Myanmar’s Catholic Church leader, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, said he might open an account on Twitter after his office discovered posts on the popular social media platform using his name.
“I have never used Twitter. One person, perhaps out of good will, used my photo and my name, quoting some of my statements,” said the cardinal in a message forwarded to LiCAS.news.
Cardinal Bo said whoever used his statements on social media “was quoting some good points.”
“I thank that person,” he said in the message on March 12.
“But I shall be using perhaps my own Twitter myself,” added the cardinal who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
The cardinal earlier asked Twitter to delete an account that has been using his name.
When the account went down, however, some media organizations reported that the Myanmar military junta was responsible for it.
Pontifical Mission Societies news site Agenzia Fides said it was Cardinal Bo himself who asked the social media network to delete the account, as it was wrongly attributed to the archbishop.
Cardinal Bo’s secretary confirmed to Agenzia Fides that “the cardinal has neither a Facebook nor a Twitter account” and that none of the posts published were attributable to the cardinal.
Tweets allegedly from Cardinal Bo were cited by the media around the world, including comments on a photograph of a Catholic nun kneeling in front of armed policemen and soldiers.
Agenzia Fides said the cardinal who resides in Yangon does not make any public statements except for his Sunday homilies.
On March 10, Cardinal Bo addressed the Global Day of Prayer for Myanmar in a video message where he expressed his thanks to the international community for their prayers and support for the people of Myanmar.
In the message, the cardinal appealed for more prayers so that Myanmar’s military will “lay down their weapons” and “stop attacking the people.”
Myanmar’s military wrestled power from elected political officials in a coup on Feb. 1.
Since then, for more than a month already, people, including priests, nuns, religious, and seminarians have been holding protest marches and demonstrations.
The cardinal described the situation in Myanmar as entering a “dark time,” adding that “many people were killed on the streets.”
In his video message, which was released by LiCAS.news and Radio Veritas Asia, Cardinal Bo said that the military coup brought Myanmar back to the “nightmare of military oppression, cruelty, violence and dictatorship.”
The Global Day of Prayer for Myanmar was launched by the group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
More than 70 people have reportedly been killed by security forces since the coup. - LiCAS.news and Radio Veritas Asia
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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