The Catholic Church in South Korea has launched a year-long initiative inviting young people to transform barbed wire from the Korean Peninsula’s dividing line into a symbol of peace ahead of World Youth Day (WYD) Seoul 2027.
The “Barbed Wire Cross Project,” which opened April 12 at Myeongdong Cathedral, brings together youth and church communities to reshape discarded barbed wire collected from the Military Demarcation Line and other sites into a five-meter-tall “Cross of Peace.”
The initiative, organized by the WYD Seoul 2027 Local Organizing Committee and the Path With You Foundation, seeks to turn a symbol of division into a shared act of prayer, reconciliation, and hope as preparations intensify for the global gathering.
Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung of Seoul, who presided over the opening ceremony, described the barbed wire as a reminder of the peninsula’s painful history of conflict and separation.
Photo credit: Committee for Communications, Archdiocese of Seoul
“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.
During the ceremony, Archbishop Chung blessed the hammer, anvil, and materials to be used in constructing the cross, praying that those who take part may become instruments of peace.
He was joined by Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, general coordinator of WYD Seoul 2027, and other participants in demonstrating the process of hammering and straightening the barbed wire.
The project will run every Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Myeongdong Cathedral until April 4, 2027. Participants will work on 50-centimeter pieces of barbed wire, placing them into the structure while reflecting on personal and social wounds and praying for peace.
Church groups, youth participants, and representatives from social and cultural sectors are expected to take part, extending the initiative’s message beyond ecclesial boundaries.
Once completed, the cross will be presented to the pope and young people from around the world during WYD Seoul 2027, carrying with it a message shaped from one of the peninsula’s most enduring symbols of division.
