Vatican Secretary of State, His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrated a Holy Mass in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica praying for peace in the Korean peninsula, saying that peace without crosses and tribulations is not the peace of Jesus. Present at the Mass were visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in (a Catholic), his wife, a large group of Korean faithful, a hundred priests and missionaries, some bishops and many representatives of the Holy See’s diplomatic corps.
As reported by Vatican news, In his homily, His Eminence Cardinal Parolin said that they were praying for peace in the world, especially in the Korean Peninsula, so that “after so many years of tension and division, the word peace may finally fully resound.” The cardinal pointed out that peace is something lived concretely in daily life, as Pope Francis often repeats, “a peace in the midst of tribulations”. This is why the peace promised by Jesus is not as the world gives but as He gives.
His Eminence Cardinal Parolin also recalled St. Pope Paul VI, who in his message for the Church’s first “World Day of Peace” in 1968, cited St. John XXIII saying, “We must always speak of peace. The world must be educated to love peace, to build it up and defend it.” “Against the resurgent preludes to war, we must arouse in the men of our time and of future generations the sense and love of peace founded upon truth, justice, freedom and love.”
