Korea Times
2/20/2007
Pope Benedict XVI has addressed a letter to North Korea’s Catholics to be delivered by a South Korean delegation of the Catholic humanitarian organization Caritas at Pyongyang, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Monday quoting a Caritas spokesman.
The visit by the Catholic relief organization will take place on March 27-31 and is intended to “strengthen relations with the authorities and analyze needs,’’ AFP quoted Caritas spokeswoman Nancy McNally as saying.
Caritas is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations working to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed, in over 200 countries and territories.
The global news agency said the letter is a reply to a Christmas address sent to the pontiff by the National Korean Catholic Association.
There are reportedly around 3,000 to 4,000 Catholics in North Korea, who are members of a church which comes under the control of the North Korean government and has no official ties to the Vatican.
Last November the Pope urged the international community to intensify humanitarian aid to the world’s most vulnerable countries, particularly North Korea.
