St Patrick’s Cathedral in Kachin State, Myanmar has been “reduced to ashes” following an attack by troops working for the country’s military junta.
The attack happened just days before the celebration of the church’s namesake, St Patrick.
Locals have shared footage of the cathedral’s destruction with DVB English News.
Religious liberty organisation, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), has said that the incident is just the latest in a string of attacks on Christians and their property.
On 26 February military forces destroyed a priest’s home, diocesan offices and a high school, while on 6 February an airstrike in Chin State resulted in the destruction of Sacred Heart Church.
Another bombing raid on 3 March destroyed the pastoral centre at St Michael’s Catholic Church in Kachin State.
Christians are not the only ones being targeted. An airstrike on a Buddhist monastery on 16 March killed nine people, six of them monks.
Since 2023 the military government has been in conflict with rebel groups from different ethnic minority groups. The military has been heavily criticized for taking military action against the minority groups from which the rebel groups emerged.
CSW has accused the junta of carrying out “collective punishment” against minority groups in Chin, Kachin, Karen and Karenni States, areas which all have significant Christian populations in the otherwise heavily Buddhist country.
Mervyn Thomas, Founder President of CSW, said that by targeting religious buildings the junta is both destroying the “cultural and spiritual” foundation of local communities as well as destroying places of refuge for those displaced by the ongoing conflict.
He said, “The Myanmar junta's deliberate targeting of Christian communities and other religious groups represents an egregious violation of human rights and international humanitarian law.
"The international community must not stay silent in the face of this systematic campaign of collective punishment of religious minorities, and must make immediate efforts to disrupt the cycle of impunity and guarantee justice for those impacted.”
