The visit next week by Pope Francis to Myanmar and Bangladesh will, naturally, be full of spiritual fruitfulness, but it is also laced with political and religious sensitivity, as became clear last night when the Vatican issued several revisions to the schedule.
In accepting suggestions by Myanmar's cardinal, the Pope's spokesman Greg Burke said that Francis has added two private meetings to the schedule for his visit to Myanmar: one with religious leaders including Rohingya refugees and the other with the politically powerful commander of the military, General Min Aung Hlaing.
Around 90 per cent of Myanmar's population follows Theravada Buddhism, and Pope Francis already had a meeting scheduled with the Sangha supreme council, which oversees the Buddhist monks throughout the country. However, Myanmar also is home to Muslims, Hindus and followers of other Buddhist traditions, as well as Baptists, who far out-number Catholics in the country.
The General and his military have been strongly criticised by the international community for their campaign against the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority. While the military claims the crackdown is a response to violence, the UN has said that the crackdown is hugely disproportionate and amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Then there is the plea from Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, who not only suggested the Pope meet with the general, but has also publicly said that he urged Pope Francis not to use the word 'Rohingya' for fear of inciting Buddhist nationalists and the military. Burke told reporters in Rome that we will have to wait and see if that advice will be taken. Burke said the Pope took the advice seriously but added: 'We will find out together during the trip ... it is not a forbidden word'.
Representatives of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh will meet Pope Francis on December 1 in Dhaka during an interreligious and ecumenical meeting for peace, Burke confirmed.
Some 620,000 Rohingya have reportedly been driven from western Rakhine state to Bangladesh since August, prompting the allegations of ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority.
Francis will also meet the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in the capital Naypyitaw, on November 28 in an encounter that was already on the schedule.
In 2014, the Vatican canonised Myanmar's first saint, a religious teacher who was killed in 1950 while travelling in the eastern borderlands. In 2015, the country's first cardinal was named.
The establishment of full diplomatic ties with the Vatican in May this year paved the way for the Pope's visit.
Catholics from across the country, including remote, mountainous areas of Chin and Kachin states, are expected to descend upon Yangon for the papal visit, which will include two land-mark masses.
Below is the revised schedule for Pope Francis' visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Sunday, November 26 (Rome)
9:40 pm (local time 3:40 pm) Departure from Rome's Fiumicino airport.
Monday, November 27 (Yangon)
1:30 pm (2 am) Arrival at Yangon International Airport.
Tuesday, November 28 (Yangon, Naypyitaw, Yangon)
10 am (10:30 pm November 28) Private meeting at the archbishop's residence with religious leaders.
Mass in private.
2 pm (2:30 am) Departure by plane for Naypyitaw.
3:10 pm (3:40 am) Arrival at Naypyitaw airport.
3:50 pm (4:20 am) Welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace.
4 pm (4:30 am) Courtesy visit to Htin Kyaw, president of the republic, at the presidential palace.
4:30 pm (5 am) Meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, state counselor and foreign minister, the country's de facto leader.
5:15 pm (5:45 am) Meeting with government authorities, members of civil society and the diplomatic corps in the city's international convention center. Speech by pope.
6:20 pm (6:50 am) Departure by plane for Yangon.
7:25 pm (7:55 am) Arrival at Yangon airport, transfer to archbishop's residence.
Wednesday, November 29 (Yangon)
8:30 am (9 pm November 28) Mass at Kyaikkasan sports ground. Homily by pope.
4:15 pm (4:45 am) Meeting with the Sangha supreme council of Buddhist monks at the Kaba Aye pagoda. Speech by pope.
5:15 pm (5:45 am) Meeting with the bishops of Myanmar at St. Mary's Cathedral. Speech by pope.
Thursday, November 30 (Yangon, Dhaka)
Meeting (time unspecified) with military commander, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in the archbishop's residence.
10:15 am (10:45 pm Nov. 29) Mass with young people in St. Mary's Cathedral. Homily by pope.
12:45 pm (1:15 am) Farewell ceremony at Yangon International Airport.
1:05 pm (1:35 am) Departure by plane for Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3 pm (4 am) Arrival at Dhaka's international airport. Welcoming ceremony.
4 pm (5 am) Visit to national martyrs' memorial in town of Savar.
4:45 pm (5:45 am) Pay homage to the late-Sheik Mujibur Rahman, known as 'father of the nation,' at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.
5:30 pm (6:30 am) Courtesy visit to President Abdul Hamid at the presidential palace.
6 pm (7 am) Meeting with government authorities, members of civil society and the diplomatic corps in the presidential palace. Speech by pope.
Friday, December 1 (Dhaka)
10 am (11 pm November 30) Mass and ordination of priests in Suhrawardy Udyan park. Homily by pope.
3:20 pm (4:20 am) Visit with the country's prime minister at the apostolic nunciature.
4 pm (5 am) Visit the city's cathedral.
4:15 pm (5:15 am) Meeting with Bangladesh's bishops at a residence for elderly priests. Speech by pope.
5 pm (6 am) Interreligious and ecumenical meeting for peace in the garden of the archbishop's residence. Speech by pope.
Saturday, December 2 (Dhaka, Rome)
10 am (11 pm December 1) Private visit to the Mother Teresa House in the capital's Tejgaon neighborhood.
10:45 am (11:45 pm December 1) Meeting with priests, men and women religious, seminarians and novices at the Church of the Holy Rosary. Speech by pope.
11:45 am (12:45 am) Visit the parish cemetery and historic Church of the Holy Rosary.
3:20 pm (4:20 am) Meeting with young people at Notre Dame College. Speech by pope.
4:45 pm (5:45 am) Farewell ceremony at Dhaka International Airport.
5:05 pm (6:05 am) Departure by plane for Rome.
11 pm (5 pm) Arrival at Rome's Fiumicino airport.
