SEOUL (UCAN): Catholics in South Korea once again responded to the call of Pope Francis to provide Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries around the world.
A ceremony was held by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea [CBCK] on December 7 to mark the donation made by the Catholic Lay Apostolate Council of Korea, Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation [CPBC] and the Catholic Times of Korea.
The donation of US$300,000 [$2,33 million] donation will be sent to the Vatican through the bishops’ conference.
Bishop Matthias Iong-hoon Ri, of Suwon, and the president of the CBCK, Augustine Byeong-seon Sohn, president of the Catholic Lay Apostolate Council of Korea, Father Simon Jung-Rae Cho, president of CPBC and Father Dionysus Moon-sang Kim, CEO and publisher of the Catholic Times attended the ceremony.
In accordance the bishop’s conference lauching its Vaccine-Sharing Campaign at its general assembly in March, 2021, the three organisations established a task force to raise awareness among the faithful, as well as all citizens of the country to ensure equitable, timely and universal access to Covid-19 vaccines for every country in the world.
The task force ran a telephone fund-raising campaign and made a theme song and a music video, which can be found on CPBC’s YouTube channel, to inform and inspire people across the country.
Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to Cardinal Yeom and the Catholics of Korea in a letter in which he wrote, “I very much appreciated this gesture of charity and generosity, thanks to which many suffering people will receive an aid. I embrace you and your archdiocese, granting my affection and my spiritual closeness.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Catholic Church in Korea has sent the Vatican more than US$5 million [$38.9 million] raised by 16 dioceses and is going to donate another US$6 million [$46.7 million] by the end of the year.
