South Korea’s Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung says he would greatly welcome a visit from Pope Francis to North Korea and would be willing to accompany him during his trip. Yeom, who is the archbishop of Seoul, also serves as the acting chief of North Korea’s Pyongyang Diocese. According to Lee Hae-chan, the chief of the Read more
A group of North Koreans have been visiting Auckland to share their experiences at churches around the city, spreading the word about their escape. The group is part of a Christian mission led by a South Korean pastor Kwang Choi. Park Sung Il a former North Korean labourer, remembers clearly the hazardous journey he had Read more
Korean bishops say the peace agreement between North and South Korea is an answered prayer. “The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula is a historical event. It “opens the era of reunification of the Korean peninsula and is a gospel of hope on this earth,” Archbishop Kim Hee-Jung of Gwangju Read more
The new apostolic nuncio to South Korea, Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, will be working towards improving relations between North and South Korea. He will also actively encourage peace initiatives in the region. Monsignor Marco Sprizzi has been in charge of the Nunciature in Seoul since the retirement of Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla last year. He Read more
The Vatican has been invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to send a delegation as an official observer to the Winter Olympics. The Games are being held in South Korea. The IOC annual meetings the Vatican delegation will observe are scheduled for 5-7 February. At the meetings, voting members will discuss policy issues relating to Read more
Remember the game of chicken? It’s a foolishly high-stakes challenge in which two drivers risking death, drive on a collision course towards each other until one of the drivers chooses to swerve away. Since neither driver wants to be called “chicken,” meaning coward, they both push the decision to swerve away to the last possible Read more
“We need to open the dialogue” to reduce tensions between North Korea and the United States, says Stephen Colecchi. Colecchi is the director of the U.S. bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace. He was one of three panelists at a Georgetown University forum discussing the issue. “The only way to open up the relationship Read more
Nukes won’t save the world. They are “a force for instability and any claims they promote peace are chasing illusions,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher told a United Nations conference on Friday. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, urged nations to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which the Vatican signed in 1996. “Nuclear arms offer Read more
A teacher at Our Lady Star of the Sea school in Christchurch who has been a teacher in North Korea says the current situation “saddens” him as he can put a human face to the people. Tim Kearns knows that, if there were a war, the pupils he taught might well bear arms against the Read more
The Vatican’s former representative to the United Nations says Pope Francis is closely following the situation between the United States and North Korea. The two countries are trading insults, with North Korea threatening to send four missiles into the sea off Guam, as a response to President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric. “The only way forth Read more