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| Andrew Yeom Soo-jung |
The pope said he is willing to go to Pyongyang if he is officially invited. President Moon Jae-in met him at the Vatican, Thursday, and delivered Kim's invitation.
It is an unwritten rule for both the head of state and the primate of the Catholic Church to send a formal invitation for a papal visit, according to sources familiar with the Catholic Church, Sunday.
Kim extended the invitation. But he may find it uneasy for Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul, who also has been serving as the Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang, to send another invitation.
With the Vatican's approval, Yeom has been serving as the de facto primate of the two Korea.
"Despite the reconciliatory mood blooming on the peninsula, Kim may find it unacceptable for Yeom to represent Pyongyang and greet the Pope," a source said.
The second source said the Vatican may find a possible papal visit burdensome, because it may "breach" its own rules.
The Vatican insisted that a papal visit would only be possible if Catholic priests were accepted in North Korea. The regime is believed to have around 3,000 Catholics but has no Catholic priests.
The Vatican turned down the invitation for then-Pope John Paul II to Pyongyang after the first-ever inter-Korean summit in June 2000.
The sources said a papal visit may question the Vatican's diplomatic principle of advocating human rights, considering North Korea has been suppressing underground churches and running political prison camps. Up to 120,000 people are thought to be detained in these.
"This is why the Vatican has not had diplomatic treaties with North Korea along with China where human rights has been called into question," a source said. "And a papal visit would contradict the Vatican's diplomatic policies."
To avoid trouble, the source suggested South Korea might invite the Pope and have its religious leaders go to Pyongyang with him.
"This can resolve the diplomatic problems including protocol," a fourth source, although it acknowledged that it then would not be an official visit to the North.
