Apparently Francis is, so it is said, to be invited to North Korea by Kim Jong Un who promises him a warm welcome. The message is to be passed by the South Korean president in a forthcoming visit to the Vatican. If this is true, I have little doubt that Francis will accept and will bask in the headlines that are sure to follow. The Church in North Korea has disappeared, although there might, I guess, be one or two priest survivors in the dreadful camps that house those who decline to worship the Kim dynasty. I was watching a YouTube video some time ago made by a Catholic who told his guide/minders that he would like to attend Mass on the following Sunday and asked if this was possible. 'Of course', they said, 'There is total freedom of worship in the 'democratic republic''. On the Sunday he was taken to a church and witnessed what appeared to be a Mass with a few old, females in attendance. After 'mass' he asked if he could talk to the 'priest'. This was not possible apparently because he had to go elsewhere to say other 'masses' and, anyway, he wasn't a priest but was filling in for the priest who was away! Which shows the ignorance of his minders and makes one wonder where the real priest was. If Francis goes, after the betrayal of the Church in China, it will be another insult to the heroic Catholics of the east by this horrendous pontiff who appears to love the press loving him.
It would be rather as though the psycho next door after butchering a person's wife and family sent an invitation to have a few beers... The normal individual would not show up or if he did would show up with a pump action shotgun...
I think there's a Patriotic Catholic Church of North Korea similar to the one in China. The Koreans are probably expecting the same deal as China got, except with secret clauses more relevant to N. Korea. And why shouldn't they get a similar deal? The precedent has been set - atheists now choose candidates for the episcopacy. And come to think of it, after reading that tweet from the Australian Bishop, the Chinese and N. Korean candidates would fit right in.
