The general audience of Pope Francis on Saint Andrew Kim

Before the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff pointed to the testimony of the first martyr and of many Korean laymen as an example of zeal in evangelization. “As difficult as the situation may be, we must never give up announcing the Gospel.”

Vatican City () – “Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon and the other Korean faithful have shown that witnessing to the Gospel offered in times of persecution can bear many fruits for faith.” This is what Pope Francis said today during his general audience with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, dedicated entirely to the figure of this great Asian saint, whose bicentennial the Korean Church celebrated last year.

Continuing his catechetical cycle on the theme of zeal in evangelization, the Pontiff recalled the example of the first Korean priest killed because of hatred of the faith during the great persecution. “His life was and continues to be an eloquent testimony of zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel,” he commented, also recalling that, precisely because of these difficult conditions, the first evangelization of Korea was the work of lay people. “Would we be capable of something like this? Let’s think about this: it is an interesting thing,” Francisco remarked.

The Pope especially highlighted two aspects of the figure of Saint Andrew Kim. The first is the way he used to secretly meet with the faithful. “There was a sign of recognition agreed in advance,” he recalled, “after which he would ask in a whisper: ‘Are you a disciple of Jesus?’ For Andrés Kim it was the expression that summed up the entire Christian identity.”

Another of his tasks, when he was still a seminarian, had been to secretly welcome foreign missionaries. To do this, “once”, Francisco recounted, “he walked through the snow, without eating, for so long that he fell to the ground exhausted, running the risk of losing consciousness and freezing there. At that moment, he suddenly heard a voice: ‘Get up, walk.’ Hearing that voice, Andrés woke up, seeing how someone’s shadow was guiding him.”

“The courage to rise when one falls is a very important aspect of apostolic zeal,” the Pope commented. “No matter how difficult the situation may be, even if it sometimes seems that it leaves no room for the evangelical message, we must not give up and we must not give up on pursuing what is essential in our Christian life, that is, evangelization. This is the way.” . And addressing the faithful he added: “Look at these great ones and think about their little things: evangelize your family, evangelize your friends, speak of Jesus with a heart full of joy, full of strength. And this is given by the Holy Spirit Let us prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit at the next Pentecost”, he concluded, “and let us ask him for that grace, the grace of apostolic courage, the grace to evangelize, to always carry forward the message of Jesus”.

Finally, in his greeting to the faithful, on the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, Francis entrusted the elderly, the young and the sick, and recalled in particular the Salesian family, so closely linked to this Marian devotion. And he also asked that today they direct a special prayer to the Virgin Mary for the tormented Ukraine: “they suffer so much there, let us not forget about them.”