Special Mass for Peace and Solidarity held in Rome with President Lee Jae-myung in attendance

Cardinal Yu Heung-sik celebrates a Special Mass for Peace and Solidarity at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on Sunday, with President Lee Jae-myung and his wife in attendance. [Yonhap]
Cardinal Yu Heung-sik celebrates a Special Mass for Peace and Solidarity at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on Sunday, with President Lee Jae-myung and his wife in attendance. [Yonhap]

Cardinal Yu Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy at the Vatican, called for peace and compassion in an age of conflict and division.

Delivering the homily at a Special Mass for Peace and Solidarity held Sunday at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome — with President Lee Jae-myung in attendance — Cardinal Yu said the Korean Peninsula continues to bear the wounds of division. "Brothers and sisters are separated. Where is there greater suffering than this?" he said. "We cannot abandon peace for any reason, and we stand before a reality in which all of us must work together, with every ounce of our strength, to build it."

He said he earnestly hoped South Korea would become a nation that, together with its president, bears witness to the world that dialogue is more powerful than confrontation, reconciliation more powerful than hatred, and trust more powerful than fear — always with an open heart and a willingness to listen.

"True peace is not merely the absence of conflict or the cessation of fighting," he added. "Genuine peace begins with open dialogue, respect for human dignity, and concrete efforts to understand the situation of others."

Cardinal Yu said the world today needs compassion more than ever. "Where compassion should be, indifference and selfishness abound — and beyond that, violence and force are seeking to take its place," he said.

He recalled Pope Francis's 2014 visit to South Korea, during which the pontiff met and consoled bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster.

He also noted that Pope Leo XIV had greeted the world for the first time with the words, "Peace be with you all."

President Lee Jae-myung delivers a commemorative address at the Special Mass for Peace and Solidarity celebrated by Cardinal Yu Heung-sik at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on Sunday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung delivers a commemorative address at the Special Mass for Peace and Solidarity celebrated by Cardinal Yu Heung-sik at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on Sunday. [Yonhap]

"Compassion is a virtue inseparable from peace, and we must all walk this path," Cardinal Yu said. "There is hope even in the most barren of places — a flower will bloom even through the cracks in dry asphalt."

He urged those present to let compassion replace violence and communication replace indifference. "Even when the other side seems impossible to talk to, the path to peace opens only when we approach them with a listening heart and seek encounter," he said. "Conflict and confusion are rampant across the world right now, but let us face our brothers and sisters with a spirit of compassion and harmony, and press forward on the path of dialogue and love."

President Lee attended the special Mass as part of his European tour. In a commemorative address, he recalled that 26 years ago — on June 15 — the two Koreas sat down together for the first time since the division and issued the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration. "I am convinced that the ember of that hope is still alive," he said, pledging to "do everything possible to move beyond the armistice and build a sustainable peace regime."

The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is one of Rome's four major basilicas and the site of the tomb of the Apostle Paul.


pink@heraldcorp.com