Vatican City, September 16, 2023 (KAP) Pope Francis hopes for “peace on the Korean Peninsula, which is always in my thoughts and prayers.” He said this on Saturday, in a meeting with pilgrims from Korea on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon (1821-1846). He was Korea’s first priest and was killed because of his faith. A statue of the Korean martyr was placed in one of the outer niches of St. Peter’s Basilica.
In his speech, the Pope emphasized that the saint is “a prophecy for the Korean peninsula and for the entire world. And encourages us to be companions and witnesses of reconciliation; the saint is the credible witness that the future will not be the same.” violence of weapons, but rather with the soft power of proximity.”
Francis visited South Korea in 2014. With an 11 percent Catholic population, the country is one of the strongholds of the Catholic Church in East Asia. The Vatican never recognized the de facto division of Korea into two states after World War II and to this day only talks about Korea. North and South Korea have been officially at war since 1950; the Korean War only ended with an armistice in 1953. World Catholic Youth Day will take place in the South Korean capital, Seoul, in 2017.