Pope Francis Draws Crowds and Celebrities

The Pope isn't just a star in religious and political circles. In South Korea, where Pope Francis is in the middle of a five-day visit, he's got plenty of cultural draw too. WSJ's Jonathan Cheng reports from Seoul. Photo: EPA

More than 500,000 Koreans Crowd during the Beatification Mass for 124 Korean martyrs before the symbolic Gwanghwamun Gate

Photos courtesy of VATICAN RADIO-ENGLISH Facebook Page

Tearful family members of victims of the ferry Sewol shared their stories with Pope Francis

[Papal Visit] Pope ‘listened, silently nodded’ to Sewol families
The Korean Herald

Pope Francis did not speak much as tearful family members of victims of the ferry Sewol shared their stories with him on Friday, but vowed to never forget the tragedy that left over 300 -- mostly high school students -- dead or missing.

“We (the families) asked the pope to urge the Korean government and the parliament to place efforts on passing a special bill on Sewol, and to embrace the father of a Sewol victim -- who is currently on a hunger strike demanding the bill to pass -- during (Saturday’s) Mass at Gwanghwamun,” said Kim Byung-kwon, a representative of the victims’ families.

The pope “silently nodded,” he added.

Their meeting took place at Daejeon World Cup Stadium shortly before the pope celebrated his first public Mass. He invited eight family members of ferry victims and two survivors for a private audience. A total of 36 survivors and relatives were invited to the Mass.

Pope Francis offers words of comfort to the family members of Sewol ferry disaster victims at Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, Friday. (Yonhap)

Among the family members present at the meeting was Kim Hag-il, the father of high school sophomore Woon-gi who died in the April 16 disaster. Kim gave the pope a 5-kilogram cross that he had carried on a month-long, 900 kilometer walk from Ansan, where his son had attended school, to Daejeon.

Apostolic Visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Republic of Korea

The official Logo of Pope Francis' Pastoral Visit to the Republic of Korea

Pope Francis walks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye after landing Thursday in Seoul. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Statistics on the Catholic Church in the Republic of Korea

Why the Iglesia ni Cristo^® of Manalo cannot publish it's official statistics? They are afraid of the TRUTH.  Because they always use DECEIT and LIES to win converts. They do not have the courage to show to its members and to the world how many members and institutions do they have. They wan to highlight that buying churches and building expensive domes will justify their billion dollar collections.  But one thing it's members DO NOT DARE to ask is HOW MUCH DO THE MANALOs have in their bank accounts?

Apostolic Journey Logo

(VIS/Vatican Radio) Looking ahead to Pope Francis’s Apostolic Journey to the Republic of Korea from 13 to 18 August, the Vatican Press Office has released statistics regarding the Catholic Church in the South Asian nation.

The statistics date from 31 December 2013 and are provided by the Central Office of Church Statistics.

The Republic of Korea has an area of 99,268 square kilometers and a population of 50,220,000, of whom 5,393,000 are Catholics, corresponding to 10.7% of the population. There are 16 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 1,673 parishes and 843 pastoral centers. The apostolate is carried out by 35 bishops, 4,261 priests, 516 male religious and 9,016 female religious, 123 lay missionaries and 14,195 catechists. There are 395 minor and 1,489 major seminarians.

There are 328 educational centers of all levels directed or owned by the Catholic Church throughout the Republic of Korea, in which there are 221,020 students, as well as 49 special centers. There are also 200 health and welfare centers belonging to or directed by the Church: 40 hospitals, 4 clinics, 9 leper colonies, 513 rest homes for the elderly and disabled, 277 orphanages and nurseries, and 83 centers for family counselling and the protection of life.

This is far more bigger than the Dome in the Philippines dubbed as the world's biggest. Truly, the Catholic Church promotes Christ and His Church while the fake INC^® promotes the REGISTERED TRADEMARK IGLESIA NI CRISTO^® and the MANALOS.