Huge crowds greet pope at beatification in South Korea

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out today for one of the highlights of Pope Francis’ trip to South Korea: the beatification of 124 Koreans killed for their faith over two centuries ago.

The streets leading up to Seoul’s iconic Gwanghwamun Gate were packed with Koreans honoring the ordinary lay Catholics who founded the church here in the 18th century. Korea’s church is unique in that it was founded not by missionaries or priests who brought the faith to the peninsula and converted people — as occurred in most of the world — but by members of Korea’s own noble classes who learned of Catholicism by reading books about it.

These early Catholics were killed in the 18th and 19th centuries by the Joseon Dynasty, which tried to shut the Korean Peninsula off from Western influence.

A collective cheer erupted from the masses when Francis declared the 124 “blessed” — the first step toward possible sainthood. Many of the women in the crowd wore lace veils; others sported paper sun visors with “Papa Francesco” written across them, protecting them from the overcast, hazy skies.

The scene was impressive, with thousands of people neatly packed into fenced-in sections leading away from the altar, which was set up in front of Gwanghwamun, the south gate to Gyeongbokgung palace, with Inwang mountain looming above and the presidential Blue House on its lower slopes.