Who is he?

Charles Maung Bo has been the Catholic archbishop of Yangon since 2003. He began his ecclesiastic career in 1976, serving as a priest and then prefect in Lashio in northern Shan State. He was elevated bishop of Lashio in 1990 and then served as the bishop of Pathein, west of Yangon, from 1996 to 2003. Bo has gained local and international attention since 2012 as a vocal critic of violence against Muslims in Myanmar and a champion of inter-religious dialogue. Myanmar has roughly 700,000 Catholics out of a population of more than 50 million. See Bo in action delivering a message on the Christian holiday of Easter to the people of Myanmar here.

Why is he in the news?

Pope Francis on January 4 appointed Bo to be Myanmar’s first Roman Catholic cardinal. He is one of 20 newly-appointed cardinals, and one of three from Asia, along with Thailand’s Xavier Kirengsak Kovithavanij and Vietnam’s Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon. The new appointees will travel to the Vatican on February 14 for an official ceremony to be installed as cardinals.

What can we expect from him?

In an interview on January 7, Bo said that he wants to use his new position to continue to promote religious tolerance in Myanmar and improve relations between religious groups, particularly Myanmar’s Buddhists and Muslims. He warned that although Buddhists and Christians in Myanmar have generally enjoyed good relations, there has been a resurgence of religious intolerance since the end of military rule in 2011 that threatens Myanmar’s religious minorities.