S. Korea sending priests for Easter Mass in Pyongyang
N. Koreans would welcome visit Pope Francis, South Korean archbishop tells press after visit
The South Korean Catholic bishops who traveled to Pyongyang last week have announced that the South Korean Catholic Church will send priests to Changchung Cathedral in Pyongyang to hold Easter Mass with North Korean Catholics.
Their Pyongyang counterpart also told the South Korean archbishop that “North Korean Catholics are well aware of Pope Francis and the path he has walked,” and casually mentioned that a papal visit to Pyongyang would be “wonderful,” said the public relations office from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK).
“Unless the future inter-Korean relationship walks in unexpected paths, we should be able to send South Korean priests to Changchung Cathedral in Pyongyang to hold mass starting next Easter,” said Archbishop Kim Hee-jong of Gwangju, one those who visited Pyongyang.
The visiting committee, whose name roughly translates as the “Special Bishops’ Committee for Korean Reconciliation” consists of five bishops from Gwangju, Chuncheon, Daegu, Uijeongbu and Waegwan Abbey, in addition to 17 other priests and staff.
Kim has told the press that he and Yeom Soo-jung, the Archbishop of Seoul and Cardinal of Korea, had already agreed to send priests to North Korea even before the trip.
On his fourth day in Pyongyang, Kim led mass with around 70 North Korean Catholics at Changchung Cathedral and blessed the Catholic in attendance with the sacrament and communion, reads PBC’sreport.
Lee Young-sik, public relations officer at CBCK, told NK News that the framework for further interactions with North Korean Catholics is set, but the details are yet to be filled in.
“Archbishop Kim told his North Korean counterpart that despite 300 years of religious persecution in Japan, Catholics still lived their life of faith under the shadow,” said Lee.
“The archbishop expressed his belief that despite ongoing religious persecution, some or a few Catholics would be still living the life of faith secretly in North Korea.”
Lee added that talks on the pope’s visit to North Korea were only part of “casual asking and answering” between the South Korean archbishop and his Pyongyang counterpart part and should not be directly interpreted as firm statement.
Featured image: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK)
