SEOUL – As a non-Christian I’ve been trying for days now to wrap my head around the significance of the Pope’s visit to New York. I mean of course besides the historical importance of having the leader of Christianity give mass at Yankee stadium, or reach out to victims of abuse and leaders of other faiths. I mean the spiritual impact, which is simply lost on me until I stop to ponder a brief meeting I had recently with two Buddhist monks here in Korea.

We are an hour outside of Seoul, in the city of Ilsan, a suburb of high-rise apartments, neighborhood farms, and a small temple named Ji Jang Sa. The temple is named after a bodhisattva (an enlightened being who has forsaken nirvana for the sake of others) from the Buddhist pantheon sworn to remain in hell until the last spirit attains enlightenment. It’s a telling name that speaks to the mission of the temple, and of the two monks who currently reside here – hope.

Do-Seong Sunim is the head monk here at Ji Jang Sa. For the past several years he’s been working on behalf of newly arrived immigrants to Korea, many of them young men from Sri Lanka who struggle with a foreign culture and language, malicious employers and a legal system seemingly out of reach. His eyes twinkle as he describes a recent gathering at the temple of Sri Lankan immigrants and locals in celebration of Sri Lanka’s independence day.

The young Sinhalese sitting across from him spends his one day off a week at the temple, helping to collect supplies or run errands. He tells me how the temple has become like a home for him here in Korea, a familiar place of connection in a society from which he is often disconnected.

The other monk in the room with us is Dong-Bong Sunim, which means East Peak. A striking middle-aged man with leathered face and a gray beard that seems to flow seamlessly into his gray robes, Dong Bong Sunim has spent the past ten years living at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, from where he has just returned for a short visit. He chuckles as he recalls the day, decades past, when his teacher gave him his name – Kilimanjaro is after all Africa’s renowned eastern peak. “Maybe he knew something I didn’t.”

We talk of politics, food, religion. I tell him I sometimes doubt the verity of enlightenment, the crux of Buddhist belief. He looks me squarely in the eyes and assures me, “it exists.”

When I ask what brought him to Africa, he again turns to food. For those who have never eaten Korean food, it usually consists of a main dish and several smaller side dishes. “Africa is a mixture of Islam, Christianity, and various animist beliefs. I simply wanted to add another side dish to the meal.”

On several occasions Dong Bong says he’s been attacked by locals on account of his faith, and yet he insists he will “bury his bones in Africa.”

What drives this missionary zeal, I wonder. Why not bring food, money, or medical aid, things sorely needed in so many parts of Africa. Isn’t there enough religion? And then it dawns on me.

Beyond the vestments, the words or gestures, what the Pope’s visit to America brings is hope, a spiritual conviction that sustains as it animates, a force sharp as a whetted knife and comforting as a warm embrace. – Peter Schurmann