Farewell to Korea

Having concluded the Eucharistic celebration at the Cathedral of Seoul, the Holy Father, Pope Francis then traveled to the Seongnam Air Base, located south of the city, where, in the presence of civil and religious authorities as well as a group of the faithful, he departed for Rome.

Following the military honours and the respective delegations having greeted one another, the Pope boarded the Korean Airlines B777 which subsequently lifted off at 1:00pm local time (6:00am in Italy; midnight EDT).

As the aircraft left Korean airspace, and while it flew over China, Mongolia, Russia, Bielorussia, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia before finally arriving in Italy, the Holy Father sent telegrams of greeting to the Heads of State of each of those countries.

The Holy Father arrived at Ciampino airport (Rome) shortly before 6:00pm local time yesterday.  He left the airport and traveled by car to Santa Maria Maggiore, where he paused in silent prayer as he had done on the morning prior to his departure for Korea before the image of the Blessed Virgin Salus Populi Romani.  He also left a small bouquet of flowers in front of the image which he had received yesterday morning from one of the Korean children prior to boarding the flight home.