South Korean Catholics

• Pope Leaves South Korea after Urging Peace

  Pope Francis wrapped up his first trip to Asia on Monday by challenging Koreans -from the North and the South - to reject the "mindset of suspicion and confrontation" that clouds their relations and find new ways to forge peace on the war-divided peninsula.

• Papal Mass to Recall Torture, Execution of Korean Martyrs

  Pope Francis will pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice of South Korea's first Catholics when he beatifies 124 tortured and executed martyrs at a special mass in Seoul on Saturday.

• South Korea: Catholicism's Unlikely Asian Pillar

  When Pope Francis visits South Korea this week, he will find a thriving Catholic community with a social and political influence that belies its minority status in one of Christianity's most muscular Asian strongholds.

• North Korea Rejects Participation in Papal Mass in Seoul

  North Korea appears to have declined an invitation to send Catholic believers to a mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Seoul later this month, a South Korean Church official said on Tuesday.

• North Korean Catholics Asked to Attend Pope's Mass

  The South Korean Catholic church says it has asked North Korea to send about 10 Catholics to a mass to be celebrated by Pope Francis during his August visit to Seoul.

• South Korean Cardinal in First Visit to North Korea

  A South Korean cardinal visited the North on Wednesday in the first trip of its kind, an official said, ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to Seoul that Catholic authorities hope will promote peace between the neighbours.