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BoA invited to join Pope for lunch

July 14, 2014
K-pop star BoA, honorary ambassador of 2014 Asia Youth Day, will meet Pope Francis during a luncheon in Daejeon on Aug. 15. (The Korea Times)

K-pop star BoA, honorary ambassador of 2014 Asia Youth Day, will meet Pope Francis during a luncheon in Daejeon on Aug. 15. (The Korea Times)

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Pope Francis will have a luncheon with 20 young Asian leaders at the 2014 Asia Youth Day (AYD) during his Aug. 14-18 Korea visit.

Representatives from 17 Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Nepal, China, Japan and Mongolia will attend the luncheon with Pope on Aug. 15. K-pop sensation BoA will join the banquet as an honorary ambassador of the sixth AYD in Daejeon.

Hosted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon, the AYD invites some 2,000 youngsters from 22 Asian countries from Aug. 13 to 17.

Pope Francis will visit Solmoe Holy Ground in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province on Aug. 15 and greet young Catholics on the same day. He will meet bishops from Asia at Haemi Martyrdom Holy Ground in South Chungcheong Province and attend the closing mass of AYD at Haemi Fortress on Aug. 17.

“The Daejeon diocesan territory is home to many Korean martyrs and the AYD will inspire young devout Catholics in Asia to look up to the sacrifices of the martyrs. The pope’s visit at the event will be a huge encouragement for them,” Nazarius Yoo Heung-sik, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon, said at a press conference in Seoul, Monday.

In addition to attending the AYD in Daejeon and neighboring cities, the pope will celebrate a mass at Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral on Aug. 18, the last day of his visit, delivering a message of peace for the Korean peninsula.

The committee organizing the pope’s visit said they invited former wartime “comfort women” during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) to the mass and also sent invitation to Catholic organizations in North Korea and are waiting for their reply.

Father Mattias Hur Young-yup, a representative for the committee organizing the pope’s visit, said the pope’s visit will center on his message of care for the poor and social justice.