Seoul has been chosen to host a global Catholic Church event for young people, World Youth Day, in 2027.
Up to a million people are expected to attend the event, with the Pope himself also set to visit.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
At the closing mass for the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, Pope Francis announced the host city for the next World Youth Day.
"The next World Youth Day will take place in Asia, it will be in South Korea, in Seoul."
The World Youth Day brings together young people from around the world in celebration of their Catholic faith.
The massive event runs for five or six days, with the reigning pope also in attendance.
Seoul will become the first Asian city to host the event since Manila in 1995, where over 5 million people attended the event's closing mass.
Seoul archdiocese estimates that around 700-thousand to a million Catholics will be in attendance for the Seoul World Youth Day, with 300 thousand traveling to South Korea.
"Since in the past three years we have undergone a COVID situation in Korea, sadly the number of people going to church in Korea has declined, and we sincerely hope that throughout preparations and also during World Youth Day, it will be a great opportunity to develop and mature our youth ministry. So that’s what I am hoping for as our journey begins for the preparation for World Youth Day.”
The announcement comes as Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung and Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of the Seoul archdiocese traveled to Lisbon last Monday to make a pitch for Seoul.
Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See, and Oh Hyun-joo, the South Korean ambassador to the Holy See also took part in the pitch.
The event is also expected to provide a massive boost to the local economy.
The Lisbon World Youth Day is expected to have been worth about 622 million U.S. Dollars.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
Interview with Archbishop Peter Soon-Taick Chung, O.C.D., Seoul, Korea
