with quality education. For those thousands who seek solace in drugs and unsafe migration, we want to show, Myanmar can be a land of opportunity if quality education is imparted.”6 The population of Catholics in Myanmar is estimated to be approximately 750,000, representing less than one per cent of the total population. The Church in Myanmar consists of 16 dioceses, including three archdioceses.
Under Cardinal Bo’s leadership, the Church in Myanmar has had a national and international prominence and influence disproportionate to its size. In part that is a reflection of the Church’s inclusivity along ethnic lines, in part due to the fact that Myanmar now has its first ever Cardinal, and in part a result of his own personal role on the national and international stage.
In his Christmas message in 2015, Cardinal Bo said that “the Church is one of the very few organisations that is really ‘national’ in character. It is found in every tribe and every race and nationality. This privilege comes with great responsibility.” He has consistently taught that the Church “is called to stand with the most marginalized”, to work for a “democracy that is inclusive” and to be “a trusted partner in nation building”. He described it as “a poor Church for the poor” and said, “our accompaniment is vital for their dignity.”
In his keynote address at the Church’s conference on nation-building in 2016, Cardinal Bo highlighted the six priorities that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar had set itself. These were: “dignity of our indigenous brothers and sisters, protecting and promoting their basic rights, their culture, their resource rights, bringing them for a celebration of culture; peace and reconciliation …; special attention to youth, women and children …; promote dialogue with the government, inter-church groups, civil society groups, other religious groups and an active dialogue with the poor; contribute towards an educated nation through education mission and a healthy nation through health mission …; creative engagement with Buddhism, the major religion of the country.” He has continued to prioritize these themes throughout his episcopal ministry.
Cardinal of Mercy
Just as he emphasizes peace, justice and reconciliation in society, so these are major theological and spiritual themes for him too.
While regarded as a traditionalist on core Church teaching, he has embraced Pope Francis’ emphasis on mercy and forgiveness, as per his Easter message in 2014 and during the Year of Mercy in December 2015.7“The path shown by Jesus is the only way. That is the path of reconciliation. The core message of the Resurrection is reconciliation. The hope that swells in the heart of every citizen needs to be cemented through reconciliation. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and has given us the ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christians have a special duty for reconciliation, and Easter bestows on each one of us to carry on this message of reconciliation. The whole message of reconciliation is centered around the love of God and the death of Christ; Paul reminds us that ‘God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (Romans 5:11).
Christ reminds us of our awesome responsibility: just as he has reconciled us to himself by forgiving us, we are to go and seek reconciliation with those who have sinned against us. We, following God’s example, are to forgive those who have hurt, troubled, and wronged us! Just as God took the initiative to forgive us – we are to take the initiative to forgive others. God expects us to forgive them in our hearts and to let them know it by the way we show it in our lives. We are to begin treating them with love as though they had never done anything against us. Reconciliation with our neighbor is the direct result of our forgiveness. There can be no genuine reconciliation without genuine forgiveness.”
In his reflection on the Year of Mercy in December 2015, he said: “Christ is the door that leads to the Father. Christ is waiting every day at the door of our hearts to bring Mercy to us: ‘”Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20) Welcoming Jesus through acts of mercy is the door to the world.”
Cardinal Bo has not engaged prolifically in the major debates of the Church in the West – around sexuality, marriage, priestly celibacy or the ordination of female priests or deacons – but he is regarded as balancing a devotion to traditional Church teaching with an emphasis on mercy. For example, he has emphasized that “it is not acceptable to me to legalize same-sex marriages. However, we can offer pastoral care and help bring these people to the Church by showing mercy.”
On Holy Communion for Civilly Remarried Divorcees
On the question of allowing Holy Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, he has indicated that he would support some reform and dispensation. In 2015, prior to the synod that year, he said he hoped that “the Church would focus more on the individual rather than rules and regulations, and what is sin and what is not sin.” Emphasizing that many remarried couples have remained faithful despite not being permitted to receive Communion, he said that “My view is that the Church needs to look at these cases and allow them to receive Communion at Mass. I hope the synod will look favorably on this … Pope Francis said that we shouldn’t abandon sinners and need to show mercy. It doesn’t mean that sin can be tolerated but we can show mercy and forgiveness.”
