Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed that the Holy See is studying the possibility of a papal visit to Seoul, South Korea.
Fr. Lombardi responded after various news reports stated that Pope Francis would visit the Korean peninsula in August. South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hung-won expressed his support of a visit from the Pontiff during a meeting with Cardinal-designate Andrew Yeom Song-jun yesterday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Catholic Church in Korea requested last year that Pope Francis visit the country and has been receiving positive feedback from the Vatican.
“The occasion of the visit would be the Meeting of Youth in Asia in August,” Fr. Lombardi said, referring to the 6th Asian Youth Day which will be held in Daejeon from August 13-17th). “If the visit is confirmed, we will announce it.”
If the papal visit is confirmed, it will be the first visit from a Pontiff since 1989 when Blessed John Paul II’s visited Seoul.
