Cardinal Bo offers requiem mass for COVID-19 victims in Myanmar

08 August 2021
Cardinal Bo offers requiem mass for COVID-19 victims in Myanmar
(File) Cardinal Charles Maung Bo speaks during the Advisory Forum on National Reconciliation and Peace in Myanmar at Thingaha Hotel in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 07 May 2019. Photo: EPA

Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon offered a Requiem Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral for victims of the COVID-19 pandemic that is continuing to result in deaths in Myanmar, Vatican News reports.

Myanmar’s prominent Catholic churchman on Friday gratefully recalled priests, religious and the faithful who perished in the COVID-19 pandemic, the third wave of which is now ravaging the country.

“Today we have gathered here to mourn many of our most dear ones; just a few days ago, they were with us, they shared in our joys and sorrows. They were our friends, our brothers, our sisters and sons and daughters, husband, wives, grandmothers and grandfathers,” Cardinal Bo said, according to Vatican News.

The Eucharistic celebration came during the 2-week national prayer campaign that Myanmar’s bishops called for on Monday, urging followers of all religions to pray so that the coronavirus may end.

July has been the worst month with the highest reported coronavirus deaths and infections in the country. The military-controlled Ministry of Health on August 2 reported 330 fresh deaths, taking the country’s total past the 10,000 mark. With 4,132 new infections on Thursday, the total stood at 319,250. The death toll climbed 10,988 with 293 new deaths. Experts say the official figures are an undercount.

Uncertainty surrounds how suspected COVID-19 patients are being treated, given the rush for oxygen cylinders would seem to suggest these are “end-stage” Covid patients who did not receive early treatment.