Korean Catholics make ‘pilgrimage of reconciliation’ to Japan
Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima apologizes for Japanese atrocities against Koreans during colonial period
Korean Catholic pilgrims pay a visit to the memorial for victims of the Josei Coal Mine in Japan on April 26. (Photo: Diocese of Uijeongbu)
By UCA News reporter
Published: May 02, 2023 09:06 AM GMT
A group of Catholics from South Korea made a "pilgrimage of reconciliation and peace" and paid visits to several cities in Japan that hold memorial sites related to the Japanese occupation and persecution of Koreans.
The Korean delegation of about 30 people including clergy and lay people led by the National Reconciliation Committee of the Diocese of Uijeongbu made the pilgrimage on April 25-28.
Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon of Uijeongbu, the chairman of the Korean bishops’ Special Commission for the Reconciliation of the Korean People joined the delegation as well as members of the Civil Reconciliation Committee.
During the trip, they visited various memorial sites in the cities of Fukuoka, Yamaguchi, and Hiroshima. They prayed together and paid tribute to those who lost their lives due to oppression.
The delegates made a pilgrimage to Mount Baekdu, an active volcano and one of the highest mountains that stretch along the border of China and Korea.
Japanese Jesuit priest Nakai Jun and a young Japanese Catholic accompanied the Korean visitors during the pilgrimage.
The pilgrims paid visits to Dunggul Village, a slum where Koreans who failed to return to Korea after the end of the Japanese occupation lived together. They also visited Kanmon Ferry Dock in Fukuoka which was used to bring Korean slave laborers to work in Japanese factories and mines.
The group prayed and paid floral homage to Koreans who lost their lives in dangerous working conditions at Josei Coal Mine.
They also visited Yamaguchi Elementary and Intermediate School where Korean students studied amid poor conditions, enduring discrimination from the Japanese government and local communities for a long time, such as being excluded from free high school education in Japan.
On April 27, the group participated in a special Mass for peace and reconciliation at the cathedral of Hiroshima diocese.
During the homily, Bishop Alexis Shirahama Mitsuru of Hiroshima apologized for the atrocities committed by Japanese colonial forces against Korean people.
"I want to apologize for the suffering of many Koreans during the Japanese colonial period and for the division of the Korean Peninsula due to the war initiated by Japan," Mitsuru said.
He then expressed solidarity for peace, saying, “I will join the prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula every evening at nine.”
After the Mass, Lee and Mitsuru shared in-depth ways to overcome the past and promote solidarity between the Catholic Churches in Korea and Japan.
The pilgrimage group paid their respects at the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Memorial and also visited the Xavier Memorial Church, which honors St. Francis Xavier, who brought Christianity to Japan, providing an opportunity to understand the Catholic Church in Japan.
“I was able to once again engrave the history of our people who suffered from forced mobilization during the Japanese colonial period, and at the same time, I was able to see Japanese peace activists who were reflecting on past mistakes and opposing current injustice,” Lee said.
“It was an opportunity to realize the meaning and practice it,” he added.
Following the end of Joseon dynasty rule (1392-1897) in Korea, imperial Japan occupied the Korean Peninsula until the end of World War II.
During the occupation, Japanese forces were accused of the brutal suppression and killing of Korean independence supporters, forced labor, and sexual abuse of Korean women.
This report is brought to you in partnership with the Catholic Times of Korea