Pope's visit to Korea raises questions about plight of Christians
Donald Kirk says religious persecution is going on today in North Korea
The visit of Pope Francis to South Korea coincides with the 69th anniversary today of the Japanese surrender at the end of the second world war.
The eyes of the world will be on the pontiff as he celebrates mass in Daejeon World Cup Stadium on Asian Youth Day while South Korea's President Park Geun-hye makes the usual plea for peace and reconciliation of the two Koreas, so many years after the arbitrary division of the peninsula at the 38th parallel by the big powers that won the war, the US and the Soviet Union.
The pope undoubtedly will receive a far better response in South Korea than would ever be possible in China, where the church has been under government control ever since the victorious Communist regime broke off relations with the Vatican in 1951.
The pontiff would doubtless like to expand the role of Catholicism in China, even restore ties with the Vatican, but so far China's leaders appear supremely uninterested in the idea.
In fact, authorities have cracked down on Christians, both Catholics and Protestants, in churches near the border with North Korea in a renewed effort to stop them from aiding and harbouring refugees from North Korea.
In South Korea, the pope will probably call for peace and reconciliation in measured tones, appealing to the country's Catholics, estimated at well over five million, or more than 10 per cent of the population. His message will no doubt be crafted to bridge the gap between conservatives opposed to compromise and liberals highly critical of the government's hardline stance.
But will he dare to criticise North Korea for its own transgressions, for rhetorical threats to bomb the White House and destroy the regime in the south?