VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has offered to give refuge on Vatican territory to Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Italian media said on Tuesday.
"I asked for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and I met her son in Rome. I have proposed to the Vatican to give her shelter on our territory," the pope said according to an account of meetings with Jesuits in Asia during his trip there earlier this month.
The Corriere della Sera daily published an article by Italian priest Antonio Spadaro giving extracts from these private meetings, which took place in Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore between September 2 and 13.
"We cannot stay silent about the situation in Myanmar today. We must do something," the pope is reported as saying.
"The future of your country should be one of peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of everyone and respect for a democratic system that enables everyone to contribute to the common good."
Suu Kyi, 78, is serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges ranging from corruption to not respecting Covid pandemic restrictions.
In 2015, her National League for Democracy won Myanmar's first democratic election in 25 years.
She was arrested by the military when it staged a coup in 2021 and is said by local media to be suffering health problems in detention.
The 1991 Nobel Peace laureate was once hailed as a beacon for human rights.
But she fell from grace among international supporters in 2017, accused of doing nothing to stop the army persecuting the country's mainly Muslim Rohingya minority.
The crackdown is the subject of an ongoing United Nations genocide investigation and persecution continues, according to Rohingya refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Mainly Buddhist Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 coup, with the junta fighting both establish ethnic rebel groups and newer pro-democracy forces.
Pope offers refuge to Myanmar's jailed Suu Kyi
https://arab.news/gs865
Pope offers refuge to Myanmar's jailed Suu Kyi
- Suu Kyi, 78, is serving a 27-year prison sentence on charges ranging from corruption to not respecting Covid pandemic restrictions
In rare overlap, Chinese Muslims observe Ramadan with Lunar New Year
- Lunar New Year started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks
- Chinese Indonesians make up about 3 percent of the Indonesian population
JAKARTA: Every year, on the first day of Lunar New Year, Febriani visits relatives and gathers for a feast with her Chinese Muslim family, part of a long-standing tradition honoring their ethnic heritage.
But this year, as Thursday marks the beginning of Ramadan, she is celebrating two important occasions within the same week, in a rare overlap that last took place in 1995.
“I’m very happy and grateful that Lunar New Year and Ramadan are celebrated so closely. I observe both every year, so it’s truly special,” she told Arab News.
Widely observed across Asia, the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year festival is believed to date back to the 14th century B.C., to the times of the Shang Dynasty, China’s earliest ruling dynasty, when people celebrated good harvests.
In 2026, it started on Feb. 17 and is celebrated for another two weeks. For many, celebrations typically involve elaborate feasts, giving children pocket money in red envelopes, and watching dragon dance parades.
In Indonesia, Chinese-descent citizens make up an estimated 3 percent of the country’s Muslim-majority population of more than 280 million. While most are either Buddhists or Christians, a small minority professes Islam.
For 25-year-old Febriani, both Lunar New Year and Ramadan are equally meaningful.
“The two celebrations teach us to strengthen bonds, to share with one another, and to become closer to family,” she said.
“They are both important to me because they happen only once every year and they’re always an occasion to gather with the extended family. It is also a chance to self-reflect and strengthen relationships with your loved ones.”
For Naga Kunadi, whose family lives in Central Java’s Cepu district, Chinese New Year is all about embracing his ethnic identity.
Earlier in the week, his family was busy preparing for the new year’s feast, which was a fusion of Chinese and Indonesian dishes, such as claypot tofu, meatball soup and shumai, or steamed dumplings.
“To celebrate Chinese New Year, we prepared halal Chinese food at home. It’s also a way to introduce to my children the traditions from our Chinese side, but there’s a bit of a fusion because my wife is Javanese,” Kunadi told Arab News.
Kunadi, an Islamic teacher at the Lautze Mosque in Jakarta, sees both Chinese New Year and Ramadan as opportunities to teach important life values for his two children.
Upholding Chinese New Year traditions with his family is for him a way of preserving his ethnic heritage.
“We want to preserve cultural values as long as it does not clash with our religion,” he said.
“If we leave our culture behind, we might lose our identity, so this is something I want to teach my children.”
The fasting month of Ramadan, on the other hand, gives him a chance to teach and practice honesty.
“I want to focus on the religious and moral aspects during the holy month of Ramadan, when we practice honesty on a personal level,” Kunadi said.
“There’s always an opportunity to eat or snack in secret without anybody knowing, but we train ourselves not to do that. For me, Ramadan is a time for everyone to put honesty into practice, including myself and my children.”
