Pope Francis
Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church is scheduled to visit South Korea on the 15th of August to pay his respects to the 300 high school students who were lost in the sinking of the ferry Sewol earlier this year. Yonhap News reported that the Pope will personally meet with families of deceased students to encourage them with the love of God.
The Korean Catholic Church leaders announced that Pope Francis will also be participating in a mass to celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary. This event will be an opportunity for parents, friends and families of the lost students of Danwon High School to personally meet with the religious leader and seek his advice and counsel.
Father Yung-up Bang, the head of the committee for the preparation for the Pope’s visit to South Korea explained to reporters that the Korean Catholic Church has already requested many of the victims’ family members to be present at the special mass which will be held on the 15th. The priest expressed that response from the families were extremely positive.
In addition to the victims of the ferry sinking, Korean Catholic leaders also announced that the Pope is planning to lead another mass at Myeong-dong Catholic Church on the 18th which will be focusing on peace and reconciliation in Korea and the world.
The church has invited Catholic leaders and priests from North Korea to also participate in the worship, but unfortunately they received a message that the North Korean priests and other leaders will be unable to be present. The committee however announced that the nothing regarding this worship is settled, and that there is still time for the North Korea church leaders to change their minds.
There will also be a performance by the worldly renowned soprano Sumi Jo during the mass for peace and reconciliation on the 18th.
Meanwhile, Sewol victim families are still expressing great disappointment at the Korean government and President Park for allowing the incident to happen and being unable to properly condemn those who were responsible. The famous singer Janh-hoon Kim, along with several progressive party members have started to fast at the port the Sewol initially left, urging the President to come and at least encourage the families.
