By UCA News Reporter
South Korean Catholics have launched a project to create a Cross of Peace from barbed wire taken from the North Korean border to be presented at the 2027 World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul.
The “Barbed Wire Cross Project” was opened in the South Korean capital on Apr 12.
The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the WYD 2027 held the opening ceremony of the project in the courtyard of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, marking the beginning of a journey to transform barbed wire, a symbol of division and conflict, into a sign of peace, says a press release from the Archdiocese of Seoul.
The project is a joint initiative by the WYD Seoul 2027 LOC and the Path With You Foundation as part of the preparation for World Youth Day Seoul 2027.
Using discarded barbed wire collected from the Military Demarcation Line, which separates South and North Korea, and from various locations across Korea, young people will spend one year, until Apr 4, 2027, hammering and straightening the wire to create a “Cross of Peace.”
Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul presided over the opening ceremony
In his homily, Chung termed the barbed wire “a painful symbol of division, confrontation, and the tragedy of fratricidal war on the Korean Peninsula.”
“Just as the cross, once an instrument of execution, became through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ a symbol of peace and reconciliation, sacrifice and love, I pray that this cross may come to take root in our hearts as a symbol of reconciliation and peace, sacrifice and love on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.
Chung also blessed the hammer, the anvil, and the materials to be used in the making of the cross. Chung, Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, general coordinator of WYD 2027, and other guests took part in a demonstration by hammering and straightening the barbed wire.
Japan’s colonization of Korea (1905-1945) ended with Japan’s defeat by Allied Forces in World War II. However, disagreements between the US and the Soviet Union led to the division of Korea into South and North.
The invasion of the Soviet-backed North Korean communist forces into the South sparked the Korean War on Jun 25, 1950, which ended after an armistice, not a peace treaty, signed on Jul 27, 1953.
“I pray that this cross may come to take root in our hearts as a symbol of reconciliation and peace, sacrifice and love on the Korean Peninsula,” Chung said.
Members from parish communities, church groups, and youth from across the archdiocese, figures from the religious, social, and cultural sectors are also expected to take part in the initiative.
The cross-building project is expected to spread a message of social integration and reconciliation that reaches beyond the boundaries of the Church, the archdiocese said.
Pope John Paul II introduced WYD in 1985. The triennial global event features prayer, pilgrimage, sharing, music, and dance, with an aim to bring together young people to deepen their faith, experience the universality of the Church, and foster peace and understanding.
Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to attend the 2027 WYD in Seoul from Jul 29 to Aug. 8, where tens of thousands of young Catholics from about 200 countries are expected to participate. – UCA News
