RIP Bishop John Hsane Hgyi - Catholic Bishop Dies in Myanmar from COVID

CBCP Release: A Catholic bishop was one of the more than 200 fatalities from the coronavirus in Myanmar on Thursday, according to Radio Veritas Asia. Bishop John Hsane Hgyi of Pathein succumbed to the disease at the age of 67. The prelate was reportedly suffering from diabetes when he contracted Covid-19 early this week. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar expressed sorrow over the death of Bishop Hsane Hgyi, who led Catholics “to moral support and spiritual strength in this time of crisis”. “He has fought the good fight. He has finished the race. He has kept the faith leaving us an example to imitate,” Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, CBCM President, said. “We give thanks to God for Bishop John’s life and commitment to the people entrusted to his care,” he said. 

 Bishop Hsane Hgyi was born on December 15, 1953 in Pyingadoe Mayanchaung and ordained a priest in 1982. In January 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed him as auxiliary bishop of Pathein and in May of that same year, as bishop of Pathein. He was a priest for 39 years and a bishop for 18 years. The bishop served as CBCP president from 2012 to 2014. As head of the episcopal conference, he was a member of the central committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. From 2007 to 2012, he served as a bishop member of the FABC Office of Ecumenical and Interreglious Affairs (OEIA). 

 Myanmar reported 6,093 new coronavirus cases Thursday with 247 deaths as the nation is facing a third wave of Covid-19. Covid-19 cases have more than doubled every week in recent weeks, reaching more than 246,000 cases and 5,814 deaths. On July 18, a missionary priest assigned in the Yangon archdiocese also died of Covid-19. Fr. Alexander Thein Kyaw of the Order of Servants of Mary congregation was the first priest from the archdiocese to die of the disease.

FULL TEXT Source: CBCP News from the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines