A visit by Pope Francis to South Korea "would be an encouragement to
our still divided and suffering nation, threatened
by enduring tensions, waiting for
reconciliation,» a Catholic source said.
He spoke to AsiaNews after the
pontiff told reporters on his
flight back from World Youth Days
that "next year I will go to Asia".
Although
nothing is certain about the pope's future travel plans abroad, South Korea is seen by many as a possible destination.
Next
year,
it will host the Asian
Youth Day, and
the local Church hopes to see the beatification of 124 Korean martyrs.
Last April, Mgr Lazarus You Heung-sik,
bishop of Daejeon, said he would invite Pope Francis
to
South Korea, an event that, if it
did happen, would see "the whole
Asian continent rejoice."
"We
truly hope to see the Holy Father travel
to Asia," Catholic sources told AsiaNews. "That would be an important goal; especially, in South
Korea, which has become a centre for
the evangelisation of the continent and around the world."
"Moreover,"
they noted, "the Korean Church is
growing. The country is the only
one that has managed to combine economic
and spiritual development. A land of mission has thus become a land of missionaries."