World Youth Day, Korea 2027

 

The Korean Catholic  newspapers reported the interview with Cardinal Américo Aguiar,  2023 Lisbon WYD Organizing Committee Chair, in Seoul Korea on December 21st. "WYD Seoul 2027’ will be the greatest ever… We must spread the word about WYD boldly until the very end.”

“Young people around the world are showing great interest in Korea. That’s why I am confident that the 2027 World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul will be the greatest ever. Young visitors to Korea will become ‘witnesses’ who testify about what they experience in this country.”

Cardinal Américo Aguiar, former Chair of the 2023 Lisbon WYD Organizing Committee, visited Seoul on December 21. He came to observe the Korean Church’s preparations for WYD firsthand and to share his experiences as an organizing committee chair.

Cardinal Aguiar said, “The global community is paying attention to the upcoming Seoul WYD because the Korean Church is a church built on the blood of martyrs and started by laypeople,” adding, “Portuguese youth will also have the opportunity to visit Korea to see and learn how the Korean Church conducts youth and young adult ministry.”

Cardinal Aguiar also emphasized that laypeople need to actively participate in preparing the event. He stated, “As Pope Francis has consistently stressed, laypeople must play a central role in WYD according to the spirit of synodality,” explaining, “In the past, team leaders in the Portuguese Church were all priests, but in preparing for WYD, we encouraged laypeople’s participation, and more than 20,000 lay staff and volunteers played a key role in the event.”

He emphasized the importance of broad promotion of WYD. It is necessary to continuously and widely spread the fact that the Seoul WYD will be held. WYD is a festival for all young people. We must go and invite even those who do not know about this event until the very end.” 

 Cardinal Aguiar recalled that there were difficulties in generating social consensus in Portugal regarding hosting the event during the Lisbon WYD. He said, “There were even those who opposed holding the event in Lisbon itself,” and added, “But we kept explaining to them what this event was and what it meant, and by inviting them to the event instead, we broadened the consensus. Another challenge was that Pope Francis’ invitation needed to reach all young people,” and advised, “Because not everyone knows about the WYD event, it is absolutely necessary to promote Seoul WYD both technically and strategically even before the event begins.” 

Cardinal Aguiar also extended words of encouragement to the young people of the Korean Church preparing for Seoul WYD as the ‘next generation’ following Portuguese youth. “Preparing for such a large event requires bold courage. God will give the youth of Korea the strength to overcome difficulties. Like the theme verse of Seoul WYD, ‘Take courage; I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33), I hope you do not lose courage and walk together until the end.”

This is the second World Youth Day held in Asia but the first in a predominately non-Catholic Country. 

Baptism of the Lord Jesus

 

The Catholic Times featured an article on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: How Did ‘Water’ Become a Symbol of Baptism? This Feast Day also brings the end to the Christmas Season.
 

In the Old Testament, water is an element of life... in the New Testament, it takes center stage in the baptismal rite through John the Baptist.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (January 11) commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The Gospels narrate Jesus’ baptism as the central scene of this feast, testifying that through this scene, Jesus’ identity and mission of salvation were publicly revealed. 

On this day, the Church also reflects on the meaning of 'water' used in the sacrament of baptism. Water has symbolized creation, purification, and boundaries as a natural element, but through the event of Jesus’ baptism, it came to be understood within the Church as a sacramental sign revealing the grace of salvation. On the occasion of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we explore how water came to be established as the symbol of the sacrament of baptism.

In the Old Testament, water is both a natural element that sustains life and a symbol that reveals judgment and boundaries. Genesis describes water over the chaos, with the Spirit of God hovering above it. In this passage, water serves as the backdrop, representing the state prior to creation.

In Exodus, the waters of the Red Sea are presented as a boundary prepared by God to allow the Israelites to move from slavery to liberation. The power that accomplishes salvation lies not in the water itself but in God’s action of parting the sea. When the prophet Ezekiel declares, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean” (Ezekiel 36:25), water also serves as a means through which God expresses his promise to give a new heart and a new spirit.  

In the New Testament, water is central to the ceremony through the activities of John the Baptist. John proclaimed the baptism of repentance in the Jordan River and called for forgiveness of sins. However, John makes it clear that his baptism is not ultimate. "I baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mt 1:8) The decisive moment when water began to be understood as a sign of baptism was the baptism of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the baptism of Jesus as the event in which the sinless One became one with sinners and began his mission of salvation. In this way, water was originally an element of repentance and purification, but through Jesus's baptism, it became associated with the Paschal Mystery of Christ and a sign in the sacrament of baptism in the Church. This understanding is also directly connected to the lives of believers who are baptized with water. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines baptism as "the sacrament of rebirth with water and the word." (It also emphasizes the sacramental union of believers to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "He must humble himself and enter into the mystery of atonement, immersed in water with Jesus and then come up again with Him. Only then will you be born again in water and in the Holy Spirit, become God's beloved children in the Son, and live a new life."