Pope Leo XIV says "Peace begins in the heart and in our daily relationships, when we listen rather than judge, forgive rather than harbor resentment..." FULL TEXT to Korean Religious
Pope Leo XIV held a meeting with Korean priests and religious, on October 5. May you be “witnesses of hope” for the young people who will attend the 2027 Seoul World Youth Day, and “artisans of peace” in a divided peninsula. That was Pope Leo XIV’s prayer as he addressed Korean priests, religious sisters and religious at an audience on Monday in the Vatican. The Pope’s words were addressed to the 170 or so people present, many of whom are involved in organising the upcoming World Youth Day.
ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV
TO KOREAN PRIESTS AND CONSECRATED MEN AND WOMEN RESIDING IN ROME
in the Vatican's Clementine Hall on Monday, 5 October 2026
_________________
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you! Good morning to you all. Welcome!
감사합니다! (Thank you!)
Your Eminence, dear brothers and sisters,
It is a joy to welcome you today, Korean priests and consecrated men and women residing in Rome. In this place, close to the memorials of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the faith that you received in Korea encounters its roots and can draw renewed missionary impetus. You have come from afar, it is true; yet here, you are at home.
I greet in a particular way all those involved in the preparations for World Youth Day in Seoul 2027. This year also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the inauguration of the Pontifical Korean College. I extend my good wishes and my gratitude to the community of the College for its service to the Church in Korea and to the universal Church.
The history of your Church is truly unique. The faith took root in Korea in a remarkable way and developed also through the sincere search for truth undertaken by men who became familiar with Christian writings and desired to know more about Jesus Christ. From that search arose the desire for baptism, and from baptism a community was born that called to mind the Church of the earliest days (cf. Acts 4:32).
This history offers us two words: memory and hope. Christian memory is not nostalgia, but gratitude for what God has accomplished, as well as a sense of responsibility for what he entrusts today to our hands. Hope is not mere optimism, but the certainty that Christ is risen and that no darkness can have the final word.
The Church in Korea grew through the witness of the martyrs. Throughout her history, the Korean people have shown extraordinary strength of spirit. They have endured persecution, war, poverty and division; yet they have always known how to rise again and look to the future. In light of the Gospel, this perseverance became Christian fortitude: the capacity to pass through trials without losing hope and without allowing suffering to harden the heart.
To preserve the memory of the martyrs means allowing their faith to continue living in our choices, in service, in forgiveness and in the gift of ourselves. I think in particular of Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, the second priest in the history of Korea, remembered as the “martyr of sweat.” For eleven years, he travelled tirelessly along the roads of Korea to reach distant and hidden Christian communities, bringing them the word of God and the sacraments, until his life was consumed in service. His witness reminds us that there is the martyrdom of those who offer their lives in a single moment, and there is also the more hidden martyrdom of those who give their lives day after day. Yes, this is what all Christians are called to do: to give their lives in love, each day.
Our time is in great need of precisely this: men and women who have the courage to do good even when it comes at a cost. Draw near to those who are alone, support those who are weary, seek out those who have drifted away. Have the courage to forgive, to begin anew and to engage in dialogue. Goodness is not always recognized and often demands sacrifice; yet it is precisely this daily courage of charity that makes our proclamation of the Gospel credible.
The strength to live in this way comes from friendship with Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples: “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). Dear priests and consecrated men and women, cherish this friendship. Nourish it in the Eucharist, in listening to the word, in prayer and in silence before the Lord. It is by remaining with him that we rediscover the joy of our vocation and learn to love as he loves.
Friendship with Christ also opens us to fraternity. You come from different Dioceses, Institutes, Congregations and experiences: make this diversity a resource for synodality. A synodal Church is a church that walks together behind the same Lord, listening, welcoming and recognizing in the other a brother or sister and a companion along the way, never a rival.
This takes on a particular significance when we think of your homeland. The Korean Peninsula still bears the painful wound of division. For this reason, I ask you always to be men and women of reconciliation. Peace begins in the heart and in our daily relationships, when we listen rather than judge, forgive rather than harbor resentment, and choose communion rather than confrontation. Be united and be artisans of peace. Let us continue to work and pray so that new paths of encounter may open, and so that the Gospel of peace may be proclaimed freely in every part of the Korean Peninsula and throughout the world.
Korea, once a mission land, has today become a land that sends forth missionaries. This is a precious fruit of the faith and sacrifice of those who have gone before you. Memory gives rise to mission, and mission opens the way to hope. The upcoming World Youth Day will make all of this visible. Young people from every part of the world will come to a land where the Gospel grew through the witness of the martyrs. I would like it to be a great encounter between memory and the future: the martyrs hand on the faith to the new generations, and young people receive it in order to carry it along the roads of the world.
Listen to the young, walk with them and help them to discover that following Christ does not diminish freedom, but brings it to fulfilment; that faith does not restrict life, but opens it to a greater horizon. Therefore, prepare for WYD with passion — as you are already doing — keeping these words in your hearts: “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Your martyrs understood this well: their hope did not depend on favorable circumstances, but on the certainty that Christ had already won the victory.
Dear brothers and sisters, you have received a great heritage. Be strong in faith, generous in charity and steadfast in hope. Never grow weary of doing good, even when it is costly and even when no one sees it. No act carried out in love is ever lost before God.
