President Moon Jae-in (L) shakes hands with Pope Francis as first lady Kim Jung-sook (2nd from L) watches, before their talks at the Vatican on Oct. 29, 2021, in this photo provided by the Vatican.
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Pope Francis has once again expressed thanks to the South Korean Catholic church for contributing to the Vatican-led global campaign to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries, the Archdiocese of Seoul said Wednesday.
“I would like to thank you for the offering that you, on behalf of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Seoul, sent me for poor and needy people affected by COVID-19 around the world,” the pope said in a letter sent to Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung on Oct. 21.
“The Office of Papal Charities will offer assistance to those in need.”
He added, “I very much appreciated this gesture of charity and generosity, thanks to which many suffering people will receive an aid. I embrace you and your Archdiocese, granting my affection and my spiritual closeness.”
On Oct. 20, the archdiocese sent the Vatican US$1 million for the second time out of funds it raised for the campaign.
The first installment, of the same amount of money, was remitted on June 1, and the pope expressed appreciation for the contribution in a letter sent to Yeom later in the day.
The church decided to start the fundraising on Easter Sunday in April, responding to the pope’s call to distribute the life-saving doses to the poor and vulnerable.
The archdiocese said it will continue the fundraising campaign until Nov. 27.
(Yonhap)
