Pope Francis yesterday called for renewed efforts to forge peace on the Korean Peninsula and for both sides to avoid “fruitless” criticisms and shows of force, opening a five-day visit to South Korea with a message of reconciliation as North Korea fired five projectiles into the sea.
In the first speech of his first trip to Asia, Francis told South Korean President Park Geun-hye and government officials that peace required forgiveness, cooperation and mutual respect. He said diplomacy must be encouraged so that listening and dialogue replace “mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force.”
The Argentine pope spoke in English, the first English speech of his pontificate. Usually he speaks in Italian or his native Spanish, but the Vatican said he would deliver at least four speeches in English on the trip to accommodate his Asian audiences.
Photo: EPA
Neither Francis nor Park referred to the firings of the projectiles in their public remarks.
Organizers of the pope’s trip had invited a delegation of North Korean Catholics to attend his Aug. 18 Mass for peace and reconciliation at Seoul’s main cathedral. However, late last month, North Korean authorities told the organizers that they would not participate for various reasons, a Vatican spokesman said.
As he arrived at an airport just south of Seoul on the first papal visit in a quarter of a century, the pope shook hands with four relatives of victims of a South Korean ferry sinking that killed more than 300 and two descendants of Korean martyrs who died rather than renounce their faith. Francis plans to beatify 124 Korean martyrs who founded the church on the peninsula in the 18th century, hoping to give South Korea’s vibrant and growing church new models for holiness and evangelization.
Photo: EPA
Francis also sent an unprecedented message of good will to China before touching down in Seoul. The pontiff took advantage of protocol that sees him send messages to the leaders of any countries he flies over.
“Upon entering Chinese airspace, I extend best wishes to your excellency and your fellow citizens, and I invoke the divine blessings of peace and wellbeing on the nation,” he said in the radio message to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
However, the first papal trip to Asia in 15 years got off to a shaky start with the news some Chinese had been barred from joining a youth celebration.
About half of more than 100 Chinese who had planned to attend an Asian Youth Day event during the pope’s visit are unable to attend due to “a complicated situation inside China,” Heo Young-yeop, spokesman for the Committee for the Papal Visit to Korea, told reporters.
He declined to give further details, citing their safety.
Another organizer, who declined to be identified, said some of the would-be attendees had been arrested by Chinese authorities.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “noted” the Pope’s position, and repeated its position that Beijing was sincere about wanting to improve relations with the Vatican.
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