Pope Francis to visit Korea in August

I was baptized a Catholic and I attended Catholic schools from elementary to graduate school (which I didn’t finish), but I’m not a practicing Catholic. I think of myself as positive deist, and that is one of the things I learned here in Korea. I am more tolerant of other people’s belief and religion. However, I’ve been reading about Pope Francis since he became the leader of the Catholic Church. And I think he’s awesome 😀

Now the good news is Pope Francis is set to visit Korea from August 14-18. Pope Francis’s Korean name is 프란시스코 교황 (Peu-ran-si-seu-ko kyo-hwang). The last word 교왕 literally means “King of the Church”. The visit was announced today and it was in the news (along with news of a comet, a still-missing plane and Korean doctors’ strike).
Korea is the first Asian country that Pope Francis will visit. He will be here to celebrate the Asian Youth Day which will be held in Daejeon from August 13-17 and to beatify the 124 Korean martyrs.

Pope Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict, did not visit Korea during his term. Pope John Paul II visited South Korea in 1984 and 1989.
The schedule of Pope Francis is as follows:
August 14 – Arrival in Korea
August 15 – Travel to Daejeon to attend the Asia Youth Day
August 16 – Beatification of the 124 Korean martyrs in Gwanghwamun
August 17 – Back to Daejeon for the Asia Youth Day
August 18 – Fly back to Italy
And since I live in Seoul, I will make it a point to see the Pope in Gwanghwamun come the middle of August.