Pope Francis met with Asian bishops at the Shrine of Haemi in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province), on August 17.

The pope arrived by helicopter at the playground of Haemi Elementary School at around 10:55 a.m. He got into his car, a Kia Soul, for the trip to the shrine, also known as the Haemi Martyrdom Holy Ground. He was followed by Archbishop of Seoul and Cardinal of Korea Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Bishop Peter Kang U-il and other bishops. All the gathered bishops gave the pope a big round of applause as he entered the church. He walked to the platform and took a seat, after showing respect to the holy place where the sacramental bread is stored.



To the right of the pope sat Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, while Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the cardinal secretary of state, sat to his left.

Gracias said in his welcoming remarks, “I would like to express my deep gratitude to the pope, as you have become a sincere father with love and mercy. I would like to thank all Koreans and hope the Lord can bring good luck to them.”

The pope then delivered a short greeting and held the noon prayer in English with meeting participants.

The pope said in his speech in Italian, “This is a holy site for martyrs. We have to remember the unnamed martyrs who sacrificed their lives for their faith. Regardless of age or gender, people died as martyrs worldwide. We need to respect and follow their great names.”

“It will be impossible to have a true dialogue unless we open our thoughts and minds in a sympathetic and earnestly accepting manner,” advised the pope. “So we need to be clearly aware of one's identity and sympathize with others. This will be the starting point of dialogue.”

He also said, “I hope you can open your heart to others and promote dialogue for the benefit of our Asian neighbors that have yet to build a relationship with the Lord.”


This was all explained by Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, at a press briefing after the meeting. Lombardi said, “The dialogue the pope meant is a dialogue of good will. His remarks show the will of the Holy See hoping to build diplomatic relationships with countries that do not have such relations.” These countries include not only China, but also other Asian countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Vatican City, such as North Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Brunei, he said.


Lazzaro You Heung-sik, the bishop of Daejeon, said, “Today’s meeting holds significance as it moved the Vatican in Rome to the Shrine of Haemi. The pope, Asian bishops and Asian youth all gathered at one place to pray together, which holds great meaning.”

Peter Chung Soon-taek, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seoul, said, “I heard that 71 bishops from across Asia participated in the meeting. This is a large-scale gathering and very unusual, even in Europe.” Chung emphasized the pope’s message by saying, “Pope Francis is bringing a new energy of the Holy Spirit. A consensus is being formed that we need to change according to his teachings.”

Written by Wi Tack-whan, Yoon Sojung
Photographed by Jeon Han
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr