Pope urges Korean priests and religious to ‘bear witness to reconciliation'

Vatican News

May you be “witnesses of hope” for the young people who will attend the 2027 Seoul World Youth Day, and “artisans of peace” in a divided peninsula.

That was Pope Leo XIV’s prayer as he addressed Korean priests, religious sisters and religious at an audience on 5 October in the Vatican.

The Pope’s words were addressed to the 170 or so people present, many of whom are involved in organising the upcoming World Youth Day.

The faith of the martyrs In Rome, the Pope said, the faith they had received in Korea “can receive a new missionary impetus. You have come from far away, it is true, but here you are at home.”

Indeed, the Pope recalled, Korea was “once a land of mission, but has today become a homeland of missionaries”, rooted in the memory of the faith and sacrifice of the Korean martyrs.