And despite living in one of the world’s poorest, most conflict-ridden and most oppressed nations, hope is also a constant theme for Cardinal Bo, as shown in his 2013 Christmas message “Emmanuel in Myanmar: The Enduring Message of Hope.”8We should never be discouraged. Never give up! Life is rowing against the current. Do not give up when you at times could not control yourself. Do not give up when you have problems in the family. Do not give up when the changes in the country [are] too slow. Listen again to the words of Isaiah as you remember your own times of hopelessness. ‘You shall no more be termed forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed desolate…You shall be called by a new name…You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord’ (Isaiah 62).
Let us hope. Hope is the stream that runs through the desert of pessimism. Let us hope that Emmanuel, the God within us, is present in every one, the ruled and the rulers, the Bamars and the others. I for one strongly believe in the audacity of hope. I for one believe God’s time has arrived in Myanmar. I for one strongly believe that God will not leave this land desolate…All of us can make this happen. This nation’s time has arrived. The cloak of darkness that covered her beauty is removed. Like the daughters of Zion, she shall journey forth on the global stage, clothed in justice and prosperity. A people who walked in darkness have seen the light. Our nation will prosper, our nation will once again be a place of haven for all ethnic people, for all the migrants and for all the refugees. The Lord our God delights in us. God is smiling at us.”
Loyal to Synodality
In the Synod on Synodality established by Pope Francis, Cardinal Bo has been a prominent – and loyal – voice. Preaching the homily at Mass in St Peter’s Basilica for the Synod General Assembly participants on 23 October 2023, the Cardinal emphasised the importance of being open to God’s call and to embarking on new journeys.9“In the scriptures, we trace the ancient journey of our forebears, Adam and Eve, who chose to leave behind the comfort and grace they once knew, opting for a path shrouded in darkness,” he began. “Since then, humanity has been on an unceasing, spiritual quest, an odyssey marked by an unwavering search for meaning. One Journey from the Book of Exodus portrays God as the liberator of an oppressed people, employing a shepherd named Moses to confront the pride of Pharaoh. In this moment, God initiated the Paschal Mystery, offering His accompaniment to a broken humanity—a recurring theme in the Bible. The message is candidly clear: God never abandons his people.
Throughout the history of the Church, while the foundations remain strong, one must be open to new ways of expressing them. “Abraham, the father of our faith, was called to step into the unknown, and St. Paul, in the first reading from the Letter to the Romans, presents Abraham as an exemplar,” said Cardinal Bo. “As we embark on various journeys in life and faith, we often find ourselves uncertain of our destination, yet we are called to venture into the unknown, guided by our unwavering faith. Just as Abraham’s faith justified him, we too are justified by our faith, believing that God always fulfils His promises. Our synodal journey is not a pre-programmed space odyssey with fixed mathematical equations. Rather, when God calls us, He becomes our guide, our roadmap, and our companion.”
Faith, Cardinal Bo continued, “shines a light on the path through life’s darkest and most tumultuous moments, allowing us to see God’s grace penetrating the shadows.” The Church is called “to be righteous, to embody a synodal journey of faith with the conviction that God never fails. Despite the doubts and anxieties that may accompany us on this long march, we can draw inspiration from figures like Moses, chosen by God to be a liberator and a model for us all. While we may not reach our intended destination, participating in the journey is a blessing in itself. We understand that this synodal journey is intergenerational, initiated by the Church and ushering in a long march of hope for all humanity, even amid global turmoil, as witnessed in recent events in West Asia and other regions around the world.”
True to form, Cardinal Bo then turned in his homily from an encouragement to pursue the journey, to an appeal to address the challenges of the world, including peace, justice, reconciliation, poverty, human rights and the environment. In particular, he highlighted Pope Francis’ documents on these themes.
“Human greed has already inflicted deep wounds upon our planet and stripped millions of their dignity, as Pope Francis emphasized in his recent significant documents,” he said. “These documents call for a threefold reconciliation to save humanity and the planet: Reconciliation with God (Evangelii Gaudium), Reconciliation with nature (Laudato Si’), and Reconciliation with one another in Fratelli Tutti. Our synodal journey is about healing and reconciling the world in justice and peace. The only way to save humanity and create a world of hope, peace, and justice is through the global synodality of all people.”10He concluded with these words on behalf of the Church in Myanmar and Asia: “Like the faithful women who followed Jesus along the Way of the Cross, the Church in Myanmar and Asia invests in the hope of reconciliation. We continue our tear-filled Synodal journey, believing that, like those women, we will see all wounds healed, and a new dawn of hope, peace, and justice will shine upon every long-suffering nation. We pray that the Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Francis, will bring the entire human family into the long march of healing our world and our planet, ultimately leading us to a new heaven and a new earth.”
