Pope Francis paid a visit to the Solmoe Sanctuary in Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province), on August 15. He visited the birthplace of St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon (1821-1846), the first Korean Catholic priest. Travelling in a white open-topped Kia Carnival, about 150 meters from the entrance of the Solmoe Sanctuary and St. Andrew's birthplace, the pope was given a rapturous welcome by more than 50,000 people who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the pontiff.






The pontiff walked with Nazarius Yoo Heung-sik, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon, as they arrived at the birthplace of St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon. As guided to do so by a priest of the Solmoe Sanctuary, Pope Francis laid a wreath at the floor of the saint's birthplace and then sat for a moment of quiet reflection in the chair that had been prepared for this purpose. After silently contemplating the portrait of St. Andrew that hung on the wall, the pontiff began a short prayer. It took about three minutes before he made the symbol of the cross, stood up and bowed toward the portrait.

As he walked toward the entrance to the sanctuary to sign the guestbook and to leave his comments, a little girl dressed in traditional Korean attire presented Pope Francis with a white rose plated in platinum. He lifted her up with a smile and gently kissed her on the cheek. The pontiff then sprinkled some holy water at the site and began to greet the people outside the barricades, holding their hands and blessing them with kisses.

After some 17 minutes of talking with and greeting the people, Pope Francis returned to his open-topped minivan and headed toward the venue of the sixth Asian Youth Day. The crowd erupted in a collective cheer and applauded.

Written By Wi Tack-whan, Lee Seung-ah
Photographed by Jeon Han
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr