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Pope Francis approaches Sewol tragedy victims’ family members

By Son Won-je, staff reporter

Pope Francis’s visit to South Korea is drawing the international media’s attention back to the Sewol ferry sinking.

As the pontiff tends to the suffering of the surviving family members one day and the surviving students the next, the foreign media reporting has been focusing on the events of the tragedy in major articles.

In the past, the Pope drew worldwide interest to the plight of North African refugees and victims of the Mafia with visits to the island of Lampedusa and the city of Calabria in Italy. During the trips, he gave messages of condolence - to those who lost their lives in the lowest possible circumstances in Lampedusa, a major refugee stop, and to family members grieving for children killed by the Mafia in Calabria. Now, his trip to South Korea is spotlighting victims of the Sewol sinking and their family members as the country’s own version of the Lampedusa and Calabria casualties.

The foreign media reporting on the visit included detailed summaries of the Pope’s meeting with family members of the Sewol victims and the warm message of condolences he delivered before his talk at the Assumption mass at Daejeon’s World Cup Stadium on Aug. 15.

In a piece titled “Pope, departing from script, leads prayer for Korean unity,” Reuters wrote that Lee Ho-jin, father of one of the victims in the sinking, “asked the pope if he could be baptized into the Catholic Church,” adding, “Francis agreed and will perform the rite himself in Seoul on Saturday.”

The pontiff’s appearance at the mass sporting a yellow ribbon drew particular attention.

“The relatives gave the pope an album of their dead children's photos, as well as a yellow-ribbon pin that he wore on his chest throughout the mass,” the AFP wrote.

“The yellow ribbon has become a memorial symbol for the ferry tragedy,” the piece continued.

The Reuters piece also noted, “Hundreds of trees in the city [Daejeon] were decked with yellow ribbons in remembrance of the more than 300 [victims].”

The family members’ calls for an investigation of the sinking, and the response by politicians, were also focuses of attention.

“[R]elatives [of the victims] are pushing lawmakers to set up an independent, transparent probe,” an Associated Press piece said. “The ruling party is opposed because it says a parliamentary committee doesn't have the power to indict.”

The AFP also quoted a victim’s family member who met the Pope as saying, “We [the relatives of the victims] told him that we don't put any trust in what the government says and asked him to help us get a true picture of the disaster."

The New York Times noted, “For weeks, people who lost family members on the Sewol have been demonstrating in front of Parliament, camping out in central Seoul and in some cases holding hunger strikes.”

“Organizers have asked for the pope’s support in their demand for an independent inquiry,” the piece continued.

as they cry and hold out their hands to him

Aug. 15. (pool photo)

In Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall

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