Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon said that Myanmar is facing simultaneous economic, employment, social, health, and education crises.

He was visiting Australia last week and spoke at the plenary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney on May 8, 2026.

He told the bishops that Catholic Mission in Australia had shown “unwavering solidarity” with his country.

“Your solidarity is not an abstract idea … it is a light in the darkness,” he said. “Your support …reminds our suffering people they are not forgotten by the universal church.”

Bo informed the bishops prices were rapidly rising in his country, jobs were being shed, more than 3.5 million people were displaced, and there was a failure in basic health care and education.

Myanmar spent decades under military rule from 1962 to 2011 after its independence from the United Kingdom, and its short period of democracy vanished in 2021 after a military coup. The resulting civil war has led to over 75,000 deaths and millions of displaced peoples. Many of the rebels come from minority groups and a large number are Christians in the Buddhist majority country.

Last week, the military rulers said the 80-year-old detained former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved from confinement to house arrest. She had been in prison since 2021.

Bo told Crux Now that his visit to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney filled his heart “with gratitude.”

“I came not simply as a visitor from Myanmar, but as a brother bishop received with warmth, respect, and genuine fraternity,” he said.

“One personal experience touched me deeply. During one gathering, after hearing about the suffering of the people in Myanmar — the displaced families, the frightened children, the destroyed villages, and the uncertainty facing our Church — several bishops quietly came to me, one by one,” he told Crux Now.

“They did not come with grand speeches. They simply placed their hands on my shoulders and said: ‘You are not alone. The Church in Australia walks with Myanmar’,” Bo continued.

“In that moment, I felt the universality of the Church very powerfully. We speak different accents, come from different cultures, and live in very different realities, yet we are one family in Christ,” the cardinal added. “Their solidarity was not diplomatic; it was deeply pastoral and deeply human”

He said he treasured celebrating Mass with the Australian bishops, and how they all prayed together for Myanmar “with sincere compassion.”

“In the silence of prayer, I sensed how suffering can unite hearts across oceans. I realized again that the Church becomes most beautiful when she carries the wounds of others,” Bo said.

He praised the generosity of the Australian Church through Catholic Mission Australia, Caritas, religious congregations, priests, and ordinary faithful.

“Many Australian Catholics may never visit Myanmar, yet they continue to support our people through prayer, education, humanitarian assistance, and friendship. This generosity is a living expression of the Gospel,” the cardinal told Crux Now.

He said one bishop told him privately, “The courage of the people of Myanmar is evangelizing us.”

“Those words stayed with me. Sometimes people think the suffering Church only receives help. But in truth, the suffering Church also gives witness — witness to hope, perseverance, and faith amid darkness,” Bo said.

“I returned from Sydney encouraged. The Australian bishops are not only partners in mission; they are brothers who listen with compassion and accompany us spiritually. In a world increasingly divided, such fraternity is itself a sign of hope,” he explained.

This year is the centenary of Mission Sunday being celebrated in Australia.

“I am reminded that mission is not only about sending missionaries far away. Mission is also the sharing of hearts — praying for one another, carrying one another’s burdens, and keeping alive the conviction that no suffering people are forgotten by God,” Bo told Crux Now.

“For this brotherhood, friendship, and solidarity, I remain profoundly grateful to the Church in Australia.”