In a country besieged by a raging civil conflict, a Jesuit was ordained to the priesthood on 25 March in the diocese of Myitkyina, in the northern part of Myanmar. Just a few weeks earlier, two people had been shot dead in the head during an anti-coup protest in the city, which is the capital of Kachin State.

The ordination itself was an extraordinary event. Fr Paul Tu Ja SJ is only the eighth Myanmar Jesuit priest. His ordination had been postponed for more than a year due to the pandemic, but finally pushed through despite the coup that erupted on 1 February. The last Jesuit ordination in Myanmar was in 2019 in Yangon. There are fewer than 40 Myanmar Jesuits, and a majority of them are still in formation. The young and growing mission was recently made into a Jesuit Region dependent to the Philippine Province.

Fr Tu Ja with his Jesuit brothers at his ordination

Around 500 people attended the ordination ceremony, which took place in St Luke’s College with Bishop Emeritus Francis Daw Tang as the ordaining prelate. Fr Tu Ja was ordained together with a young man from the Diocese of Myitkyina.

Fr Tu Ja begins his ministry in a time of serious social and political crisis in the country. Perhaps because of this, his dedication to serving God’s mission on earth is clear in the theme he chose for his ordination: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He says that his ordination has given him a stronger reason to trust in the Lord who has guided him in his vocation and his family through all the challenges.

Fr Tu Ja is from Kachin State. His father is a Buddhist and his mother is a Catholic. He will continue serving in Moe Nyin parish for a few months before assuming pastoral ministry in St Michael’s parish in Banmaw Diocese.

Watch highlights of the ordination: