Following a military coup in Myanmar, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon has issued a plea for peace, asking his people to “stay calm” during what he terms a “period of darkness.” The cardinal says: “Peace is the only way. Democracy is the only light to that path.” He warns the military government that “people are tired of empty promises.” At the same time Cardinal Bo asks the international community to reconsider economic sanctions, which “risk collapsing the economy, throwing millions into poverty.”