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Pope Francis Officiates Asian Youth Day Mass

2014-08-17 16:03:31

Pope Francis has urged young Christians in Asia to respond to those in need of help with their young energy, goodwill and optimism.
 
On the fourth day of his visit to South Korea on Sunday, the pontiff made the call during the closing Mass of the Sixth Asian Youth Day attended by some six thousand young people from 23 countries.
 
The pope called on young Catholics to turn their youthful optimism into Christian hope and their goodwill into self-sacrificing love. He asked the youth to be ambassadors in their own region and spread the Gospel throughout the continent. 
 
Earlier on Sunday morning, the pope spoke before some 70 Asian bishops at the Haemi sanctuary in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. He urged Asian Catholic leaders to open their minds and hearts with empathy and sincerity to others, calling for true communication to spread the Gospel.

He said that dialogue is an essential part of the mission for Asian churches throughout the continent, which is home to a great variety of cultures. The pontiff added that the church is called to be versatile and creative in her witness to the Gospel through dialogue and openness to all.

Pope Francis said that a clear sense of one's own identity and a capacity for empathy are the point of departure for all dialogue. He underlined that an awareness of "who we are, what God has done for us and what it is that he asks of us" is the starting point for all dialogues with different people or different cultures. He said that without awareness, a true dialogue is impossible.
 
On Monday afternoon, the pope is expected to give a message of peace for the Korean Peninsula at another Mass at Seoul's Myeongdong Cathedral, attended by elderly victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery. 

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a news briefing in Seoul on Saturday that the pope will meet with the surviving victims in person although it is not yet decided if the meeting will take place before or after the Mass.
 
After officiating the Mass at the Myeongdong Cathedral, Pope Francis will leave South Korea Monday afternoon, wrapping up his five-day trip to his first Asian destination.