Matters India Reporter
Yangon, December 24, 2025: Christmas in Myanmar arrives under the shadow of war. Villages lie in ruins, families are displaced, and fear stalks the streets. Against this backdrop, Salesian Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, has issued a message that is both pastoral and political: a call to disarm not only the weapons that devastate nations but also the hostility that corrodes human hearts.
“Peace be with you all,” he began, invoking a greeting that transcends faith and culture. Yet in Myanmar, where civil conflict has become a grim constant, peace feels elusive. The Cardinal’s words are not abstract theology; they are a direct challenge to a society where violence has become routine and where leaders, both military and civilian, continue to justify force as the language of security.
Bo’s message is rooted in the humility of Christ’s birth. God entered history as a fragile child, he reminded his listeners, without power or protection, to teach humanity how to live in peace. That fragility is not weakness but strength: a rebuke to the logic of domination. “The peace of the Babe of Bethlehem is peace without weapons. True peace heals wounds through compassion and care for the least among us,” he declared.
The Cardinal’s critique extends far beyond Myanmar. He pointed to the staggering figure of global military expenditure—2.718 trillion US dollars in 2024—as evidence of a world trapped in fear. Nations, he argued, stockpile arms not out of necessity but out of mistrust, building relationships on domination rather than justice. “Today, instead of stockpiling arms, nations must choose mutual respect and cooperation as the path to lasting peace,” he urged.
This is not simply a plea for disarmament; it is a demand for a new moral imagination. Bo insists that peace must first take root in the human heart. Weapons are not only forged in factories but also in the recesses of fear, prejudice, and hatred. To abolish arms, we must also abolish the inner violence that justifies them.
Religion, too, is implicated. In Myanmar and across the world, faith has been misused to inflame division and justify cruelty. Bo’s warning is stark: “All of us share the responsibility to prevent the abuse of God’s name.” His call for interreligious dialogue is not a polite gesture but a survival strategy for societies fractured by ethnic and sectarian conflict.
The Cardinal’s message resonates with urgency. Myanmar’s war has created one of Asia’s most acute humanitarian crises, yet his words speak to a global audience. In an age of rising authoritarianism, resurgent nationalism, and endless wars, peace is often dismissed as naïve. Bo insists it is the only rational path. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he concluded, praying that 2026 might be a year of peace for Myanmar and for the world.
The challenge now is whether his appeal will be heard. Leaders may dismiss it as idealism, but the alternative is a future defined by fear, weapons, and perpetual conflict. Bo’s Christmas message is a reminder that peace is not passive. It requires courage to lay down arms, humility to listen, and compassion to forgive. In Myanmar, and everywhere else, the choice is stark: continue to arm ourselves against one another, or finally disarm our hearts. END