Pope Francis will travel to Myanmar and Bangladesh later this year for a landmark visit set to focus international attention on the plight of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority. 


The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics will be in Myanmar during November 27-30 and in neighbouring Bangladesh during November 30-December 2, the Vatican announced on Monday. 


The visit to Myanmar will be the first by any pope to the country formerly known as Burma. Former Pope John Paul II visited Bangladesh in 1986. 


Francis has regularly spoken out in defence of the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim group in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar

Source: NNA