Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Myanmar on Thursday with a Mass for young people before heading to neighboring Bangladesh where the Muslim Rohingya refugee crisis was expected to take center stage. The Vatican has defended Francis' silence, saying the pope wants to "build bridges" with the predominantly Buddhist nation. While he called in his first major speech on Tuesday for all of Myanmar's ethnic groups to have their human rights respected, his failure to specify the Rohingya crisis on Myanmar soil drew criticism from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Rohingya themselves. In his final event in Myanmar, Francis celebrated Mass in Yangon's St. Mary's Cathedral for young Catholics. Francis told them to not be afraid to make their voices heard.

Source: ABC News November 30, 2017 04:52 UTC