An American scholar says that Pope Francis’ trip to South Korea will have the effect of presenting the country’s Catholic Church as a model of evangelization.

Franklin Rausch, an assistant professor at Lander University in the Department of History and Philosophy, presented the view in the Wednesday online edition of CNN.

Rausch viewed that the Catholic Church in Korea enjoys a high level of respect from non-Catholics, maintains good relations with other religious communities, and has a history of positive social engagement for the common good.

He said that the papal trip will recognize these accomplishments and serve to hold up the Korean Catholic Church as a model of evangelization.

Regarding the pope’s plan to celebrate the sixth Asian Youth Day and beatify 124 Korean martyrs, Rausch said that it makes sense to highlight an Asian success story and encourage the Asian youth to continue that growth, because Asia has the greatest potential for the growth of Catholicism.

Rausch earned his doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia with his study on the history of Catholicism in Korea. He taught a course on Modern East Asia this summer as part of Kyungpook National University's Global Summer School in Daegu.