Posted on 10/12/2018 8:07:08 PM PDT by hapnHal
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has invited Pope Francis to visit his country, according to South Korean officials.
Kim told his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, at a summit last month that he would “ardently welcome the pope if he visits Pyongyang”, according to a spokesman for the presidential Blue House. Moon, who is Catholic, will visit Europe for a nine-day trip beginning on 13 October. He will meet the Pope and intends to relay the invitation.
The desire to welcome the leader of the Catholic church comes as Kim attempts to transform his image from paranoid head of a rogue state to young and dynamic world leader.
Kim’s push for greater global recognition is also aimed at softening his image and weakening the US-led “maximum pressure” campaign. North Korea and the Vatican do not have diplomatic ties.
During the inter-Korean summit last month, Moon was accompanied by the South Korean archbishop, Hyginus Kim Hee-joong, and during a conversation Kim said he wanted the pope to know his desire for peace, according to a presidential spokesman.
Although freedom of religion is protected under North Korea’s constitution, in practice worship is tightly controlled and limited to state-run institutions.
In an annual report on religious freedom around the world, the US state department described dire circumstances for the faithful, where “the government continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices through executions, torture, beatings, and arrests”.
Pyongyang was previously home to a vibrant Christian community, earning it the nickname “Jerusalem of the east” before the founding of North Korea. When Pope Francis visited South Korea in 2014, he held a mass in Seoul dedicated to reunification of the two Koreas.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Will Dennis Rodman be there too?
I can see him wanting to High Five the Pope and ask about all that gold Bling.
Given the track records of both, there ain’t going to be anything “Holy” about it.
The Nork popemobile will be a T-90.
Maybe it is all show...maybe only partly a show...who knows. At this point I am with the President in that maybe it will happen (peace, etc) maybe not. But if Kim the Chia wants to just have a run of the mill fascist state, then so be it. As long as he gets along with his neighbors and at least tries to get along with the rest of the world and doesn’t pull too many shennanigans.
I am uner no illusion that there will be re-unification in the near future. But I can see that there are two peaceful Koreas entering into mutual beneficial trade pacts, etc. North Korea has to reach a certain level of civilization before there can be any thoughts of a one Korea. At least that is my thinking. Is he ruthless? Is he a Killer? Press says he is. Frankly, I do not know what to belive anymore so time will tell.
If NK decides to give up nukes and development, then I say we give them a peace treaty. Yeah, yeah, it was a UN thing, but driven by the US at the time. I say that we offer protection, like we do SOuth Korea. He probably won’t take it, but we can offer. Very intersting time these days...
Thanx for the straight line, but I’ll pass.
Compare with China’s attitude toward Christians.
One commie to another they should get along famously.
Nothing unusual here. Marxists often invite their fellow Marxists to visit.
The last 30 years of tards we had in Washington thought the Norks wanted piles of cash and barrels of oil and we supplied plenty of that. Trump made him come out of his shell and made him want to be a celebrity. Problem solved. The liberals hate this. They would rather send the Norks billions than see Trumps simple diplomacy work.
Underneath the Pope Hat I suppose. I think its just a bunch of Pope smoke...I dunno this Pope seems...well, not exactly Pope-like....Getting himself involved in things that are not his purview.... Heck...send him to NK...what the heck.
What would you rather have...Kim firing missiles or talking to the Pope?
When I first read the title of the post, I actually thought it was stating that Kim had un-invited the Pope. LOL!
Looks like Satan is trying to run interference against a true revival in NK with dead religion, instead of The Living LORD. I sure hope and pray for The LORD to cause a true revival in NK in power, truth, and His Spirit.
“What would you rather have...Kim firing missiles or talking to the Pope?”
Exactly.
The Pope should go. I’m under no illusion that Kim has suddenly become a swell guy and wants to convert to Catholicism. The folks that like to berate Trump because Kim hasn’t denuclearized and is (obviously) stalling miss the point that as long as he’s talking to Trump, and maybe the Pope, then he isn’t causing trouble. Yeah, we all know that the standard North Korean playbook is to rattle the sabres until the west gives you something but if Kim is smart he’ll realize that there really is something in it for him to make nice with the west. Trump doesn’t want to depose him, he just wants him to stop being a pain in the ass. In return Kim actually has a chance to become a leader that his people love by improving their lives. They’ve been starving for 50 years, it’s not like it’ll take much to make their lives better. A thawing of relations with the U.S. and South Korea has the potential to dramatically improve the life of the average North Korean and Kim will benefit from that.
Jesus hung out with the undesirables, not the pious. His companions were criminals, whores, lepers, and tax collectors. I’m not a big fan of this pope, he’s chosen fiscal and cultural marxism which history has shown only enrichens the elites at the expense of the common man. If he really wants to do something to help God’s children then there are a whole bunch of them in North Korea that could use his help by engaging Kim and trying to bring him into the modern world. That’s if he can give up some of his time hanging out with hollywood celebrities, rock stars, and rich socialists.
Funny! I have some of Lehrer’s stuff...used to watch him on “That Was The Week That Was” way back when...
I wonder if Kim will let him shoot a political prisoner?
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