- 1Rogers., page 137
- 2“Look at our world and our lives. The modern man lives in a feverish pitch. He is in a tearing hurry. He is rushing all the time. He is restless; he wants to acquire more, consume more,” he said. “He is not content. He abhors silence. He cannot wait. Speed, speed is the No. 1 value today. Being slow is considered a vice, a waste of time. But Jesus waits. He came to us because he loves us.”
- 3The Catholic Church in the European Union, “The Cardinal Who Brings Poetry to the Faith”
- 4A large open-air Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis, attended by at least 150,000, and a youth Mass was held in St Mary’s Cathedral, Yangon, the following day.
As well as becoming Myanmar’s first ever Cardinal and hosting the first ever papal visit to the country, Cardinal Bo also oversaw celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Catholicism in Myanmar, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Myanmar, and the announcement of the beatification of Isodore Ngei Ko Lat, putting him on course to be Myanmar’s first saint. Blessed Isodore Ngei Ko Lat was a lay catechist who was killed by rebel forces in 1950. - 5In a statement issued on 14 March 2021, the fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), he said: “On behalf of the Church throughout Asia, as President of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences, I would like to call on the faithful to extend that to a Week of Prayer for the Church in China and the peoples of China, from Sunday 23 May until Sunday 30 May. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the peoples of China have faced increasing challenges, which impact us all. It is right that we should pray not only for the Church but for all persons in the People’s Republic of China. We should ask Our Lady of Sheshan to protect all humanity and therefore the dignity of each and every person in China, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer, “to believe, to hope, to love.” In fact, we are reminded that “the whole of the Church’s social doctrine, in fact, develops from the principle that affirms the inviolable dignity of the human person.” … So I urge the faithful, throughout the world, to join me in prayer for the Church and the peoples of China, from 23-30 May, and especially to join with Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and the whole Church to ask, in the words of Benedict XVI, the “Mother of China and all Asia” to support the faithful, that “they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus”, and “always be credible witness to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter”.
- 6The population of Catholics in Myanmar is estimated to be approximately 750,000, representing less than one per cent of the total population. The Church in Myanmar consists of 16 dioceses, including three archdioceses.
Under Cardinal Bo’s leadership, the Church in Myanmar has had a national and international prominence and influence disproportionate to its size. In part that is a reflection of the Church’s inclusivity along ethnic lines, in part due to the fact that Myanmar now has its first ever Cardinal, and in part a result of his own personal role on the national and international stage.
In his Christmas message in 2015, Cardinal Bo said that “the Church is one of the very few organisations that is really ‘national’ in character. It is found in every tribe and every race and nationality. This privilege comes with great responsibility.” He has consistently taught that the Church “is called to stand with the most marginalized”, to work for a “democracy that is inclusive” and to be “a trusted partner in nation building”. He described it as “a poor Church for the poor” and said, “our accompaniment is vital for their dignity.”
In his keynote address at the Church’s conference on nation-building in 2016, Cardinal Bo highlighted the six priorities that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar had set itself. These were: “dignity of our indigenous brothers and sisters, protecting and promoting their basic rights, their culture, their resource rights, bringing them for a celebration of culture; peace and reconciliation …; special attention to youth, women and children …; promote dialogue with the government, inter-church groups, civil society groups, other religious groups and an active dialogue with the poor; contribute towards an educated nation through education mission and a healthy nation through health mission …; creative engagement with Buddhism, the major religion of the country.” He has continued to prioritize these themes throughout his episcopal ministry. - 7“The path shown by Jesus is the only way. That is the path of reconciliation. The core message of the Resurrection is reconciliation. The hope that swells in the heart of every citizen needs to be cemented through reconciliation. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and has given us the ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christians have a special duty for reconciliation, and Easter bestows on each one of us to carry on this message of reconciliation. The whole message of reconciliation is centered around the love of God and the death of Christ; Paul reminds us that ‘God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (Romans 5:11).
