Burmese (Myanmar) Community
Burmese Catholics have found a home at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Charlotte, one of the most diverse parishes in the diocese. There, the Charlotte Myanmar Catholic Community helps unite Catholics from Myanmar through worship and fellowship. Priests from the Archdiocese of Yangon and elsewhere regularly visit to offer Mass and the sacraments in their own language, either at the Charlotte church or in people’s homes.
Catholicism was planted in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) by Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century. Catholics in the country number about 700,000, about 1.3% of the population. Largely comprised of ethnic minorities, Catholics and other Christians have suffered discrimination and religious persecution for decades by the military regime that rules this predominantly Buddhist country.
Many Burmese have fled their homeland, arriving in Charlotte as immigrants or refugees – some resettled by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.
Pope Francis became the first pope to visit Burma in November 2017 and has repeatedly called for peace, particularly in the wake of a February 2021 coup by the military junta that toppled Myanmar’s budding democracy.