Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Archdiocese of Mandalay
Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - More than 5,000 people, despite the dangers and general violence, gathered in the village of Pyin Oo Lwin to pay their last respects to Catholic priest Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, who was brutally murdered on February 14 in his parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Archdiocese of Mandalay (see Fides, 15/2/2025). The mountain village of Pyin Oo Lwin is the birthplace of Father Donald, where his family lives. There, priests, religious, faithful gathered around the Archbishop of Mandalay, Marco Tin Win, in the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to celebrate the funeral mass and offer consolation to Father Donald's family, who attended the funeral mass. The moving participation of the people, according to Fides sources present at the celebration, set the scene for the Mass during which the Archbishop read the message of the Apostolic Nunciature in Yangon and the condolences of the Bishops' Conference of Myanmar, which express deep and sincere solidarity with the local population (see Fides, 17/2/2025).
Archbishop Marco Tin Win, who presided over the Eucharist, urged the faithful to wake up, "because violence only brings death and destruction, it is always a defeat", and he made a heartfelt appeal "to all armed groups and actors involved in the conflict to lay down their weapons and take a path of peace and reconciliation". He then entrusted Father Donald, his family and the entire community present to the loving hands of the Virgin Mary: "May Our Lady accompany him to paradise and protect all under her mantle, giving comfort and hope," said the Archbishop.
The local community is asking about the reasons for the senseless murder of a priest who devoted himself with ardour to others. According to local sources, Father Donald was particularly involved in organizing educational work for children and young people in the area around his parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, where he was the first parish priest and where about 40 Catholic families live. Faced with civil war, violence and displacement, schools are closed, there are no teachers and only informal classes given voluntarily by priests, religious and catechists ensure a minimum level of continuity in the education of children and young people.
The area is controlled by the People's Defence Force (PDF), which is fighting against the military junta. The leadership of these forces has been asked to investigate the armed groups that attacked and murdered the priest. The militias, meanwhile, have arrested ten men from the village of Kan Gyi Taw, where Father Donald was murdered. The People's Defense Forces, according to Fides sources, are themselves interested in identifying and punishing the culprits and have transferred those arrested to a court set up by the People's Defense Force in the areas currently defined as "liberated areas", that is, not under the control of the Burmese government. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 17/2/2025)
