Scottish Catholic Observer

“Jesus asks us to believe that forgiveness is the door which leads to reconciliation,” the Pope said at his final Mass in South Korea before returning to Rome on Monday.

Also during the trip the Pope Beatified 124 Korean Martyrs and charged the Catholic youth of Asia to shake up the world.

The Mass of reconciliation at Seoul’s main cathedral, attended by South Korean President Park Geun-hye as well as some North Korean defectors, was the final event of a five-day trip that confirmed the importance of Asia for this papacy and for the Catholic Church as a whole, and the Pope said it should be viewed as being ‘first and foremost a prayer for reconciliation in this Korean family.’

In his homily, the Pope said: “So often we today can find our faith challenged by the world, and in countless ways we are asked to compromise our faith, to water down the radical demands of the Gospel and to conform to the spirit of this age.

Also during the trip, Pope Francis prayed at a cemetery for aborted children and visited a rehabilitation centre for individuals with disabilities. He also met with government officials, charging them to embrace hope and work for peace and justice in order to benefit the common good.

On two occasions during the trip, the Pope met with local bishops, urging them to be guardians of hope, protecting the legacy of the faith handed on by the martyrs of the nation.

—Read the full version of this story in August 22 edition of the SCO in parishes from Friday.