Daejeon
(AsiaNews) - The announcement of the pastoral
visit of Pope Francis to South Korea has also sparked the curiosity of non-Christian
Koreans who have chosen Evangelii Gaudium
as a tool to better understand the Pope and the Catholic Church. The
publication of the first apostolic exhortation of Francis in Korean (see photo)
took place two weeks ago and since then has sold a record number of 25 thousand
copies. Usually
papal documents, local Catholic publishing sources explain, do not exceed 4
thousand copies.
A
Catholic nun who works in the "Daughters of Paul" book shop explains:
"Christians, Catholics but also Protestants and Anglicans, have come in
droves to buy the book. Even non- Christians have begun to read it, and the announcement
of the visit has
boosted sales".
According
to a Catholic newspaper, the publishing success of Evangelii Gaudium is down to several factors: on the one hand the
Pope's' "easy and reader-friendly" language, on the other hand his strong
criticism of social inequality, a very topical issue in the country. In
Korea, the Hankook newspaper writes
"today this inequality is felt not only on an economic level, but also a
spiritual level".
Sister
Kown, from the Pauline bookshop says: "Normally it is difficult to sell papal
documents of, because there is a certain prejudice against these texts among
Koreans: they consider them complicated, far removed from the life of the
faithful. Instead this exhortation is seen as
a letter, which speaks of current issues and explains how to live well in a
normal language".
To
further explore the text, the Seokang university - run by the Jesuits - has organized
for tomorrow (March 15, 2014 ) a symposium on the theme "Gaudium Evangelii
and the Church of Korea". The
opening address will be given by the bishop of Jeju and president of the Korean
Bishops Conference, Msgr. Peter
Kang Woo -il, other speakers will include Jesuit priest Park Sanghoon and Fr. Park
Dongho, chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of
Seoul.