Closing Mass Altar for the 17th Incomplete

The altar for the 6th AYD Closing Mass will be finished just before the commencement

Pope Francis celebrates Mass on the altar made by Catholic youth from 23 countries

Painted with 7 Gifts and 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Pope Francis will be celebrating 4 Masses during the 5 days of pastoral visit. Each Mass is celebrated at different location, hence the Masses are offered on 4 different altars. The altars for the Masses on the 15th (Daejeon World Cup Stadium), the 16th (Beatification Mass at Gwanhwamun) were made brand-new on site. The Mass for Peace and Reconciliation on the 18th will be using the altar at Myeong-dong Cathedral. 

There is one altar that won’t be finished until the day of the Mass, and that is the altar for the closing Mass of the 6th Asian Youth Day (AYD) at Haemi Castle.

The altar for the closing Mass on the 6th will be completed an hour before the Mass because it will be finished by assembling 16 crucifixes decorated by AYD participant. These crucifixes will be prepared by Catholic youth from 22 countries and 16 Diocese of Korea. The completed altar will be 405cm in width, 180cm long and 95cm high. Pope Francis will be celebrating the Mass on the altar* made by 6000 Asian Catholic youth.

(*Altar: The table on which the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. It is the centre of the Catholic Church and represents Jesus Christ. The bow by the faithfuls in front of the altar symbolizes their admiration to Jesus Christ.)

Each crucifix is decorated with pictures. AYD participants painted them with the theme of 7 gifts and 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. The paintings were drawn together by the youths from 16 Korean Diocese and 22 Asian countries in pairs, printed in appropriate size then were pasted onto crucifixes. The host of AYD, Daejeon Diocese painted the crucifix with 6 countries including Mongolia and Hong Kong.

Themes of the paintings on the crucifixes are as follows.

 (Inside the brackets are the allocated Korean Diocese and country)

Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

▲Wisdom (Seoul, India) ▲Knowledge (Incheon, Malaysia) ▲Fear of the Lord (Suwon, Bangladesh) ▲Counsel (Uijeongbu, the Philippines) ▲Understanding (Chuncheon, Thailand) ▲Fortitude (Wonju, China) ▲Reverence (Jeju, Nepal)

Fruit of the Holy Spirit

▲Peace (Cheongju, Brunei) ▲Patience (Daegu, Vietnam) ▲Joy (Andong, Macau) ▲Kindness (Jeonju, Cambodia) ▲Goodness (Gwangju, East Timor) ▲Faithfulness (Busan, Taiwan) ▲Gentleness (Masan, Singapore) ▲Self-Control (Military Ordinariate, Laos) ▲Love (Daejeon, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Japan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan)