Pope visits S. Korea with Asia in his sights
SEOUL - Pope Francis arrived in Seoul on Thursday looking to fuel a new era of Catholic growth in Asia -- a mission fraught with complex political challenges but huge potential rewards.
His five-day visit to South Korea is recognition for one of Asia's fastest-growing, most devoted and most influential Roman Catholic communities, and will feature a special "reconciliation" mass with a message for isolated North Korea.
But the real goal is longer-term and much wider-ranging.
The pope will bring a message about the "future of Asia", and will use his trip to "speak to all the countries on the continent", the Vatican's number two, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in a television interview.
The last papal visit to Asia was by John Paul II to India in 1999, a glaring 15-year gap for a region where the Church is making some spectacular gains but where Catholics still only account for 3.2 percent of the population.
The pope's flight to South Korea took him over China -- potentially the greatest prize of all, but also the hardest to claim. Beijing maintains a state-controlled Catholic Church, which rejects the Vatican's authority.
AFP
