Row flares over care-home visit

The Pope’s 14-18 August visit to South Korea has attracted ­controversy, after plans were revealed for Francis to visit the country’s biggest care home, write Hannah Roberts and Ellen Teague.

Critics in the Church say that the Kkottongnae centre, home to  4,000 physically and mentally disabled people, institutionalises the disabled and isolates them from the rest of society. Moreover, its founder, Fr John Oh Woong-jin has been accused of embezzlement and abuse of funds allocated by the state. 

Parishioners and priests have held protests outside the nunciature in Seoul, asking them “not to give moral legitimacy to John Oh Woong-jin”. The Hankyoreh newspaper wrote in an editorial: “There are serious doubts about whether Pope Francis needs to go to Kkottongnae when he visits South Korea this summer.”