ROME / SEOUL, Apr. 26 (Yonhap) – Pope Francis reaffirmed his willingness to visit North Korea, in order to convey a message of peace on the Korean peninsula, during a meeting with the South Bishop Korean Lazarus You Heung-sik in the Vatican, according to the pope’s words reported last Saturday (local time) by Bishop You to the Yonhap news agency.
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The pope made the remarks during a meeting at the Vatican with You, head of the Daejeon diocese, saying the Korean people, especially separated families, have suffered from a separation between the same ethnic group for 70 years.
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The pope has said he will visit North Korea if the necessary preparations are made, according to the eminent South Korean bishop.
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Pope Francis had repeatedly expressed his willingness to visit North Korea. On the occasion of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, the plan for a visit to the North seemed to materialize but it was completely suspended following the failure of the summit between the American president of the era Donald Trump and Northern leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam in February 2019.
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In October 2018, President Moon Jae-in even conveyed to Pope Francis the verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the Pope replied that he was ready to visit the North if Pyongyang sent him an official invitation. .
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The idea of a pope visit to North Korea recently gained momentum among South Korean Catholics after the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration, which is Catholic.
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At the same time, the Pope expressed his gratitude for the campaign to share vaccines against the new coronavirus (Covid-19) launched last November by the diocese of Daejeon to its faithful and thanks to which 460,000 dollars were donated to the Holy Headquarters, according to You.
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