Myanmar: Airstrikes destroy another Catholic church

Image: Fides

Source: Vatican Media

Airstrikes by the regular army have destroyed another Catholic church in Chin, Myanmar's only Christian-majority state, marking yet another tragic chapter in country's ongoing civil war between the military junta and resistance forces that continues to severely impact Christians and their places of worship.

The Church of Christ the King in the town of Falam, part of the Diocese of Hakha, was hit last Tuesday, 8 April.

According to Fides local sources the church's roof and interior have been devastated, but the building's walls are still standing.

The church had only been recently built with great sacrifice to meet the needs of the local Catholic community of around one thousand faithful. It had been consecrated and opened for worship in November 2023, replacing a small chapel that had existed for 75 years.

"There is great sadness now in the community, but also the desire and determination to rebuild," the source told Fides.

Over the last nine months, the city of Falam has been the scene of fighting between the army - which had control - and the 'Chinland Defence Force' (CDF), a local militia formed in opposition to the military junta. The CDF surrounded the city and, after intense fighting, forced the army to flee, taking control of Falam. At that point, as has happened in many conflict zones in other Burmese regions, the army began bombing from the air and using artillery. These bombings often indiscriminately hit homes, public buildings, and places of worship, as happened to Christ the King Church.

In February, the Myanmar army carried out air raids and damaged the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Mindat, in Chin State, that was intended to be the cathedral of the newly established Diocese of Mindat, erected on January 25 by Pope Francis.

According to the Chin Human Rights Organization, since 2021 at least 107 religious buildings, including 67 churches, have been destroyed in Chin State by army bombings.