Pope Francis is meeting Tuesday with Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a day after the country's military chief said he told the pontiff that there is "no religious discrimination" in Myanmar.
The United Nations and the United States have accused Myanmar's military of "ethnic cleansing" in violence against Rohingya Muslims, and Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has faced criticism for her response to the crisis.
"We can't say whether it has happened or not," she said last week when asked about rights abuses. "As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won't happen."
Pope Francis met with the military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, on Monday as he began his trip to the southeast Asian country to discuss the violence in Rakhine state that has caused over 620,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.
"Myanmar has no religious discrimination at all," Min Aung Hlaing said in a Facebook post by his office. "Likewise our military too... (it) performs for the peace and stability of the country."
After the 15 minute meeting, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the two "discussed the great responsibility of authorities of the country in this time of transition" before exchanging gifts.
Thousands of Myanmar's nearly 700,000 Catholics traveled to greet the Pope as he landed in Yangon, and more than 150,000 have registered to attend a Mass he will hold on Wednesday, according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.
罗马天主教宗方济各星期二与缅甸文职领导人昂山素季见面。一天前，缅甸的军事首脑说，他告诉教宗方济各，缅甸没有宗教歧视。
联合国和美国指称缅甸军队对罗兴亚穆斯林展开暴力的种族清洗。诺贝尔和平奖得主昂山素季由于她对这场危机的反应而面临批评。
昂山素季上星期被问到侵犯人权的问题时回答说：“我们不能说这究竟是否真地发生了。作为政府，我们有责任确保它将不会发生。”
教宗方济各星期一开始访问缅甸，当天会见了缅甸军事首脑敏昂莱。方济各要讨论缅甸若开邦的暴力。暴力导致62万多罗兴亚人逃到临近的孟加拉国。
缅甸国防军总司令敏昂莱(Min Aung Hlaing)大将在他的官方脸书上发文说：“缅甸根本没有宗教歧视，我们军队也是一样，所做的是维护国家的和平与稳定。”
15分钟的会晤结束之后，梵蒂冈发言人格雷格·伯克说，他们二人 “谈到了国家政权在这个过渡时期肩负的重大责任”，随后互赠礼物。
缅甸天主教会发言人马里亚诺·索·奈英说，缅甸将近70万天主教徒中有成千上万人星期一到仰光欢迎教宗方济各乘飞机抵达，超过15万人登记参加教宗星期三的布道。