In this month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, I entrust you and the journey towards World Youth Day to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Patroness of Korea. I ask Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Saint Paul Chong Ha-sang, and all the holy and blessed Korean martyrs to accompany you and to make you guardians of memory, witnesses of hope and artisans of peace.
Upon you, your families, your brothers and sisters in religious life, and the entire People of God in Korea, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you! Good morning to you all. Welcome!
감사합니다! (Thank you!)
Your Eminence, dear brothers and sisters,
It is a joy to welcome you today, Korean priests and consecrated men and women residing in Rome. In this place, close to the memorials of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the faith that you received in Korea encounters its roots and can draw renewed missionary impetus. You have come from afar, it is true; yet here, you are at home.
I greet in a particular way all those involved in the preparations for World Youth Day in Seoul 2027. This year also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the inauguration of the Pontifical Korean College. I extend my good wishes and my gratitude to the community of the College for its service to the Church in Korea and to the universal Church.
The history of your Church is truly unique. The faith took root in Korea in a remarkable way and developed also through the sincere search for truth undertaken by men who became familiar with Christian writings and desired to know more about Jesus Christ. From that search arose the desire for baptism, and from baptism a community was born that called to mind the Church of the earliest days (cf. Acts 4:32).
This history offers us two words: memory and hope. Christian memory is not nostalgia, but gratitude for what God has accomplished, as well as a sense of responsibility for what he entrusts today to our hands. Hope is not mere optimism, but the certainty that Christ is risen and that no darkness can have the final word.
The Church in Korea grew through the witness of the martyrs. Throughout her history, the Korean people have shown extraordinary strength of spirit. They have endured persecution, war, poverty and division; yet they have always known how to rise again and look to the future. In light of the Gospel, this perseverance became Christian fortitude: the capacity to pass through trials without losing hope and without allowing suffering to harden the heart.
To preserve the memory of the martyrs means allowing their faith to continue living in our choices, in service, in forgiveness and in the gift of ourselves. I think in particular of Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, the second priest in the history of Korea, remembered as the “martyr of sweat.” For eleven years, he travelled tirelessly along the roads of Korea to reach distant and hidden Christian communities, bringing them the word of God and the sacraments, until his life was consumed in service. His witness reminds us that there is the martyrdom of those who offer their lives in a single moment, and there is also the more hidden martyrdom of those who give their lives day after day. Yes, this is what all Christians are called to do: to give their lives in love, each day.
Our time is in great need of precisely this: men and women who have the courage to do good even when it comes at a cost. Draw near to those who are alone, support those who are weary, seek out those who have drifted away. Have the courage to forgive, to begin anew and to engage in dialogue. Goodness is not always recognized and often demands sacrifice; yet it is precisely this daily courage of charity that makes our proclamation of the Gospel credible.
The strength to live in this way comes from friendship with Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples: “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). Dear priests and consecrated men and women, cherish this friendship. Nourish it in the Eucharist, in listening to the word, in prayer and in silence before the Lord. It is by remaining with him that we rediscover the joy of our vocation and learn to love as he loves.
Friendship with Christ also opens us to fraternity. You come from different Dioceses, Institutes, Congregations and experiences: make this diversity a resource for synodality. A synodal Church is a church that walks together behind the same Lord, listening, welcoming and recognizing in the other a brother or sister and a companion along the way, never a rival.
This takes on a particular significance when we think of your homeland. The Korean Peninsula still bears the painful wound of division. For this reason, I ask you always to be men and women of reconciliation. Peace begins in the heart and in our daily relationships, when we listen rather than judge, forgive rather than harbor resentment, and choose communion rather than confrontation. Be united and be artisans of peace. Let us continue to work and pray so that new paths of encounter may open, and so that the Gospel of peace may be proclaimed freely in every part of the Korean Peninsula and throughout the world.
Korea, once a mission land, has today become a land that sends forth missionaries. This is a precious fruit of the faith and sacrifice of those who have gone before you. Memory gives rise to mission, and mission opens the way to hope. The upcoming World Youth Day will make all of this visible. Young people from every part of the world will come to a land where the Gospel grew through the witness of the martyrs. I would like it to be a great encounter between memory and the future: the martyrs hand on the faith to the new generations, and young people receive it in order to carry it along the roads of the world.
Listen to the young, walk with them and help them to discover that following Christ does not diminish freedom, but brings it to fulfilment; that faith does not restrict life, but opens it to a greater horizon. Therefore, prepare for WYD with passion — as you are already doing — keeping these words in your hearts: “Take courage! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Your martyrs understood this well: their hope did not depend on favorable circumstances, but on the certainty that Christ had already won the victory.
Dear brothers and sisters, you have received a great heritage. Be strong in faith, generous in charity and steadfast in hope. Never grow weary of doing good, even when it is costly and even when no one sees it. No act carried out in love is ever lost before God.
In this month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, I entrust you and the journey towards World Youth Day to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Patroness of Korea. I ask Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Saint Paul Chong Ha-sang, and all the holy and blessed Korean martyrs to accompany you and to make you guardians of memory, witnesses of hope and artisans of peace.
Upon you, your families, your brothers and sisters in religious life, and the entire People of God in Korea, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you!
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