Fr C Amal SJ, an Indian Jesuit missioned to Myanmar, was recently in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state, at the request of the Bishop to accompany 102 diocesan priests in retreats. He offers two reflections on Loikaw, where many of our Myanmar scholastics are from. This first reflection is on Loikaw, the second reflection is on the Church there.
Rugged mountains stand guard, as the roads move, tearing through the carpeted fields of Pa’O people. The travel takes six hours from Taunggyi and the unfolding scenery is just breath-taking. A warped thought runs through my mind – good that this land was a ‘black area’. Much of the forest survives, despite the slash and burn cultivation. Up and down the undulating mountains – that is a poet’s dream.
Loikaw town emerges, yes really. It still retains its rural splendour. Thank God. Not the noise of Yangon or flaunting of modern cars on the road. Bit of a vintage Myanmar/Loikaw seems to be frozen in time. Nowhere in Myanmar does one get that soothing feeling, as the car enters this sombre town.
The main task was to accompany 102 diocesan priests in retreats. A shiver ran down the spine as one looked at the crowd. Loikaw diocese is a trendy diocese. Headed by a master fundraiser and builder, Bishop Sotero Phamo, the diocese is a trendsetter in many ways. It has the highest number of Catholics next only to Kachin state. The Bishop manfully saw his diocese growing. He has his quota of critics, a fact he acknowledges. The people belong to at least six communities – Padaung (Kayan), Bwe, Geba, Manumanaw, Yantale, Zayein (Lahta), Geko, Yinbaw, Paku. The people are highly devoted to the church (too highly?). For the last four days of retreat, family after family lined up to feed the priests – a virtual indigenous cuisine. The churches are full in the morning. Someone is always praying in front of the Grotto.
The church has redefined itself in buildings – some of the best church buildings are in Loikaw – and in developing a robust human resource. Most of the priests have done at least part of their training abroad, the diocesan plan (at least in the paper) is a professional document. The various institutions set up inside the Cathedral campus are a lesson in institution building. The pastoral centre is mammoth and can accommodate at least 120 people.
Loikaw diocese must have been one of the largest beneficiaries of the development scholarships. (Although the Bishop bemoans the fact that most of them are “serving some others, somewhere outside the country”.) As the country opens up these may come back and support the much-needed human development in remote areas.
It has been a clergy-oriented church. But the laity played a major role – as lay missionaries, as catechists. Most of the Christians flaunt their religion boldly and proudly. There is an army of volunteer teachers, reaching out to remote villages. The priests struggle hard to reach out. The bishops could make pastoral visits once in five years to some remote parishes.
The Missionary methods of PIME – the Italian Missionaries might be worth a revisit. The present day clergy look back with great nostalgia to the great names – sturdy men who threw in their lot with the people – in dress, food and language and lived, died and were buried in those places. Every village might alternate with a new dialect. Yet the missionary learnt it and provided the alphabet to the locals. The present generation relies on Burmese, which continues to be an alien language in some villages. “By some mystical magic, they knew their people well and their people knew them well,” said a young priest. The photos of every one of them with their long beards and benign looks are framed and hung in the refectory.
The church (building) is exotic – maybe the first time a cathedral is built with inculturated motif. In the morning sun, the yellow glimmer reminds one more of a Burmese pagoda than a Catholic church. The altar is a virtual Buddhist temple, even the crucified Lord is metamorphosed into a serene Jesus of Resurrection. The problem of plenty with the number of clergy has facilitated two to three priests in the town parishes.
The Jesuit myth is alive here. There is a priest who was a student of the Maryland Jesuits. The Bishop was a student for some time. This is the third time he had called Jesuits. Lot of expectation that Jesuits can help in clergy formation, national level establishment of a spiritual accompaniment centre, even a request to start an outreach here. Some EAPI students are here. History is the best judge.
As the priests shared, one could see multiple challenges faced by the people – development had eluded many areas. Even primary education is a great luxury. Health is at risk. Malaria is the major killer. In many parishes teaching faith is almost impossible because children are illiterate. The Church has manfully set up boarding schools and reaches out to around 8,000 children. Feeding and looking after them is a herculean challenge with the support drying up. Priests are already troubled.
So Loikaw is an enigma: full of potential in nature and the people, but with decades of under development; the flight of educated professionals versus thousands who need empowerment. Maybe like Myanmar that wakes after a long night of silent tears, Loikaw may rise to a new dawn.
Before that the nagging tag of “black area” should go and all who were born in this land, breathed its pure air, soaked in its beauty, and stood on the banks of its timeless rivers should return and claim their heritage as sons and daughters of a land with vast potential and a possible future trendsetter.
To read Fr Amal’s reflection on the Church in Loikaw, click here.
Loikaw is the capital of Kayah State, the smallest of 14 states and divisions in Myanmar and an hour’s flight from Yangon. It covers an area of 4,500 square mile, mostly hills and mountains, and shares a border with Thailand in the East, Shan State in the North, and Karen State in the West and South. The population of Kayah State is a little over 300,000 and about three quarters belong to ethnic minority groups such as Kayan, Kayaw, Kayah, while the remaining quarter are Burmese, Shan and Karen. Christianity and Buddhism are the two dominant religions in Kayah State, which is regarded as the stronghold of Catholicism in Myanmar.