To entrust peace on the Korean peninsula to the Virgin Mary and put under her mantle the path of reconciliation between North and South Korea: with this spirit the Committee for the Reconciliation of the Korean People in the Archdiocese of Seoul organized a special “Night of Prayer” with the Virgin Mary at the conclusion of the Marian month. As reported to Agenzia Fides, Cardinal Yeom, Archbishop of Seoul, was present at the prayer, who said in the central message of his homily: “We pray for peace on the Korean peninsula with our Queen of Peace, patroness of the diocese of Pyongyang”.
On 31 May, priests from North Korea, religious, lay people, families with relatives, North Korean refugees, asylum seekers and members of the campaign, launched by some faithful, took part in the special nocturnal celebration held in the “Garden of Mary”, within the complex of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul in order to “recreate a parish” in North Korea.
All those present lit candles and prayed the Holy Rosary to ask for peace on the Korean peninsula. In his homily, Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-Jung, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seoul and the Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang, invited to pray together for peace on the Korean peninsula and the proclamation of the Gospel in North Korea, saying: “Every time we have faced challenges and difficulties in history, the Korean Church has overcome them by praying with the Virgin Mary. It is no coincidence that the Patroness of the Diocese of Pyongyang is the Queen of Peace”.
In the second part of the event, there was a special session in which North Korean refugees shared their stories and experiences, the difficulties experienced in the North in their life of faith, deprived of freedom of religion.
The “Night of Mary”, lived this year in a peaceful atmosphere, following the historic inter-Korean summit and the declaration of Panmunjom, is a moment in which every year the Korean Church asks for the intercession of the Virgin for peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.
