South Korea Marks 31 Years of Weekly Prayer for Peace

Every Tuesday evening since 1995, Catholics in South Korea have done something remarkable: they've prayed for peace with their neighbors to the north, never missing a week for 31 years.

On February 10, over 400 people packed Seoul's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the 1500th Mass for Korean Reconciliation. Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick told the crowd this represents an unprecedented commitment in Korean Catholic history.

The weekly tradition started on March 7, 1995, when the late Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan launched the Committee for Reconciliation in Korea. That year marked 50 years since the Korean Peninsula was divided, and church leaders wanted to create a steady flame of hope that wouldn't flicker out when political winds shifted.

"Over the past 30 years, there have been moments when peace seemed within reach, and times when dialogue completely broke down," Archbishop Chung acknowledged in his homily. But he insisted that striving for reconciliation isn't weakness or losing touch with reality. It's courage.

What makes these Masses even more special is what happens at the end. Worshippers in Seoul recite St. Francis of Assisi's prayer for peace at the exact same moment as Catholics in Pyongyang's Changchung Church, the only Catholic church in North Korea. This spiritual communion across the border has happened weekly since August 1995, based on an agreement between South Korean church leaders and North Korea's Korean Catholic Association.

Minister of Unification David Chung Dong-young attended the 1500th Mass and expressed hope it would help "transform hatred into love, discord into reconciliation, and division into unity."

The Ripple Effect

The impact of three decades of persistent prayer extends beyond the cathedral walls. Each week, the Mass remembers one of the 57 parish churches that existed in North Korea immediately after liberation. This practice keeps the memory of North Korean Catholic communities alive in the hearts of believers in the South.

For nine years, worshippers have also prayed the Rosary after Mass, asking Our Lady of Fatima to intercede for Korean Peninsula peace. Father Jung Soo Yong, Vice President of the Committee for Reconciliation, promised the prayers will continue no matter what headlines say about inter-Korean relations.

The gatherings remind participants that peace requires seeing each other "as brothers and sisters and neighbors" rather than feeling superior. Archbishop Chung called the Mass "a Eucharistic celebration of introspection and preparation for a new future."

These faithful Koreans show that hope isn't about having all the answers or knowing when breakthrough will come. Hope is showing up week after week, decade after decade, lighting candles in the darkness and believing peace is worth praying for.