Christ reminds us of our awesome responsibility: just as he has reconciled us to himself by forgiving us, we are to go and seek reconciliation with those who have sinned against us. We, following God’s example, are to forgive those who have hurt, troubled, and wronged us! Just as God took the initiative to forgive us – we are to take the initiative to forgive others. God expects us to forgive them in our hearts and to let them know it by the way we show it in our lives. We are to begin treating them with love as though they had never done anything against us. Reconciliation with our neighbor is the direct result of our forgiveness. There can be no genuine reconciliation without genuine forgiveness.”
In his reflection on the Year of Mercy in December 2015, he said: “Christ is the door that leads to the Father. Christ is waiting every day at the door of our hearts to bring Mercy to us: ‘”Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20) Welcoming Jesus through acts of mercy is the door to the world.” - 8We should never be discouraged. Never give up! Life is rowing against the current. Do not give up when you at times could not control yourself. Do not give up when you have problems in the family. Do not give up when the changes in the country [are] too slow. Listen again to the words of Isaiah as you remember your own times of hopelessness. ‘You shall no more be termed forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed desolate…You shall be called by a new name…You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord’ (Isaiah 62).
Let us hope. Hope is the stream that runs through the desert of pessimism. Let us hope that Emmanuel, the God within us, is present in every one, the ruled and the rulers, the Bamars and the others. I for one strongly believe in the audacity of hope. I for one believe God’s time has arrived in Myanmar. I for one strongly believe that God will not leave this land desolate…All of us can make this happen. This nation’s time has arrived. The cloak of darkness that covered her beauty is removed. Like the daughters of Zion, she shall journey forth on the global stage, clothed in justice and prosperity. A people who walked in darkness have seen the light. Our nation will prosper, our nation will once again be a place of haven for all ethnic people, for all the migrants and for all the refugees. The Lord our God delights in us. God is smiling at us.” - 9“In the scriptures, we trace the ancient journey of our forebears, Adam and Eve, who chose to leave behind the comfort and grace they once knew, opting for a path shrouded in darkness,” he began. “Since then, humanity has been on an unceasing, spiritual quest, an odyssey marked by an unwavering search for meaning. One Journey from the Book of Exodus portrays God as the liberator of an oppressed people, employing a shepherd named Moses to confront the pride of Pharaoh. In this moment, God initiated the Paschal Mystery, offering His accompaniment to a broken humanity—a recurring theme in the Bible. The message is candidly clear: God never abandons his people.
Throughout the history of the Church, while the foundations remain strong, one must be open to new ways of expressing them. “Abraham, the father of our faith, was called to step into the unknown, and St. Paul, in the first reading from the Letter to the Romans, presents Abraham as an exemplar,” said Cardinal Bo. “As we embark on various journeys in life and faith, we often find ourselves uncertain of our destination, yet we are called to venture into the unknown, guided by our unwavering faith. Just as Abraham’s faith justified him, we too are justified by our faith, believing that God always fulfils His promises. Our synodal journey is not a pre-programmed space odyssey with fixed mathematical equations. Rather, when God calls us, He becomes our guide, our roadmap, and our companion.”
Faith, Cardinal Bo continued, “shines a light on the path through life’s darkest and most tumultuous moments, allowing us to see God’s grace penetrating the shadows.” The Church is called “to be righteous, to embody a synodal journey of faith with the conviction that God never fails. Despite the doubts and anxieties that may accompany us on this long march, we can draw inspiration from figures like Moses, chosen by God to be a liberator and a model for us all. While we may not reach our intended destination, participating in the journey is a blessing in itself. We understand that this synodal journey is intergenerational, initiated by the Church and ushering in a long march of hope for all humanity, even amid global turmoil, as witnessed in recent events in West Asia and other regions around the world.” - 10He concluded with these words on behalf of the Church in Myanmar and Asia: “Like the faithful women who followed Jesus along the Way of the Cross, the Church in Myanmar and Asia invests in the hope of reconciliation. We continue our tear-filled Synodal journey, believing that, like those women, we will see all wounds healed, and a new dawn of hope, peace, and justice will shine upon every long-suffering nation. We pray that the Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Francis, will bring the entire human family into the long march of healing our world and our planet, ultimately leading us to a new heaven and a new earth.”
