The Social Welfare Foundation of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism held a memorial service for the victims today (16th), the 49th day since the Itaewon tragedy occurred.
The memorial service was held this morning in the form of a 'transfer' ceremony to pray for the souls of the dead to be reborn in a good place on a special stage prepared in front of the Daeungjeon Hall of Jogyesa Temple in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
With the 67th portrait and the 78th ancestral tablet that the bereaved family wished to participate in, Venerable Hwaam, head of the Eosan sect of the Jogye Order, conducted the ceremony.
The ceremony began with the ringing of 158 memorial bells in remembrance of the victims, followed by offerings and a memorial discourse.
Lee Soo-min, the youth president of Jogyesa Temple, read a eulogy, saying that all of us were deeply hurt on the way to leave you who were like flowers.
Hundreds of people, including the bereaved family members, General Secretary Jin Woo-nim, Jogye Order Social Welfare Foundation CEO Boyn, Jogyesa Temple head monk Jihyeon, and other believers joined in the ceremony to pray for the victims.
(Photo = Yonhap News)