On Saturday September 2, 2017 the delegation of 20 Korean religion leaders met with Pope Francis in the Vatican. Their leader was a President of the Korean Catholic Bishop Conference, Archbishop of Gwangju Igino Kim Hee Jong.
Religious leaders are called to practice “a style of peace, with words that differentiate themselves from the narrative of fear and with gestures that oppose the rhetoric of hatred,” Pope Francis told the Korean Council of Religious Leaders.
The delegation of some twenty people came to Rome for an interfaith pilgrimage. “The world is watching us … He asks us for common answers and commitments,” the pope told them, calling for dialogue “open and respectful at the same time; only in this way will it be fruitful.”
He also encouraged people to walk together “with humility and constancy, not only by raising their voices but also by rolling up their sleeves to sow the hope of a future that will help man to be more human, a future in which listened to the cry of the many people who reject the war and call for greater harmony between people and communities, between peoples and states “. Three years after his apostolic visit to the country (August 2014), the pope also assured of his prayers for “the gift of peace and fraternal reconciliation” of the Korean people.
Before the meeting with Pope Francis Archbishop Igino Kim declared: “We ask Pope Francis to pray and help the Korean people, for the reunification of the Korean peninsula"....The archbishop made also an appeal: “To seek peace not with weapons or sanctions but through dialogue, negotiation and mutual respect at all costs.”
Archbishop Kim graduated the Salesio High School in Gwangju (6th batch) and use to come often to encourage the students and Past Pupils during his visit to his mother school.
