New cardinal criticizes progressive priests` political involvement

South Korea`s newly appointed cardinal, Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, has criticized a group of Korean priests for being "irrational" in urging President Park Geun-hye to step down for the state spy agency`s alleged intervention in the 2012 presidential election. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul explained that the expression‍ was a mistranslation of a Korean word meaning "unreasonable."

L`Osservatore Romano, a daily under the Vatican, reported Thursday, local time, that the cardinal, who was in the Vatican for a formal ceremony this weekend to make his new title official, said he thought the Catholic Priests` Association for Justice`s argument was "tutto irragionevoli (totally irrational)." The paper quoted him as saying, "Under the current democratic system, people have a chance to change their government if the (incumbent) president loses support."

Acknowledging that the priests` association played leading roles in the pro-democracy movements until 1987, the cardinal noted that today`s political environment in Korea has "totally changed," according to the daily. It also quoted him as saying, "Now, there is no dictatorship to fight against." He expressed concerns over the Korean Catholic church`s image of being split.