Pope Leaves for 10-Day Trip to Asia as Rights Group Urges Him to Speak Out

Pope John Paul II on Friday departed on a politically sensitive, 10-day Asian pilgrimage amid calls that he speak out on human rights.

The Pope’s special Alitalia Boeing 747 took off from Leonardo da Vinci Airport at 2:15 p.m. He was to arrive in Seoul, South Korea, today after a flight of more than 13 hours. His route will take him over the Soviet Union; China earlier denied permission for the overflight.

It is the 44th foreign trip of John Paul’s 11-year papacy.

He is officially going to Seoul to preside at closing ceremonies for the 44th International Eucharistic Congress, which has included discussions about an eventual reunification of North and South Korea.

The climax of the congress will be an outdoor Mass on the capital’s Youido Plaza--a gigantic open space built to serve as an air strip in time of war.

Before the pontiff departed, Asia Watch, an independent human rights organization, urged him to speak out on human rights issues in South Korea and Indonesia.

“Your strong expression of concern on human rights would have an immeasurable impact in furthering respect for human rights in those countries,” the group said in a letter to the Pope.

Three dissident priests are currently in jail in South Korea: one who went to Communist North Korea this summer to accompany home a student radical and two others who helped set up his trip. South Korea opposes most contacts with its northern neighbor.

During his 48-hour stay in Seoul, the Pope is to have private talks with President Roh Tae Woo. On Monday, the pontiff will fly to predominantly Muslim Indonesia.

He is due to spend a day on East Timor, an island with a majority Roman Catholic population that Indonesia annexed in 1976 after Portugal withdrew. Neither the United Nations nor the Vatican recognizes Indonesia’s rule.

Human rights activists in Indonesia have asked the Pope to persuade their nation to stop executions and arbitrary arrests in East Timor. Indonesia has denied there are widespread human rights violations.