Yangon, the commercial capital of Myanmar, is preparing for Pope Francis, whose arrival on Monday will mark the first visit of a pontiff to the Buddhist-majority nation. He will deliver two masses in Yangon on Wednesday and Thursday, before travelling to Bangladesh to meet Rohingya refugees. More than 620,000 Rohingya have fled their homes in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state since August, arriving in neighbouring Bangladesh with stories of massacres, gang rape and arson by soldiers and local Buddhists. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Catholics from Kachin state on their two-day train journey from Myitkyina to Yangon to see Pope Francis. Francis also recently met Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general who headed an advisory commission that issued recommendations for Rakhine state that have been largely accepted by authorities, he said.

Source: The Guardian November 26, 2017 14:41 UTC