By Nicole Winfield
VATICAN CITY (AP) - When Pope Francis was a young Jesuit, he wanted to follow in the great Jesuit tradition and become a missionary in Asia. Health problems kept him home, but he is finally getting his chance, travelling to Asia as the world's most visible and popular Catholic missionary.
During his visit to South Korea this week, he'll bring a message of peace and reconciliation to the divided Korean peninsula and a call for young Catholics to take up the missionary charge themselves, spreading the faith on a continent where the Catholic Church is small but growing. Asia's Christians have endured dramatic persecutions over history that echo attacks against Christians today in parts of the Middle East and Africa.
While the pope is expected to reach out to Pyonyang during the visit, no North Koreans are expected to attend. The archdiocese of Seoul invited a delegation of Northern Christians, but Pyongyang authorities informed organizers last week t hat they wouldn't come, the Vatican said.
The Aug. 13-18 trip marks the first time a pope has been on the Korean peninsula in a quarter-century and the trip kicks off what is expected to be a very Asian-focused year for the 77-year-old pontiff: He will travel to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January and there are rumors of a trip to Japan next year as well
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