Diocese of Loikaw

“It is time to find true freedom and lasting peace by building reconciliation and giving up hatred, aggression, and hostility,” said Bishop Celso

Pope Francis named Monsignor Celso Ba Shwe to be the bishop of the Loikaw Diocese, Myanmar, on March 29.

Priests, nuns and some ethnic groups negotiated with the military council officials to release health workers arrested on November 23.

In the face of a health emergency, Myanmar’s military soldiers forcibly closed a church-run health center on November 22. The military personnel also robbed medical equipment from the clinic, driving the most vulnerable seeking medical assistance at a serious health risk.

Monsignor Celso Ba Shwe was named to the post last month after the death of Bishop Stephen Tjephe.

The Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Loikaw in Myanmar died on Wednesday, Dec. 16, after being in coma since Dec. 5. He was 65 years old.