LEGAL WARNING to Pope Francis I

CASE 36-2017: Catholic Archdiocese of Yangon (Myanmar) & His Eminence Cardinal Charles Maung Bo

LEGAL WARNING to Pope Francis I

Dear Vatican Government and Pope Francis I, following your various meetings with the de facto leaders in Myanmar, who are perpetrating the extermination of the Rohingya People, on December 30, 2017, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has the duty to point out that your visits have been a show of support and public revalidation to international criminals who are responsible for Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Crimes against Humanity, High Crimes Against Peace, Violations of International Human Rights Law and Violation of Buddhist Law.

While it is important that the Vatican Government has international relations with the countries of the world, its eagerness for power and influence cannot result in the enormous cost of maintaining silence or being an accomplice to human rights violations, so it is urgently requested the annulment of the public support that has been given to the civic-military dictators Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar, but it is also required that the Vatican publicly denounce Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes against Humanity that is being committed against the defenseless Rohingya People. In case to continue keeping silence in the face of the extermination of the Rohingya People, mostly babies, women and the elderly, there will be no doubt that the Vatican Government is being an accomplice to these international crimes. The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights considers it is a scandal that Pope Francis I supports and joins Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing, while refusing to receive the hundreds of thousands of victims of pedophile priests.

Accordingly, it is made and objection with regards to Pope Francis I's visit to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee led by Dr. Bhaddanta Kumarabhivamsa,  since it is an organization that has been sentenced for being complicit with genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and peace, discrimination, violation of the rights of women and children, violation of freedom of expression, violation of the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, arbitrary arrests and violation of Buddhist Law. The Vatican Government must cease associating with international criminals who are revalidated through its blessings, pleasant encounters, public support and complicit silences, so it should begin to denounce the world's evils, such as the extermination systematically suffered by the Rohingya People on the part of the dictatorial and genocidal government of Myanmar.

Unlike what Dr. Bhaddanta Kumarabhivamsa said during his meeting with Pope Francis I when he stated that they should exercise restraint and refrain from intervening in matters of other religions, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights considers that it is a duty of every spiritual master and ethical leader to criticize and denounce those religious groups that violate human rights and disrespect the intrinsic dignity of life. While the Maitriyana is in favor of building understanding and mutual support among all religions of the world, this should never happen with the cost of complicit silence to violations against the supreme human right to world peace and social justice. There is no doubt that the dictatorial and genocidal government of Myanmar is destroying the special ethical position that Buddhism has in the Universe, which seems to be doing it with the approval of the Vatican Government and Pope Francis I. Ergo, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights states that the alliance between the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the Vatican Government, led by Dr. Bhaddanta Kumarabhivamsa and Pope Francis I, would be betraying the fundamental principles taught by the great Awakened Ones and Saviors (Buddhas-Christs) of history, such as Masters Siddhartha Gautama and Jesus of Nazareth, who gave their lives to the Path of Spiritual Love toward all beings and never betrayed the Truth, since indifference and complicit silence never lead to peaceful coexistence between the States and Communities of the world. Effectively, when the Free and Enlightened Beings (Arhats-Bodhisattvas) denounce evil they are not carrying out intolerant acts, hate speech or false propaganda, but rather they are exercising the gift of the righteous and adequate word, fighting non-violently against the activities that contribute to the destruction of humankind. Although the Maitriyana is in favor of friendship, respect and love between the Buddhist People and the Christian Community, even developing the discipline of Buddhist Christianity, however it is denounced that the alliance between the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the Vatican Government is neither an opportunity for peace and justice nor to respect human dignity and integrity, but it is an alliance that only contributes to the ongoing covering up of the extermination against the Rohingya People, to whom even Pope Francis I accepted not to recognize their existence or name them while staying in Myanmar.

The Maitriyana appreciates that Pope Francis I has quoted and compared the teachings of Master Siddharta Gautama with Saint Francis of Assisi. However, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights states that complicit silence is a betrayal of both the teachings of Siddharta Gautama and Francis of Assisi, both declared as Awakened Beings (Buddhas) by the Maitriyana Spirituality. Certainly, genuine spiritual masters are not dedicated to simply quote nice phrases from other thinkers, but are dedicated to carry out acts-of-guidance, criticizing hatred and practicing kindness, criticizing violence and practicing forgiveness, criticizing evilness and practicing goodness, criticizing opulence and practicing generosity, criticizing lies and practicing the Truth. Unlike the alliance between the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the Vatican Government, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights is an instrument of peace, justice, knowledge and health in the world, so it never keeps complicit silence in the face of the four evils of war, injustice, ignorance and pollution. The Maitriyana brings light to a world where powerful groups bring darkness, because spiritual masters should give their lives to inspire and guide others through the Law of Truth, working with Active Contemplation, Compassionate Wisdom and Humanitarian Ethics so that the illusory divisions between all peoples can be vanished.

In conclusion, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights considers the alliance between the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the Vatican Government as an illicit association, for being an alliance aimed at keeping impunity and never seeking justice for the thousands of babies, children and women raped and killed by the government of Myanmar. In fact, the alliance between the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the Vatican Government must function as a beacon of light and hope through denouncing Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing before international tribunals. However, the alliance between the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee and the Vatican Government is positioned as the religious-moral endorsement and support to both civic-military dictators, betraying then the life of Self-sacrifice and Awakening that characterized Gautama and Jesus. In short, not only the rapists and murderers of the government of Myanmar are stained with the blood of the Rohingya People, but also all those religious groups that are keeping complicit silence to the sexual abuse and extermination of thousands of babies, children and women.

With a spirit of reconciliation (maitri),

Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

President and Spiritual Judge of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC) & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR)