Pope Francis to visit Myanmar in November

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar

Pope Francis will visit Myanmar in November, said the country's Catholic Bishops' Conference in a statement on Monday.

The statement said Pope Francis would visit Myanmar from Nov. 27 to 30, then Bangladesh from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

This would make this the first papal visit to Myanmar.

Pope Francis has regularly spoken out in defense of Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

He recently urged Myanmar to grant full rights to Rohingya Muslims.Deadly attacks on border posts in western Myanmar's Rakhine state broke out on Friday, resulting in mass civilian casualties, leaving over 100 dead.

Later, media reports emerged saying Myanmar security forces reportedly displaced thousands of Rohingya villagers blazing their homes with mortars and machine guns