Pope Francis prays with journalists on the papal flight en route to South Korea, August 14, 2014. Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA.
Posted on 08/15/2014 2:02:04 PM PDT by NYer
.- Addressing the division between North and South Korea, Pope Francis emphasized that the two are “one family,” calling for prayers of re-unification while stressing repentance and forgiveness.
“There is only one Korea, but this family is divided,” the Pope said to a large gathering of young people from across the continent.
His off-the-cuff comments came during an Aug. 15 gathering with youth of Asia at Solmoe Shrine, birthplace of the first Korean-born priest, St. Andrew Kim Taegon, who was martyred in the 1800s. The gathering was part of his Aug. 13-18 visit to South Korea, which coincides with the Sixth Asian Youth Day.
After giving prepared remarks in English, Pope Francis told the young people that he wanted to speak to them spontaneously and from the heart. Encouraged by the eager applause of those present, he set aside his text and began speaking in Italian, with the help of a translator.
The Pope encouraged those gathered at the event to pray for their “brothers and sisters in the north,” asking God to guide them to unity, and leaving aside a sense of winners and losers in order to embrace one Korean family.
He then paused and invited those gathered spend a moment praying in silence for unity of North and South Korea.
Despite the divisions, the pontiff said, “Korea is one family” that speaks the same language.
He pointed to the Biblical account of Joseph in the book of Genesis, observing that the brothers set out to seek food during a time of famine, but instead they find a brother, whom they had earlier sold into slavery. The brothers were linked to Joseph, the Pope observed, by a common language.
“Your brothers and sisters in North Korea are speaking the same language, and that gives me hope for the future of the human family,” he said.
Pope Francis then discussed the parable of the Prodigal Son, which a group of young people had re-enacted earlier during the gathering.
He noted that the prodigal son made the difficult decision to come back and ask forgiveness for all that he had done.
The father in the parable, he added, saw the son while he was still a long way off and ran to him, embracing him before he could even apologize.
This is the celebration that God loves best of all, when we return home, the Pope said. Although we might make terrible mistakes in our lives, “God will always be waiting for us to return.”
Addressing the priests present, the Holy Father asked that they might be merciful to returning sinners, in imitation of God’s constant desire to embrace us despite our sins.
“We must never be afraid to return to God. And God will celebrate,” he said. “God is never tired of waiting for us. He is never tired of welcoming us back home again.”
Ping!
Sorry, but I believe this pope has dementia.
he might but this was the perfect answer for the situation
I think that the Pope’s observations in this case are insightful, and far from offering grounds for your conclusion, argue against it.
One Korea!
This Korean-Japanese boxer had the right idea. Masumori Tokuyama (Korean Name Chang Soo Hong) was WBC Superflyweight Champion for a while. He runs a restaurant in Osaka now.
One family, but half the family is in chains.
He then paused and invited those gathered spend a moment praying in silence for unity of North and South Korea.
Pray and keep your powder dry. God can free them without the sword but keep your sword ready just the same.
It might be more helpful to reconsider the pope's response within the context of its presentation. I was up quite early this morning and watched the live coverage of his meeting with the youth. Several youth posed questions to the pope and he took notes. One of these youth was a young woman named Lauren Kim. She described life growing up in a divided country and the painful impact it has on many Koreans who often bicker about the situation. The theme for today was the Prodigal Son. The pope provided a very insightful response to Kim, reminding her about the shared language. Lauren Kim said she "felt very blessed" when Pope Francis asked for a moment of prayer for the unification of North and South Korea.
"What impressed me the most was he said we have the same language," Kim, a 19-year-old international relations major, told Catholic News Service. "And language has the power (to change the problems) we have in our divided nation. Especially I'm interested in solving those problems. I'm hoping I can use his knowledge and try to expand knowledge from what he told us."
Where did he find religious journalists to pray with him? At the unicorn stable?
The North Koreans have been saying the same for a long time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Il, held a historic meeting in the Kremlin on last Saturday to warm traditional ties between their two countries,...Putin and Kim agreed during their talks to promote a Russian- DPRK political dialogue on the Korean issue and international affairs,...The two leaders spoke for an independent and peaceful solution to the issue of reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and against "any outside obstacles to this process" as "unacceptable."
But Kim is not the President of South Korea and why would South Korea want to pick up the mess in the North created by Kim. The South has been a success.
Remember that Germany was reunited without a shot fired. Don't know if it will happen that way in Korea, its hard to imagine how, but it could.
I was talking to a German friend once about the fall of the Berlin Wall, and told him, you know, that is a miracle.
He started talking about all the problems that had come with unification, the costs that had to be borne by the taxpayers, the social problems of integrating people who had never known freedom...
And I said, yes, all that is true. And yet it is a miracle nevertheless.
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