The Significance of Pope Francis’ visit to Korea

The Significance of Pope Francis’ visit to Korea

The focus of Pope Francis’ visit to Korea during the 6th Asian Youth Day, is to meet with the Asian youth, to celebrate the Beatification Mass for the 124 Korean martyrs and to celebrate a special Mass for Peace and Reconciliation.  During this historic visit, He will lead the Asian Catholic Community in celebrating the past, embracing the present and blessing the future, according to the Most Rev. Gyuman Basil Cho, Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Seoul.

This visit marks the 1st time a Roman Pontiff has visited Korea in 25 years when St. Pope John Paul II visited the Korean Peninsula for a Eucharistic Congress in 1989. The official theme 'Arise, Shine (Isa 60:1),' will serve to encourage the rapid growth in faith in the country and give hope to those suffering economic hardship while promoting Peace and Reconciliation, between North and South Korea.

The Beatification Mass that will be celebrated on August 15 will be for the 124 Korean martyrs who died for their Faith. Over 100 years, more than 10,000 believers suffered persecution. They were tortured, beheaded, hung or drowned. The 124 Korean martyrs that will be Beautified includes high-class scholar, Jichoong Yoon, who gave up his privilege to live by faith. All classes of men and women were included in the persecution. According to Professor Kwang Cho, the best known historian of the Korean Catholic Church, 'Korean  martyrs were proactive. They arose, shined and gave God  the glory. Catholics, especially from the lower classes, were taking themselves as nobility carrying on God’s Holy Missions.'  

For example, Il-Kwang (Simon) Hwang was the butcher who was respected greatly in the community regardless of his low status. This was completely counter-cultural in the neo-Confucian ideal society and thus punishable by the law of that time. Despite extreme torture, Hwang retained his cheerful spirit. He declared, 'There are 2 heavens. One is in our community and the other is the one after life.'

The Spirit of Martyrdom survived a long series of persecutions and has been the root and driving force of the Korean Catholic Church. Their firm faith, community spirit and charity work have had a great impact on the Korea society. The most distinctive feature of the Korean Church is that it is founded by the laity, and flourished through the many sacrifices of the martyrs. When Father James Zu Mun-Mo (Zhou Wen-Mo) from China, the 1st Catholic priest dispatched to Korea, arrived at the request of the Korean Church group, there were already 4000 members. When a warrant was issued to Fr. Zu’s arrest he refuse to escape to China and suffered martyrdom with his fellow Catholics.  

Despite the growing faith in Korea, both Church and Society are not without their problems. Koreans are dealing with a new set of social issues that challenge our faith and hope for the future. A high rate of suicide, divorce and unemployment affect the youth in Asia. Conflicts between North and South Korea are still threatening our peace in the Peninsula and the East Asia and truly testing the faith of the people.

Pope Francis has mentioned to not to be afraid of going outside our ways of thinking in order to follow God because God always goes beyond. We all count down the days for his soulful messages of peace and hope to arrive.

By Jeun Marie Lee, editor at Salt + Light

http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/general/the-significance-of-pope-francis-visit-to-korea


North Korea rejects offer to attend Mass given by Pope Francis in Seoul

North Korea has apparently declined an invitation to send Catholic believers to a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Seoul later this month, a South Korean Church official said.

Pope Francis is to conduct a special Korean Reconciliation Mass in Seoul on the last day of his visit to South Korea between 14~18 August, and church officials in the South had sent several requests to Pyongyang to send a Group of Catholics to attend.

But the day of the mass coincides with the Launch of the Annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian Joint Military Drill, which the North has condemned as a rehearsal for nuclear war.

The Catholic Church, like any other religion, is only allowed to operate in North Korea under extremely tight restrictions, and within the confines of the state-controlled KCA. It has no hierarchical links with the Vatican and there are no known Catholic priests or nuns.
The KCA claims 3,000 followers in the North but outside estimates put the figure at around 800. Some analysts believe the organisation is intended to give the impression that North Korea allows religious freedom, which defectors say does not exist in the secretive state.

A recent comprehensive report compiled by a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights in North Korea concluded that practising Christianity outside the state-sanctioned church amounted to a “political crime”.

The Pope’s Final Mass, to be held in Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral, will focus on a Message of Peace and Reconciliation for the Korean Peninsula.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/06/north-korea-rejects-mass-pope-francis-seoul

Pope Francis chooses ‘Fraternity’ as the Theme for World Peace Day

For the 1st Peace Day Message of his pontificate, Pope Francis has chosen the theme: 'Fraternity, the foundation and pathway to Peace.'

The message released by the Vatican said that an overemphasis on 'personal well-being' and general indifference have eroded any sense of responsibility toward others.

Announcing the theme for the celebration scheduled for New Year’s Day 2014, the Vatican said Pope Francis’s Message will stress "the need to combat the ‘throwaway culture’ and to promote instead a ‘culture of encounter,’ in order to build a more just and peaceful world.”

As Children of One Father, all human beings are linked to one another in Fraternity, and only efforts that are born from a sense of fraternity can overcome the poverty, conflict, inequality, crime, fundamentalism and other ills facing the world today, the Vatican note said.

It continued: 'The culture of personal well-being leads to a loss of the sense of responsibility and fraternal relationship…Not uncommonly, the poor and the needy are regarded as a ‘burden,’ a hindrance to development. At most, they are considered as recipients of aid or compassionate assistance.'

Everyone needs to be seen as a brother or sister, who is 'called to share the gifts of creation, the goods of progress and culture,' it said.

Fraternity is both a gift and a responsibility each human being receives from God the Father, who calls people to fight against 'inequality and poverty that undermine the social fabric, to take care of every person, especially the weakest and most defenseless, to love him or her as oneself with the very heart of Jesus Christ,' the Vatican communique said.

As the world becomes more and more interdependent, mutual responsibility becomes more essential in every field, 'including the economy, finance, civil society, politics, research, development, and public and cultural institutions,' it said.

The Vatican added that Pope Francis’ message is 'in continuity with that of his predecessors,' and 'proposes to everyone the pathway of fraternity, in order to give the world a more human face.'

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/08/02/pope-francis-chooses-fraternity-as-the-theme-for-world-peace-day/

It's good to hear that Pope Francis visit South Korea and Asia regions in August. Current Situations of the world are changing rapidly that every moment worldwide religious leaders' activities have very significant influences on World Peace. Especially Korea is located at the Far East in the Korean Peninsula which is divided into North and South. At this crucial moment for stability and Peace in Korea, Pope's visiting Korea is very encouraging affairs not only in religious issues but also in political ones. So we hope that Pope's Peace Messages will resound through Korean Peninsula to bring Peace and unification in Korea at last. Through Korea's Unification World Peace shall come true on the earth.