Pope Francis has called for the release of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and offered to host her on Vatican soil, during a recent conversation with Jesuits in Asia reported Tuesday by an Italian daily.
“I asked for the release of Mr.me “Aung San Suu Kyi and I received her son in Rome. I proposed to the Vatican to welcome him to our territory,” the pope said, according to comments taken from conversations during his recent trip to Southeast Asia, from September 2 to 13.
The Italian daily The Corriere della Sera published excerpts from the content of the meetings, which were held privately in Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore, in an article on Tuesday by Father Antonio Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit based in Rome who is close to the pope and is attending.
“Today in Myanmar we cannot remain silent: something must be done!” said the Pope, who visited the country in November 2017.
“The future of your country must be a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of all, on respect for a democratic order that allows everyone to contribute to the common good,” he added.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 79, a 1991 Nobel laureate, is serving a 27-year sentence for a series of criminal convictions ranging from corruption to flouting COVID-19 restrictions.
She has been largely out of the public eye since her arrest by the military when they seized power in a coup in 2021, and has been struggling with health problems, according to local press.
“Maymay would express her gratitude to the Pope,” her son says
No junta spokesman could be reached for comment on Pope Francis’ offer.
Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, told AFP he was sure his mother would be grateful for the offer. “I am sure Maymay would express her gratitude to Pope Francis for urging the military junta to release her and for his offer to give her refuge in the Vatican,” he said, using a Burmese word for his mother.
“However, I doubt that the junta will consider such a request, as it continues to fear Maymay’s popularity among the Burmese people, even outside the country,” he added.
Since the 2021 coup, which ended a ten-year democratic period in Myanmar, the military junta has been engaged in a deadly war against several rebellions from the opposition and ethnic minorities.
In recent months, more than 3 million people have been displaced by the violence, according to the UN.