ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Pope Francis’ “Road Map” for World Youth Day in Seoul

by Pascale Rizk

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - "Let us keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, on his Cross and on Mary, our Mother. In this way, even throughout our difficulties, we will find the strength to go forward, without fear of accusations, without the need for approval, based on your own dignity, with your own security of being saved and being accompanied by Mother Mary. Without making compromises and without spiritual make-up". With these words, Pope Francis greeted the Portuguese and Korean young people at the end of the Mass celebrated on the Solemnity of Christ the King in St. Peter's Basilica, concluding the traditional handing over of the World Youth Day Cross and the copy of the icon of "Maria Salus Popoli Romani" between the two groups of young people.
The entire homily of Pope Francis offers valuable suggestions for the young Koreans, who will also be personally involved in the preparation of the next World Youth Day, which will take place in Seoul in 2027.
A group of 56 young Koreans from all the dioceses of Korea, accompanied by bishops, priests and parish leaders, arrived in Italy on Wednesday evening, November 20, to participate in a week of various meetings and opportunities for communion, which began in Assisi with a spiritual retreat and a Mass in the Basilica of Saint Francis. In the Umbrian city, the young Koreans also prayed at the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, located in the sanctuary. On this occasion, the young Koreans offered a replica of the traditional Korean statue of Our Lady to the mother of Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized on April 27, 2025. Back in Rome, the young Koreans, together with those from Lisbon, gathered in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pray the Rosary in front of Maria Salus Populi Romani, an icon particularly dear to the Romans and which Pope Francis often visits to entrust his apostolic journeys to Mary's protection.
On the Solemnity of Christ the King, the young Koreans were accompanied by 53 other Korean boys and girls living in Italy during Mass with the Pope. After World Youth Day in Manila (1995), World Youth Day returns 32 years later to Asia, to a country where Catholics make up 11.3% of the population, according to the latest statistics from the Bishops' Conference. Many hope that World Youth Day in Seoul can be an opportunity to start anew in pastoral work for the younger generations, whose lives are governed by social criteria that emphasize appearance, competition, academic excellence or membership in the most popular clubs or groups.
In his homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Pope not only suggested several paths of reflection to the young people present. He urged them to be courageous when they are "accused" of their following of Jesus and, above all, not to be "intoxicated by illusions" in a world where "criticism and false accusations fall" while "the works of love" that flourish "in the light of the Lord" endure. The Successor of Peter urged young people not to be infected by the need to be seen, recognized and praised at all costs, "because God loves you as you are". "Be careful, be free in harmony with your dignity," he added, and "do not disguise your soul, do not disguise your heart". If, as Pope Francis affirmed in his last Encyclical, Dilexit nos, the heart remains the most important place, marked by the desire for love and the encounter with gratuitousness, then the value of World Youth Day is not measured by the effectiveness of organizational strategies and the construction of spectacular "events", but by the ability to grasp the true "desire of young people to come together, to share their experiences, to hear a word of faith, to look to the future together, to renew and confirm their commitment" (John Paul II). The events of World Youth Day are not self-celebratory happenings, but opportunities to experience a personal encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, which attracts young people from all over the world and unites them in an experience of universal fraternity.
The Korean youth who have come to Rome for the presentation of the symbols of World Youth Day hope that the experience they are preparing for can concretely fulfill their desire for happiness, and they know that the real contact with the Bishop of Rome, who will visit them, and the encounter with peers from all over the world have a power and a permanence that no mobile phone “app” or “virtual exhibition” can replace. They also hope that from this "extraordinary" event, "ordinary" paths can begin to see the gifts of grace blossom in their daily lives and "have the courage to bear witness to hope, to grow in the certainty of God's invincible love", as Pope Francis told them. (Agenzia Fides, 25/11/2024)

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