A group of Protestants held a demonstration on Tuesday, slamming the Roman Catholic Church as heretical.
Organizers say about 10,000 people attended the event where a number of Protestant pastors stressed the difference between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches, according to local Protestant media.
Rev. Song Chun-gil, the secretary general of the group, called Catholicism a perversion of faith, according to the reports. He has opposed recent moves among mainstream Protestant church leaders to form a relationship with the Roman Catholics, according to local media. (The Christian Daily has photos from the event.)
South Korea’s Protestant churches, divided into different alliances and denominations, haven’t issued a unified position on the Pope’s visit, which begins on Thursday.
While South Korea’s Protestant Evangelical churches continue to have political influence on the national level, they have seen their followers decline in recent years—in contrast to the rise in the number of Catholics.
Experts say many of the biggest Protestant churches have lost some public favor due to social conservatism and publicized internal struggles over power and money.
Protestants made up about 18.3% of South Koreans in 2005 and Catholics about 10.8%, according to the most recent census data.
Just over 46% said they didn’t have a religion and close to 23% identified themselves as Buddhists.
* Source : Protestants Hold Anti-Catholic Rally Ahead of Pope Visit
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-KRTB-6371
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