SEOUL (UCAN) - A Vatican delegation will visit North Korea in October to discuss the Holy See's humanitarian work for the communist nation, according to a South Korean Church official who recently visited the North.
"The Vatican will dispatch its delegation to North Korea within this month," Father John Kim Jong-su told Seoul archdiocese's Pyonghwa Broadcasting Corporation cable TV on Oct. 15.
The secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea said he delivered the message to Samuel Chang Jae-on, president of the (North) Korean Roman Catholics' Association, on Oct. 13 during his visit to Pyongyang.
Father Kim was among a delegation of 42 South Korean social and religious leaders who visited North Korea Oct. 9-14 to attend the 55th anniversary of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.
The Church official said he expects the Vatican delegation to discuss the possibility of a visit of Pope John Paul II to the communist nation with North Korean officials.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited the pope to North Korea at the urging of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, a Catholic, who made a historic visit to Pyongyang June 13-15.
However, the Vatican has not officially responded to the invitation. Some South Korean Catholic bishops have said that North Korea should allow Catholic priests to have permanent residence prior to a papal visit.
Father Kim also revealed that Bishop Michael Park Jeong-il of Masan, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, will soon visit Pyongyang with some 30 other religious leaders to promote religious exchange and cooperation between the two nations.
The bishops' conference secretary general anticipated that the South Korean government will also work to realize visits by Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, retired bishop of Seoul, and Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul, who is also apostolic administrator of Pyongyang diocese.
A Vatican delegation headed by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli went to North Korea in January 1996 and delivered a nominal contribution from Pope John Paul II to North Korea's aid coordination committee to help flood victims.
This March, Caritas Internationalis, which affiliates official charity and development organizations mandated by some 150 local Churches around the world, appealed internationally for donations to aid North Koreans suffering from continuing shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities.
The appeal extending from April 2000-March 2001 aims to raise US$3.6 million for North Korea, which has a population of about 23 million people.
UCAN
17. oktober 2000