Thousands travel to Yangon for Pope's diplomatically fraught trip
Pope Francis
YANGON (Reuters) - Thousands of Catholics gathered in Yangon on Monday after journeys by train and bus  excited to get a glimpse of  Pope Francis   who begins a trip to Myanmar fraught with diplomatic risk over its treatment of the minority Muslim Rohingya people.
Women from Kachin State wait outside the residence of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo  Archbishop of Yangon  where  Pope Francis  will be staying during  his  visit in Yangon  Myanmar November 27  2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
â He  is very knowledgeable when it comes to political affairs.  He  will handle the issue smartly â  he  said  referring to the delicacy of the popeâs discussions about the Rohingya.
The trip is so delicate that some papal advisers have warned  him  against even saying the word âRohingyaâ  lest  he  set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the Buddhist-majority countryâs military and government against minority Christians.
This poses a dilemma for  Francis  as  he  visits a country of 51 million people where only about 700 000 are Roman Catholics.
People wait outside the residence of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo  Archbishop of Yangon  where  Pope Francis  will be staying during  his  visit in Yangon  Myanmar November 27  2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
âSOMEONE SHOULD HAVE TALKED  HIM  OUT OF ITâ
The most tense moments of  his  visit are likely to be private meetings with the army chief  Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and  separately  civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
 Francis  will also visit Bangladesh during  his  Nov. 26-Dec. 2 trip  where  he  is expected to meet Rohingya refugees.
More than 150 000 people have registered for a mass that  Francis  will say in Yangon on Wednesday  according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.
Asked if he would say it in Myanmar  Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said  Francis  was taking the advice  he  had been given seriously  but added: âWe will find out together during the trip ... it is not a forbidden wordâ.
YANGON (Reuters) - Thousands of Catholics gathered in Yangon on Monday after journeys by train and bus  excited to get a glimpse of  Pope Francis   who begins a trip to Myanmar fraught with diplomatic risk over its treatment of the minority Muslim Rohingya people.
Women from Kachin State wait outside the residence of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo  Archbishop of Yangon  where   [TGT] will be staying during   [TGT]   visit in Yangon  Myanmar November 27  2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
â He  is very knowledgeable when it comes to political affairs.  He  will handle the issue smartly â  he  said  referring to the delicacy of the popeâs discussions about the Rohingya.
The trip is so delicate that some papal advisers have warned  him  against even saying the word âRohingyaâ  lest  he  set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the Buddhist-majority countryâs military and government against minority Christians.
This poses a dilemma for  Francis  as  he  visits a country of 51 million people where only about 700 000 are Roman Catholics.
People wait outside the residence of Cardinal Charles Maung Bo  Archbishop of Yangon  where   [TGT] will be staying during   [TGT]   visit in Yangon  Myanmar November 27  2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
âSOMEONE SHOULD HAVE TALKED  HIM  OUT OF ITâ
The most tense moments of  his  visit are likely to be private meetings with the army chief  Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and  separately  civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
 Francis  will also visit Bangladesh during  his  Nov. 26-Dec. 2 trip  where  he  is expected to meet Rohingya refugees.
More than 150 000 people have registered for a mass that  Francis  will say in Yangon on Wednesday  according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.
Asked if he would say it in Myanmar  Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said  Francis  was taking the advice  he  had been given seriously  but added: âWe will find out together during the trip ... it is not a forbidden wordâ.