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Pope expresses condolence over Kim Dae-jung's death
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-21 19:46

SEOUL: Pope Benedict XVI sent a condolatory message to the South Korean people and President Lee Myung-bak over former President Kim Dae-jung's death, Kim's family said Friday.

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"Having learned with sadness of the death of former President Kim Dae-jung, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI sends condolences to you and to the nation," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary general of the Vatican, said in a message addressed to Lee.

"He commends the late president's soul to the mercy and love of almighty God, and upon all the Korean people who mourn his passing. He cordially invokes the divine blessing of peace and strength," the message said.

Kim, baptized in 1956 as Thomas More, died Tuesday of pneumonia complications at the age of 85.

South Korea's Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk issued a condolence message soon after Kim's death was announced.