Pope meets with South Korean bishops, offers prayer for North Koreans

Published: 2007-12-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI offered his prayers for the people of North Korea and praised the people of South Korea for the efforts they have made to promote reconciliation with the North and to alleviate suffering there. The pope met Dec. 3 with the bishops of South Korea and the bishop of Mongolia, who were making their "ad limina" visits to report on the status of their dioceses. Bishop John Chang-yik of Chuncheon, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, thanked Pope Benedict for his repeated appeals "to help our tragically divided nation achieve full reconciliation and a true lasting peace." Recalling Pope John Paul II's 1984 and 1989 trips to South Korea, the bishop said the trips "lent a decisive impetus to evangelization for all the Koreans." "Would Your Holiness, God willing, also graciously consider visiting us? It would again mean so very much for all of our people and our neighbors," the bishop said. Pope Benedict did not respond to the invitation publicly, but he encouraged the bishops to strengthen their religious education programs.

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