Pope meets Myanmar's military chief in shadow of Rohingya crisis

Pope Francis held talks on Monday with Myanmar's military chief at the start of a delicate visit to a majority-Buddhist country that the United States has accused of "ethnic cleansing" against its Rohingya people.

Myanmar's army has denied accusations of murder, rape, torture and forced displacement that have been made against it.

The pope's first meeting in Yangon was with military commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in St Mary's Cathedral in the heart of the Southeast Asian nation's largest city.

"They discussed the great responsibility of authorities of the country in this time of transition," Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said after the 15 minutes of talks, which were followed by an exchange of gifts.

Francis presented the general with a commemorative medal of his visit, and Min Aung Hlaing gave the pope a harp in the shape of a boat and an ornate rice bowl, Burke said.

The army chief told the pope that "there's no religious discrimination in Myanmar and there's the freedom of religion," according to a statement on the Facebook page of Min Aung Hlaing. "Every soldier's goal is to build a stable and peaceful country," the army chief was paraphrased as saying in the statement.

Members of ethnic minority groups in traditional dress welcomed Francis at Yangon airport, and children presented him with flowers as he stepped off his plane.

He waved through an open window at dozens of children waving Vatican and Myanmar flags and wearing T-shirts with the motto of the trip, "love and peace," as he set off in a car.

Only about 700,000 of Myanmar's 51 million people are Roman Catholic. Thousands of them travelled by train and bus to Yangon, and they joined crowds at several roadside points along the way from the airport to catch a glimpse of the pope.

More than 150,000 people have registered for a mass that Francis will say in Yangon on Wednesday, according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.

"We come here to see the Holy Father. It happens once in hundreds of years," said Win Min Set, a community leader who brought a group of 1,800 Catholics from the south and west of the country.

"He is very knowledgeable when it comes to political affairs. He will handle the issue smartly," he said, referring to the sensitivity of the pope's discussions about the Rohingya.

Large numbers of riot police were mobilised in Yangon but there were no signs of any protests.