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| Pope Francis arrives at Daejeon Station Friday en route to the Daejeon World Cup Stadium to participate his first public Mass in Korea. (Yonhap) |
Pope Francis’ second day in Korea started with an hour-long train ride to Daejeon, where he was scheduled to meet bereaved family members of the Sewol ferry disaster, celebrate his first public Mass in Korea and meet Catholic youths from Asia.
The pontiff was slated to arrive via helicopter to the city, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, but went by KTX, the bullet train, due in part to cloudy and foggy weather, according to Father Hur Young-yup, the spokesman of the Committee for the Papal Visit to Korea.
“It‘s not just because of the weather conditions. The Holy Father seems to be in touch with more people,” Hur said.
The pope arrived in Seoul on Thursday for a five-day visit to Korea. It is his first papal visit to Asia.
Daejeon World Cup Stadium, the venue for the Mass, was packed with nearly 50,000 faithful who shouted “Viva Papa” as the Holy Father entered the stadium.
The Mass falls on Assumption Day, a major feast day on the Catholic calendar to mark the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and her bodily assumption into Heaven.
Joining the believers at the venue of the Mass were survivors and bereaved family members of the victims of the April ferry disaster.
The pope was to meet them in person before the Mass and offer them words of consolation.
At 1:30 p.m., the pope is to have lunch with about 20 young Asian leaders from 16 Asian countries at the Daejeon Catholic University. He will then head for Solmoe in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, where he will meet and address participants at the sixth Asian Youth Day.
Solmoe, which is Catholic holy ground, is the birthplace of Korea’s first priest Kim Tae-gon.
Asian Youth Day is the primary reason for the 77-year-old Argentine pontiff‘s trip to Korea, his first outing to Asia since becoming pope in March last year. About 2,000 young believers from across Asia are gathered for this year’s festival. No pope has attended the event before.
The pontiff will return to the Apostolic Nunciature in Seoul, his home during the Korean trip, by helicopter.
By Lee Sun-young and Yoon Min-sik (milaya@heraldcop.com) (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
