For the first time, three South Korean dioceses are promoting a time of meeting and prayer together, especially to remember the deceased and divided families. Fr. Jung: “If in the past the Church’s accompaniment was focused on welcoming them, now we are also increasingly asked for spiritual accompaniment.”
Seoul () – For the first time, three dioceses in South Korea have jointly promoted the celebration of a Mass with North Korean exiles living in the communities of Seoul, Suwon and Uijeongbu. The Mass was held on Saturday, September 7 in Uijeongbu, in the Church of Repentance and Purification, a symbolic place on this journey.
The celebration was originally planned by the Reconciliation Commission of the Archdiocese of Seoul as a new project for this year. But then, at the request of North Koreans living in Gyeonggi Province, the three dioceses decided to celebrate it together. The liturgy was presided over by Fr. Ignatius Sooyong Jung, vice-chairman of the Commission. In the homily, Fr. Jung said: “In Seoul we often repeat among ourselves the phrase: ‘As long as you remember them, they will live on. And if you pray, all your wishes will come true. ’ With this Mass we remember and pray together for our dear family members who have passed away, for our relatives and neighbors who live far away, and for our beautiful homeland that we cannot visit, asking God for grace.”
The Mass was a special occasion for Clara Moon, a woman who came to visit her mother’s ashes at the Bongan-dang (Gate of Peace), which was formerly located at the church. Another woman, Anna Han, from Seoul, said: “I met my friends from our homeland who live in Gyeonggi Province, which was a long-awaited reunion. I have kept the memories of my family in the North and prayed for them during the Mass, hoping to return one day.”
“Every New Year and Thanksgiving, I take my children to places where I can see North Korea up close and tell them stories of my relatives in the North. The pain of division is deeply felt,” said Francisca Romana Mikyung Kim, leader of the North Koreans for Reconciliation between the Koreas group in the Archdiocese of Seoul.
According to Father Jung, there are currently about 34,000 North Koreans who have managed to escape to the South, and more than 90% of them settled in the country more than five years ago. “If in the past the help and accompaniment of the Catholic Church was focused on welcoming them when they arrived, now they also ask us for pastoral and spiritual accompaniment. I hope that this joint Mass has been an opportunity for believers and non-believers to meet and pray together,” concludes Father Jung.
At the initiative of the late Cardinal Stephen Sou-hwan Kim – then Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang – the Archdiocese of Seoul established the Commission for Reconciliation between the Koreas on March 1, 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of liberation from Japan. The Commission, currently headed by Archbishop Peter Soon-Taick Cung, carries out various pastoral activities dedicated to peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula, based on the founding values of prayer, education and sharing.
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