On the eve of a two-week visit to the UK by Burma’s first cardinal, Richard Cockett talks to him about hopes for peace in the troubled country

There are few people who embody the Catholic tradition in Burma (Myanmar) as fully as Charles Maung Bo, who in February last year became the country’s first-ever cardinal. Sitting in his office in Archbishop’s House behind Rangoon’s (Yangon’s) imposing red-brick St Mary’s Cathedral, this gregarious, engaging prince of the Church recounts the dynastic roots of his faith. He was born in 1948 in a village in Sagaing Division, just north of what was then the country’s second city, Mandalay.

His ancestors were among the first Burmans – the majority ethnic group in the country – to be converted to Catholicism by the Portuguese, the earliest Europeans to arrive in the country 500 years ago. His family were devout Catholics, and he was brought up in a very Catholic environment; two of his brothers also tried vocations to the priesthood. His father died when he was two, and he was brought up by his mother. He remembers that she said her prayers every day.