VATICAN CITY, DEC. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Three Korean children today represented their peers in thanking Benedict XVI for his love for their people, and his service to humanity.
The threesome at today’s general audience gave the Pope a file containing letters and drawings by 33 of their peers, prize-winners in a competition organized by the Korean embassy to the Holy See and published in the Korean Catholic daily «Pyeonghwa Shinmun.»
More than 1,200 children from all over the country participated in the competition, which was organized to coincide with the Holy Father’s 60th anniversary as a priest.
According to a communique published today by the embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See, the aim of the competition was «to thank the Holy Father for his tireless service to humankind and for his great affection for the people of Korea. … This event will help the Church and society in Korea to promote the Catholic vocation, increasing the ‘sensus fidei’ of Korean Catholics.»
During Midnight Mass, one of the children will read a Prayer of the Faithful, two will participate in the offertory, two will carry flowers to the nativity scene and two more will receive Communion from the hands of the Holy Father.