Pope Francis has called for forgiveness on the Korean Peninsula as a way to open the door to reconciliation.
 
The pope made the call on his last day in South Korea during a Mass for Peace and Reconciliation held Monday at Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral, noting that the Korean people have experienced division and conflict for well over sixty years.
 
The pontiff then gave specific advice on inter-Korean relations urging people to pray for new opportunities for dialogue, encounters and resolving differences. He also encouraged them to pray for the continued opportunity to provide humanitarian assistance, as well as for the recognition that all Koreans are members of one family.

Some one-thousand people attended the Mass, including seven victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery and five North Korean defectors.
 
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. 
 
Along with some of her Cabinet ministers, President Park Geun-hye was invited to the event.
 
Ahead of the Mass, the pope met with Christian and Buddhist leaders, saying they are all brothers who should walk together.
 
Among the religious leaders who attended Monday were Venerable Jaseung, the head of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and Kim Young-ju, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea.
 
Wrapping up his five day stay and his first trip to Asia, the pope will head to Seoul Air Base early Monday afternoon to depart for Rome.