5 reasons South Korea could be the church of future

[rug]

August 12th, 2014
05:08 PM ET
Opinion by Candida Moss, special to CNN

(CNN) – When Pope Francis arrives in South Korea on Wednesday for a five-day visit, he’ll get a look at just the kind of church he’s been trying to create worldwide.

The trip, planned to coincide with Asia Youth Day, marks the first time a pope has visited the country since 1989, and is part of a new papal focus on globalization in general and on Asia in particular. (Francis plans to visit Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Japan in January.)

The time has long passed that the Catholic Church is elderly white men and women in European enclaves.

The last papal conclave and the election of the first Latin American Pope raised awareness of the Catholic Church’s growing presence in Africa, but Asian Christianity was hardly mentioned at all.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/12/five-ways-south-korea-might-be-the-church-of-the-future/

[goldent]

1. Great post

I was pleased to see the acknowledgement of Catholic education - I think contributions to education and scientific methodology as maybe the biggest non-religious accomplishments of the RCC.

[IrishAyes]

2. Understand, I don't want to lose Francis;

but when and if there's another Pope in my lifetime, it wouldn't be a bit surprising to see someone from Asia or even Africa chosen. That might winnow the wheat a bit, too.