Author: Phlippages
Pope Francis asked for an official invitation from North Korea to visit the isolated country, South Korean media reported on Thursday.
“I will go there as soon as they invite me. I’m saying they should invite me. I will not refuse,” TV broadcaster KBS quoted the pope as saying.
If the visit takes place it would be the first trip to North Korea by a pontiff. Pyongyang doesn’t allow priests to be permanently stationed in the country. There is also no information about the number of Catholics living in the state.
Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is Catholic, have repeatedly urged the pope to visit North Korea, saying it would help build the peace process on the Korean peninsula.
Earlier in 2018, Moon passed a verbal invitation to the pontiff from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. However, the Vatican still hasn’t received a written invitation. Meeting Francis again last year Moon repeated his call to visit the isolated part of the peninsula.
The pope has previously made many appeals for rapprochement between the two Koreas.
While North Korea’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, no open religious activity is allowed in the country and the authorities have repeatedly jailed foreign missionaries.
