The Holy See announced yesterday that Pope Francis will travel to South Korea in August for the sixth Asian Youth Day. In what will be his second major foreign trip this year, following his visit to the Holy Land in May, the pope is reaching out to the “periphery” of the Catholic Church, something he has stressed since the day of his election a year ago.
While his predecessor, Benedict XVI, did not visit Korea, Francis will not be the first pope to travel there since John Paul II, who visited the country twice, in 1984 and 1989.
The pope, who will be in Korea from August 14th to August 18th, will attend Asian Youth Day and will also preside over the beatification of 124 martyrs, killed during periods of persecution in the 18th and 19th centuries.
There are some 5.5 million Catholics in Korea, some 10 per cent of the population. The country has had diplomatic relations with the Vatican for the last 50 years.
Celebrations
At the moment, 1,000 young people from 29 Asian countries are expected to attend the youth day celebrations, a modest attendance in comparison with the estimated three million who attended World Youth Day in Brazil last summer.