Pope asks all Koreans to forge peace

Pope Francis wrapped up his first trip to Asia on Monday by challenging Koreans — from the North and the South — to reject the "mindset of suspicion and confrontation" that cloud their relations and instead find new ways to forge peace on the war-divided peninsula.

The Mass of reconciliation at Seoul's main cathedral, attended by South Korean President Park Geun-hye as well as some North Korean defectors, was the final event of a five-day trip that confirmed the importance of Asia for this papacy and for the Catholic Church as a whole, given the church is young and growing here whereas it is withering in traditionally Christian lands in Europe.

Francis' plea for peace came as the United States and South Korea started a joint military drill that North Korea warned would result in a "merciless pre-emptive strike" against the allies. North Korea turned down an invitation from the South Korean Catholic Church for members of its state-run Korean Catholic Association to attend Monday's Mass, citing the drills.

At the start of the Mass on Monday, Francis greeted seven women, many sitting in wheelchairs, who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. One gave him a pin of a butterfly — a symbol of the plight of these "comfort women" — that he immediately pinned to his vestments and wore throughout the Mass. Earlier in his visit, he met on several occasions with relatives of victims of the Sewol ferry sinking, in which 300 people were killed in April. Throughout his trip, he wore a yellow pin on his cassock that was given to him by the families.

Francis said in his homily that reconciliation can be brought about only by forgiveness, even if it seems "impossible, impractical and even at times repugnant."

"Let us pray, then, for the emergence of new opportunities for dialogue, encounter and the resolution of differences, for continued generosity in providing humanitarian assistance to those in need, and for an ever greater recognition that all Koreans are brothers and sisters, members of one family, one people," he said.

During his trip Francis has reached out to China, with which the Vatican has had fraught relations, and on Sunday said Asian governments should not fear Christians, as they did not want to "come as conquerors" but be integral parts of local cultures. The remarks were intended for communist-ruled countries such as North Korea and Vietnam.

Francis also spoke several times during his visit about inequality, which has been a theme of his papacy since being elected in March 2013. South Korea is among the world's wealthiest countries, but is increasingly unequal, with nearly half its elderly living in poverty.

Francis laid out these themes from the start of his visit, which was began with by the firing of five rockets from Pyongyang into the sea. North Korea later said the test firings had nothing to do with Francis' arrival but rather commemorated the 69th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japanese occupation.

The U.S.-South Korean military exercises starting Monday and involving tens of thousands of troops are described by the allies as routine and defensive, but Pyongyang sees them as invasion preparation. A spokesman for the North Korean army's general staff said in a statement Sunday carried by state media that a "most powerful and advanced merciless pre-emptive strike will start any time chosen by us."

Wire services