✣Pope Francis defends avoiding the term ‘Rohingya’
What happened?
Pope Francis was criticised for avoiding the term “Rohingya” while in Burma. He told reporters on his flight home that his priority was to ensure his message was heard.
“I knew that if, in an official speech, I would have used the word, they would close the door in my face,” he said. He did use the R-word later on in his trip when meeting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Burmese people do not recognise the term as they see Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bengal.
What commentators are saying
Associated Press quoted an official from Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, who said: “Rohingya have been stripped of so many things, but their name should never be one of them.” The AP report, picked up widely by the world’s media, also quoted a Rohingya, Kyaw Naing, who said: “He is the holiest man in the world but it’s so sad to see that even the holiest man cannot call our identity.” Martin Gak, religious affairs correspondent of the Deutsche Welle, defended Francis, saying his avoidance of confrontation (“the political pleasure of denunciation”), had brought success in the past, notably with Cuba. The Pope was criticised during that visit for not speaking out against the regime, but later played a pivotal role in re-establishing relations between the communist island and the United States.
What the Burmese are saying
The Pope provoked anger from some Burmese when he used the R-word in Bangladesh. The AFP news agency quoted Facebook user Aung Soe Lin, who said Francis was “like a lizard whose colour has changed because of the weather”. Another Facebook user, Soe Soe, called him a “salesman” for his use of different words. Others were more positive. Maung Thway Chun, chairman of the 135 Patriots Party, said his avoidance of the term “means he respects Myanmar people”, adding: “He even did not use the word many times in Bangladesh… I think he said it once, just to comfort human rights organisations.” Larry Jagan, writing for the Bangkok Post, hailed the visit as a “diplomatic triumph”, quoting Maung Maung Lay, an industry rep, who said the Pope’s message was “like a beacon”, even for non-Christians.
✣Bank official ‘escorted out of the Vatican’
What happened?
The deputy director general of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican bank, was sacked and reportedly escorted out of the Vatican. A spokeswoman for the Vatican told the Ansa news agency that Giulio Mattietti, who had been in post for two years, had “ceased his service”.
Why was it under-reported?
The news broke on the day Pope Francis arrived in Burma. Many Vatican reporters would have been on the papal plane. The timing appears to be deliberate. John Allen, writing at Crux, noted a similar coincidence in September, when the Vatican trial of two former hospital officials began the day Francis left for Colombia.
Few details have emerged about the sacking. This, too, echoes an earlier story: that of Libero Milone, the Vatican’s first ever auditor general, who resigned amid mystery in July, only to later say that he had been forced out.
What will happen next?
The episode is “part of a broader crisis in Francis’s clean-up operation”, wrote John Allen. Of the three instruments for financial reform set up by the Pope – the Council for the Economy, the Secretariat for the Economy and the independent auditor general – only the first is working normally, he said. No auditor general has succeeded Milone yet, while the secretariat is also adrift, with its prefect, Cardinal Pell, fighting historical sex abuse charges. The Pope’s “thorniest challenges”, Allen said, are at home as well as abroad.
✣The week ahead
Several thousand Syro-Malabar Catholics will gather in West Bromwich tomorrow for a Second Saturday Convention – a day-long event involving Mass, Adoration and a healing service. Guests include Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster and Britain’s Syro-Malabar bishop, Bishop Mar Joseph Srampickal. The event is held at the Bethel Convention Centre.
Today, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis will venerate a statue of Mary overlooking the Spanish Steps in Rome’s bustling city centre. Firefighters have placed a wreath on the statue every year since 1857.
The Council of Cardinals will meet on Monday. The group, which advises Pope Francis on reform, has so far met 21 times. Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, the group’s secretary, has said its work is “almost complete”. In September the council called for Vatican staff to be “less clerical and more international, with an increase in young people and women”.
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