Top Stories 26/03/08 Korean Catholics ‘roll dice’ for love, peace

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At the end of Sunday Mass a Catholic representing the community rolls the dice to determine a weekly action phrase

Bishop Pius Moon Chang-woo of Jeju in South Korea rolls the 'Dice for Peace' during the Sunday Mass on March 8. (Photo: Catholic Times of Korea)

By UCA News reporter

Published: March 10, 2026 12:33 PM GMT

Updated: March 10, 2026 12:37 PM GMT

Catholics in South Korea’s Jeju Diocese have begun using what they call “Dice for Peace” to determine weekly actions seeking to spread love and establish peace.

The diocese on the nation’s largest island, famed for tourist attractions including unique marine life and volcanic landscapes, has distributed dice to each parish since the end of February.

Catholics are encouraged to use them as tools to practice the Gospel spirit in their daily lives.

During the announcement at the end of the Sunday Mass, a Catholic representing the community rolls the dice to determine a weekly action phrase.

Instead of numbers the dice contains six sentences:

• Let’s love one another
• Let’s forgive mistakes
• Let’s listen to others
• Let’s love everyone
• Let’s love first
• Let’s love the person next to me now

After the rolling is complete, Catholics make a vow to practice the phrase in their lives throughout the week and to share it with others.

The congregation then sings it together, accepting it as a guide for their lives for the week.

Afterward, families, small groups, district meetings, and youth and student gatherings share their experiences of practicing the phrase and encourage one another. The following week's Mass naturally brings a reflection on the past week's experiences.

On March 8, Bishop Pius Moon Chang-woo of Jeju made a pastoral visit to the Namwon Parish in Seogwipo. The prelate personally rolled the dice during the mass and selected an action phrase with the congregation.

"Setting a practice phrase and reciting it together is not a simple event, but a promise that the community will live the week with the same attitude of the gospel," said a local Catholic.

"If the process of setting a practice and reflecting on that life is repeated, peace will gradually become established as a culture of the community," he added.

The “Dice for Peace” takes inspiration from the Living Peace International, an international education and practice network. The network is motivated by the Golden Rules proposed in “The Art of Living”, a famed book by Italian mystic and writer Chiara Lubich.

Lubich (1920-2008) founded the Focolare Movement, an international lay Catholic movement for spiritual and social renewal.

The diocese plans to make this practice not a one-time event but an ongoing endeavor.

Catholics will share the practice phrases at Sunday Mass, share their experiences in small groups and district meetings, and expand the practice into everyday life. They are expected to encourage youth, children, and adolescents to engage in similar practices, naturally accumulating experiences of learning and living in peace.

In Jeju, the practice holds deeper significance due to its troubled political history and journey towards reconciliation.

Often referred to as “the Jeju April 3 Incident,” the island experienced an armed uprising in 1948, three years after the end of World War II. The uprising came as the Soviet and US governments ended up dividing Korea into two, which led to the bloody Korean War (1950-53).

The uprising was suppressed brutally by the security forces. It is estimated that between 14,000 and 30,000 people were killed in violence, and tens of thousands fled to neighboring Japan to escape violence and deaths.

Bishop Moon said the Church has always prioritized its responsibility to help the younger generation grow into a new generation that lives in peace, building on these memories.

He also hopes the “Dice for Peace” will become a religious practice that fosters a culture of peace within the community.

"Above all, I hope that peace will become a living and active attitude in our lives. I hope this will be an opportunity for parishioners to once again put the love of the Gospel into practice in their daily lives," he said.

"I hope that by building communal experiences, we can move from a faith that thinks about peace to a faith that lives in peace," he added.

The report is a translated and edited version of a Korean-language article first published by Catholic Times of Korea on March 10, 2026.