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Pope Stresses Forgiveness is Door to Reconciliation

2014-08-18 11:15:13

Pope Francis has called for forgiveness on the Korean Peninsula as a way to open the door to reconciliation and peace during a Mass on Monday at Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral.
 
On his last day in South Korea, the pope noted that the Korean people have experienced division and conflict for well over sixty years, saying that a change of heart can alter the course of history.
 
He then challenged the Korean people to reject suspicions, confrontation and competition and instead create a new culture formed by the teachings from the Gospel and Korea’s traditional values.
 
Some one-thousand people attended the Mass with President Park Geun-hye officially invited along with some of her Cabinet ministers.
 
Seven victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery and five North Korean defectors also attended the Mass.

Others in attendance included laid-off workers of Ssangyong Motor Company, residents of Jeju Island’s Gangjeong Village where a protested naval base is being constructed and victims of the 2009 Yongsan disaster. 
 
After the mass, the pope will head to the Seoul Air Base to depart for Rome at 1 p.m.