Christianity no threat to Asian govts, says Pope

HAEMI (South Korea) — Pope Francis, in remarks clearly intended for communist-ruled countries such as China, North Korea and Vietnam, yesterday said that Asian governments should not fear Christians as they did not want to “come as conquerors” who erase national and cultural identities, but wanted to “walk together” and be integral parts of local cultures.

The Pope made his comments, some of them unscripted, in an address to about 70 bishops from 35 Asian countries gathered in the town of Haemi, south of Seoul, on the next-to-last day of his trip to South Korea.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Pope’s remarks were “obviously a sign of goodwill for dialogue” with China and the other countries in Asia with which the Vatican does not have diplomatic relations, including North Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Bhutan and Brunei.

“This offer of the Pope for dialogue is to all these lands and not just one, even if China is the biggest,” he said.

In his speech, Pope Francis told the bishops the Church was committed to dialogue with everyone. “In this spirit of openness to others, I earnestly hope that those countries of your continent with whom the Holy See does not yet enjoy a full relationship may not hesitate to further a dialogue for the benefit of all,” he said.

The Pope then added, in unscripted remarks, that he was talking of “not just political dialogue but also fraternal”.

Emphasising the Pope’s message, Father Lombardi told reporters the speech was a call to the region’s bishops that they can sow the seeds of dialogue through charitable work and educational services even before official diplomatic relations with the Holy See are established.

“It’s an offer, an openness, a readiness to engage in dialogue for the well-being of the Church and the people in these different lands,” he said.

China cut relations with the Vatican in 1951, after the Communist Party took power and set up its own church outside the Pope’s authority.

Its Foreign Ministry on Thursday repeated its position that Beijing was sincere about wanting to improve relations with the Vatican. The main point of contention between Beijing and the Vatican is which side should have the final say in the appointment of bishops.

The Vatican has been sending olive branches to China for years, but the Holy See’s continued recognition of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province, has also been a stumbling block to improving relations.

Meanwhile, in isolated North Korea, religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed, provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of government-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed.

It turned down an invitation from the South Korean Catholic Church for members of the state-run Korean Catholic Association to attend a papal mass in Seoul last Monday, citing joint United States-South Korean military drills due to begin the same day as a reason.

The Vatican’s relations with Vietnam have improved significantly in recent years, though the two still do not have full diplomatic ties.

Later yesterday, Pope Francis said a Mass on a soggy field for thousands of people to close a gathering of Catholic youth from all over Asia. He urged them to care for the poor and the broken-hearted and listen to “the cry of so many people in our anonymous cities”.

Before leaving Seoul for Haemi, the Pope fulfilled a promise he made the day after he arrived — to baptise the father of a victim of the Sewol ferry disaster, in which more than 300 people, most of them schoolchildren, died in April.

Mr Lee Ho-jin had been preparing to convert and asked the Pope to perform the rite himself. It was carried out in the chapel of the Vatican embassy in Seoul yesterday morning, a spokesman said.

During his visit, Pope Francis has showed his support for the Sewol ferry families by holding meetings with them and wearing a symbolic yellow ribbon on his cassock in solidarity for three straight days. AGENCIES