The policy of Burma's Strongman General Ne Win is to "purify" his country of alien influence by ousting foreign businessmen, teachers and journalists. Now it is the missionaries' turn. This week the last non-Burmese Protestant ministers, their stay permits having expired, will leave the country; by the end of the year, all foreign-born Roman Catholic priests and nuns will also be forced out.
Catholic missionaries made a fruitless attempt to acquire converts in Burma during the 16th century, but Christianity did not really gain a foothold until 1722, when two Barnabite priests from Italy started preaching in Ava and Pegu....
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