SEOUL (SE): “The South and the North Korean governments must find alternatives for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia, just as strengthening military power will never be the right option. Let us unite our hearts to achieve the love, forgiveness and true peace that Christ showed us on the cross,” Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul, said during a special Mass for peace at Myeongdong Cathedral on June 25.
A press release from the Archdiocese of Seoul said that the Mass marked the 72nd anniversary of the Korean War. In 1965, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Korea designated June 25 as the Day of Prayer for national reconciliation and unification.
Archbishop Chung, who is also apostolic administrator of Pyongyang, North Korea, said, “Although riots, wars, hostility and division around the world are constantly intensifying, the Church cannot turn away from or give up its mission for peace, harmony and unity on this planet. We, the Catholic Church in Korea, need to pray earnestly with all our hearts for reconciliation and unity between the two Koreas, as well as for an end to the tragic war in Ukraine.”
The archbishop called for prayers for the coming of the day “when the peace of mankind and the Korean Peninsula can be realised through the intercession of Our Lady who was conceived without original sin
Hundreds joined the Mass which was organised by the archdiocese’s Committee for National Reconciliation which was established in 1995 by the late Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan.
The committee has been celebrated a Mass for the reconciliation and unity of the Korean people each Tuesday at 7.00pm at Myeongdong Cathedral over the past 27 years, except for when services were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
