A Catholic diocese in Myanmar, Burma, a Southeast Asian nation, has unveiled the country’s first statue of teenage St. Carlo Acutis, offering a message of hope to young people growing up amid civil war, displacement, and forced conscription.
According to a Jan. 20 report by the Vatican missionary agency Fides, the statue was unveiled at the Cathedral of St. Columbanus in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State — a region that has seen heavy fighting between the military and armed resistance groups. Bishop John Mung-ngawn La Sam of the Diocese of Myitkyina presided over the statue’s inauguration.
Father John Aung Htoi, a priest of the diocese, said the statue was intended to present St. Carlo as a model for young Catholics navigating life in a country scarred by conflict.
“Young people in Myanmar face many social and moral threats, including drugs, violence, crime, and the misuse of social media in a context lacking legal protections,” he said. “Therefore, they are frightened and seek points of reference such as the teachings of the Church. They need to trust in institutions like the Catholic Church, which has solid foundations and encourages them to build their lives on the rock that is Christ Himself.”
According to the Fides report, in conflict-affected regions, adolescents and young people are among the most vulnerable, with many living on the streets, orphaned, or without family protection, raising concerns about the risk of a “lost generation.”
Fr. Htoi added that the Church is trying, despite the conflict, to accompany young people “step by step.”
St. Carlo, an Italian teenager who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, is known for his devotion to the Eucharist and for using digital media to create an online catalog of Eucharistic miracles. Pope Leo XIV canonized him in September 2025.
“The intention behind the statue is that young people can learn from Carlo Acutis how to bear witness to the faith in their lives, even in times of trial, especially during this difficult time the nation is experiencing,” Fr. Htoi said.
Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since the military overthrew the elected civilian government in February 2021, ending a decade-long experiment with partial democracy, according to the Fides report.
The United Nations’ 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan estimates that the conflict has displaced about 3.6 million people, with the number projected to rise to roughly 4 million this year.
Church-run programs have sought to respond to the crisis. In the Archdiocese of Mandalay, Salesian missionaries operate the Don Bosco Youth Center, founded in 2014, which houses about 60 adolescents and young adults from difficult backgrounds, providing shelter, education, and vocational training, Fides reported.
The situation for youth worsened after the military enacted a conscription law in 2024. According to Fides, Church officials say about 60,000 young men have been forcibly recruited and sent to front-line areas, while nearly 100,000 others have gone into hiding or fled abroad, mainly to neighboring Thailand.
Young people between the ages of 15 and 35 make up roughly one-third of Myanmar’s population of about 60 million. Many had experienced greater personal freedoms in the decade before the coup, and church leaders say the sudden loss of democratic rights has had a lasting personal and political impact on a generation now growing up amid war.
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