Word: monke
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...fair, not every historical miracle was earth-shaking or, for that matter, without controversy. Consider St. Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao, whom Pope Benedict XVI canonized last December. Galvao, who died in 1822 (he was on the slow track) was a Franciscan monk in Sao Paolo who distributed "pills" that were actually folded bits of rice paper bearing the prayer: "After birth, the Virgin remained intact. Mother of God, intercede on our behalf." Believers swallowed them for various ailments. After Galvao's death, nuns in his monastery took up the pill production. According to England's Daily Telegraph...
...Khin Nyunt, the former head of military intelligence who was once hailed as a potential reformer for suggesting dialogue with long-imprisoned democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, now languishes under house arrest himself. Despite scattered reports of soldiers refusing to shoot against Buddhist monk-led demonstrators last week, most of the wide-eyed recruits obeyed orders. "Burma's military is a breed apart, and its biggest accomplishment is the sense of loyalty that it has bred," says Josef Silverstein, a Burma expert and professor emeritus at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "Few forces appear...
...could there be cracks developing in the army's cohesion? During the lead-up to last week's brutal suppression of the Buddhist monk-led demonstrators, exile groups buzzed with speculation that the junta's No. 2, General Maung Aye, was opposing any violence. Then, army troops opened fire, killing at least 10 people in Rangoon. On Sunday, democracy advocates regained a modicum of hope when visiting United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari was allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won elections in 1990 that the junta ignored. Exile websites wondered whether this meeting meant...
...protesters regrouped, though, and surged forward again. Minutes later, a tear-gas canister arced through the air toward the pagoda's eastern entrance. The monks retreated, many still armed with clubs of scavenged wood, one brandishing a riot shield he had snatched from the police. Suddenly, there was an enormous explosion: a clap of thunder. The demonstrators applauded this sign of cosmic solidarity. One monk raised his hands to the heavens, shouting "The rain is coming! The soldiers will be struck by lightning!" Nearby, a woman responded, "Lightning is not enough. They deserve more." A cheer went up with each...
...That sentiment echoes the wishes of many in the Buddhist clergy, who through the newly formed All-Burma Monks Alliance, have called for Suu Kyi's release and, even more dramatically, the junta's expulsion "from Burmese soil forever." "We must not retreat," vows a 23-year-old monk in Rangoon. "If we retreat, we fail." Historically, Buddhist clerics have been a key element of resistance in Burma, from British colonial days through the democracy rallies in 1988. But this time, the monks are not simply adding their moral authority to the movement; they are leading the protests. The shift...