On his visit the pope appealed to Burma’s leading Buddhist monks to combat prejudice and intolerance, but left out any specific reference to the Rohingya.
“You don’t counter racism and prejudice by backing down to it,” Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told the Atlantic. “Already nationalists are gloating about the pope not using the word ‘Rohingya.’ His failure to use the word will only embolden those who want to expel all Rohingya from Myanmar.”