By Matters India Reporter
Yangon, May 11, 2020: Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences president Cardinal Charles Maung Bo has urged people of all religions to support the appeal of religious leaders to set aside May 14 for “fasting, prayers and supplications.”
“I want to encourage all to live this time fruitfully, generously, and with hope. Let us look out for one another,” the Myanmar cardinal said in a May 10 statement released at Yangon, his country’s capital.
Cardinal Bo quoted Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen of India to say, “Build working relationships of trust that will stand by you for decades to come.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on April 11 made a special appeal to religious leaders to jointly work for peace in the world and “focus on our common battle to defeat Covid-19 in the upcoming Christian celebration of Easter, Jewish Passover and Muslim’s holy month of Ramadan.”
The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity has also called on people all to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the world is facing a great danger that threatens the lives of millions of people.
The Fraternity was established in 2019 as a response to the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis, and Ahmed Al Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar. It comprises of a diverse set of international religious leaders, educational scholars and cultural leaders, who inspired by the document have dedicated to sharing its message of mutual understanding and peace.
Cardinal Bo points out that although people in Asian countries suffer from the lock down conditions, conflicts continue with “unbelievable, obscene folly.”
“Military commanders of government and ethnic armies, as if they believe that their weapons are more powerful than this virus, continue to expose their soldiers, continuously endanger civilians, and risk a conflagration of contagion among the people of their nations,” the Asian Church leader bemoans.
The 72-year-old cardinal who has survived many natural calamities in his country, also points out that Asia has lived through many conflicts, wars and crises such as the tsunami, cyclones, and typhoons.
“We know that each crisis has left us changed. This time every country in the world is affected. It will leave our world profoundly changed. Politics will change. International relations will be different,” predicts the head of the Catholic Church in Asia.
Citing leadership qualities in amid crises, the cardinal reminded, “A good leader offers a transparent framework for making decisions, makes sense of what is happening, understands how people feel, and so creates trust.”
He wants leaders to get their people assume collective responsibility to approach common challenges. “Good leaders protect the weak and model inclusiveness, quickly banishing any racism or division. A good leader takes special care of the at-risk communities. A good leader builds community and activates the antibodies against fear, anxiety and dislike,” the cardinal’s statement asserts.
The cardinal also quoted Indian author Arundhati Roy who said, “Covid-19 is a ‘portal,’ a doorway, that it is a moment of rupture between the old times and the new, from a world where a few are privileged and many neglected, to a changed world where the dignity of every human person is recognized. Are you preparing to pass through to that world?”