During Korean bishops' ad limina visit at the Vatican, the director of Communications and Media Department of the Archdiocese of Seoul, Fr Matthias Hur, talks to AsiaNews about the health of the Church in the capital. In his apostolic pilgrimage, the pope called on Catholics of the peninsula "to make changes" and results have started to follow. New programmes at the diocesan and national level include care for the marginalised and a new impetus to renew the clergy.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - "The visit of Pope Francis is an unforgettable memory not only for the Catholic Church of Korea but also for the whole Korean society. We received the words of the Holy Father with great joy and thankfulness; our country is ready to follow his messages and footsteps," said Fr Matthias Hur, director of the Communications and media Department of the Archdiocese of Seoul, who spoke to AsiaNews during the Koreans bishops' ad limina visit to the Vatican.

The members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea are in Rome until Wednesday. During the three-day visit, they will meet Pope Francis to consider the pontiff's extraordinary trip to the peninsula.

The pilgrimage saw Francis insist on the need to devote more to the marginalised and work for the reunification of the country since the "two Koreas are brothers, and they speak the same language". Likewise, the pope called on the faithful to reject the "throwaway culture" and "uncontrolled consumerism" that endanger a healthy national development.

"I think the visit of Pope Francis' visit is a starting point for the change and renewal of the Korean Church," said Fr Hur. "2015 will be a year for us to start working on the 'homework' the Pope left us. More and more people are looking for parish churches because of their interest in the Catholic religion. Since the pope's visit, I think the Korean people has been encouraged by a new spring of hope; a social atmosphere of taking care of the poor has also been created."

Specifically, the Archdiocese of Seoul is also changing. It "is focusing on becoming 'a poor Church for the poor'. In order to achieve this goal, the members of the clergy in the diocese have realised that we need to take the initiative and set an example of living a life according to the Evangelii Gaudium."

"Seoul is one of the biggest cities in the world. The Archdiocese of Seoul has set the goal to improve pastoral care and evangelical focus on different things, like social corrections, police ministry, hospice care, etc."

With the tools available, a new course has begun. The "Seoul Weekly (The official weekly newspaper published by the communication office) has been presenting people who need social assistance and care in a monthly column. These people later received both educational support and other help. It is a small start, but I believe the project will get bigger."

Similarly, "Last December, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, and Won Buddhist representatives came together to establish the 'Human Rights and Immigrant Workers Conference'. The organisation aims to provide full support to the 1.07 million foreign workers in our country. This included the protection of their human rights and their medical care."

"Thanks to the visit of Pope Francis," Fr Hur said, "we now realise the importance of the pastoral care for the poor and are working hard to make changes for these people. I think the influence of the Holy Father's visit will last for a very long time."

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