Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium has become a bestseller in South Korea since the announcement of a papal visit to the nation set for later this year.
Seeking to better understand the Pontiff, AsiaNews has reported that Catholics and non-Catholics alike have snapped up copies of his first Apostolic Exhortation, pushing sales via religious bookshops in the country to 25,000 copies. One media report locally has pointed out that Pope Francis has defied a traditional reluctance among Korean Catholics to engage with papal documents on the basis of a perceived complication of language used. This is not the case with the current Pope, who is viewed as a clearer communicator as he engages with everyday issues of importance to ordinary Catholics.
The news from South Korea comes as the Veritas bookseller in Ireland reports that Evangelii Gaudium has hit 11,000 sales locally, defying the projection that the document would hit 3,000 sales.