An appeal to the authorities of Myanmar to prevent “any recourse to violence, punish those who have participated in killings, end their siege of Buddhist monasteries and release all those arrested during the demonstrations: that is one of the most significant contents of the statement of the Czech bishops issued in recent days on the repression being perpetrated by the military regime in the former Burma. In their document, the bishops appeal “to all the leaders of the Burmese nation” to “respect the will of the people and immediately begin an unconditional dialogue with those who represent the reasonable demands of the majority of the Burmese people”. The Czech Bishops’ Conference expresses its solidarity with all those involved in the protests, accompanied “by the prayer that society in the Union of Myanmar may obtain what they desire: freedom and justice for everyone”. The appeal of the Czech bishops was expressed during the plenary assembly of the Bishops’ Conference, held in Prague on 9-10 October. The issues treated during the session included a presentation of the humanitarian activities of Czech Caritas, the budget for 2008 of the Bishops’ Conference, an analysis of the recent National Youth Day and preparations for WYD in Sydney. Thirteen bishops and two representatives of religious orders took part in the plenary, preceded by a study day on the revision of the translations of liturgical texts.
