Pope Francis has celebrated his first public mass in Myanmar, staunchly defending ethnic rights in a nation facing accusations of ethnic cleansing.

Some 150,000 followers attended the mass in the city of Yangon.

Francis referred to the "wounds of violence" from ethnic conflict but urged people to shun revenge, saying it was "not the way of Jesus".

He again avoided the term Rohingya, the Muslim community of whom 620,000 people have fled to Bangladesh since august.

Myanmar's government rejects the term Rohingya, Labelling the community "Bengalis". It says they migrated illegally from Bangladesh so should not be listed as one of the country's ethnic groups.

It also denies the accusations of ethnic cleansing and says the crackdown was to root out violent insurgents after deadly attacks on police posts by Rohingya militants.

Pope Francis had been warned by his catholic representatives in the country not to use the sensitive term Rohingya for fear of alienating the Buddhist majority and causing difficulties for the nation's 600,000 Catholics.

About 90% of Myanmar's Catholics come from ethnic minority groups and tens of thousands of devotees had travelled long distances to attend the mass at Yangon’s Kyaikkasan ground park.