On Sunday afternoons in the courtyard of the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, the sound of hammers ringing against metal signals hope. A project initiated by the Archdiocese of Seoul is inviting youth and church groups to transform barbed wire salvaged from the North-South Korea DMZ into a cross, as a sign of peace in preparation for 2o27's World Youth Day.
In conjunction with the WYD Organizing Committee, the year-long project involves volunteers hammering, bending, and straightening lengths of the barbed wire into a five-meter (16-foot) cross to be presented to Pope Leo XIV as part of World Youth Day activities in Seoul.
The pain of division felt by all Koreans since the end of World War II continues to be as sharp as the barbed wire that divides the country. In choosing this sign of division to forge a symbol of peace, Seoul Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung told the project's opening ceremony on April 12:
“Just as the cross, once an instrument of execution, became through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ a symbol of peace and reconciliation, sacrifice and love, I pray that this cross may come to take root in our hearts as a symbol of reconciliation and peace, sacrifice and love on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.
“Just as resurrection began from death, so too can harmony and peace emerge from conflict and war,” the archbishop added.
Archbishop Chung, who was joined at the opening ceremony by Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, general coordinator of WYD Seoul 2027, blessed the hammers and anvils to be used in forging the cross and asked God's blessing on all who will volunteer. The two bishops participated in a demonstration of the process:
Volunteers use hammers and anvils to straighten pieces of barbed wire, each about 50 centimeters (2o inches) long, and incorporate them into the cross structure. The craft is accompanied by a spiritual experience: Participants reflect together on personal and societal wounds and pray for peace.
The "Barbed Wire Cross Project" will continue in the cathedral courtyard from 1:00-3:00 p.m. each Sunday for almost a year, until April 4, 2027. Although the emphasis is on Catholic youth, parishes, and church groups, figures from all walks of life will participate, in order, the archdiocese notes, "to spread a message of social integration and reconciliation that extends beyond the boundaries of the church community."
World Youth Day 2027 will take place in Seoul, South Korea -- only the second Asian country to host the international event founded in 1984 by Pope St. John Paul II -- August 3-8, 2027.
