Dialogue is always preferable to confrontation, Cardinal Dolan said. ”[But] my gut also tells me that you can’t negotiate with these people. It could be extraordinarily counterproductive.”

The pope told the public gathered in St. Peter's Square that he was joining his voice to that of the Asian nation's bishops in also calling for humanitarian corridors.

“No one is safe from their attacks. Anyone they are suspicious of, anyone they think are against them, they will arrest, they will torture and some of them are even shot to death.”

The appointment of Bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik as the new prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy is another major surprise in the Francis papacy.

Sister Nu Tawng describes a nation living in fear of its own government, where arrest may come at any time or for any reason.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said “the midnight attack made the hapless people flee to the jungle. Their fate is still not known to the outside world.”