SEOUL (UCAN): Catholic pilgrimage sites in South Korea are ramping up preparations to welcome participants of the 2027 World Youth Day, aiming to help them connect deeply with the Korean Church’s history.
Father James Won Jong-hyeon, vice chairperson of the Committee for the Honoring of Martyrs of the Archdiocese of Seoul, said the first step in welcoming the pilgrims is to help them complete their pilgrimage in their native language.
“Thanks to technological advancements, this is no longer a major issue, as long as they pay attention,” Father Won said.
The decision to provide multilingual support for pilgrims was made during a November 2025 meeting of the Korean Bishops’ Conference’s [CBCK] Committee for the Honouring of Martyrs and Pilgrimage Pastoral Affairs.
Father Won said they are developing ways to share the universal values embodied by the martyrs—love, equality, sacrifice, and human rights—that are relatable to everyone during the WYD, which Pope Leo XIV is slated to attend.
As part of the initiative, the Catholic Seoul Pilgrimage website, which offers details in English, Chinese, and Japanese, plans to further reduce language barriers by adding nine additional languages.
For example, the Haemi Martyrs’ International Shrine in the Diocese of Daejeon offers information, including video content, at its Digital History Experience Centre in multiple languages, including English and Chinese.
The number of foreign pilgrims visiting pilgrimage sites in the archdiocese through advance registration in 2025 increased by 10 per cent, from 347,939 in 2024 to 382,773.
The number of foreigners attending Mass at the Holy Sites also increased by 11 per cent year-on-year to 829,842.
Father Thaddeus Lee Chan-woo, secretary of the CBCK’s Committee for the Exaltation of Martyrs and Pilgrimage Pastoral Committee, emphasised the importance of effectively presenting pilgrims with the lives of our martyrs.
“Because Korean martyrs are closer in time to European martyrs, many foreign pilgrims are moved by the fact that martyrdom is not a story from a distant country, but a story of people like us,” Father Lee noted.
The WYD is scheduled for August 2027 and is expected to draw about a million young people, with around 400,000 coming from outside Korea.
The last World Youth Day 2023 in, Lisbon, Portugal, drew 354,000 young people from up to 200 countries.
The closing Mass presided over by Pope Francis had an estimated 1.5 million participants.
*This is a translated and edited version of the report
that first appeared in the Catholic Times of Korea on January 7
and has been republished with permission.
