Saturday, April 4, 2009

The Retired Life of Priest Scholar

There was an article in the recent Catholic Paper about Father O Kyeong Hwan ,a retired priest of the Incheon Diocese, who has in his seventies started a new life. He has always been a scholar but in the last 4 years he has begun the study of Science and Religion. He spends from 5 to 6 hours a day in the study of the relationship between the two.He feels somewhat frustrated that no Korean scholar or priest has entered this field to give us a lucid explanation of the relation between the two. This is the reason he has begun the study.


Fr. O thinks that the deeper we get into the study of the Natural Sciences there are many who are beginning to face many doubts. A great number of the scientist and intellectuals who rely on Science are denying the 'Existence of God'. The famous biologist Richard Dawkins puts forward evolution to deny the 'Existence of God.' The Catholic Church back in 1633 condemned Galileo for his holding the heliocentric theory. There has been from that time a conflict between the two fields of study. Fr. O feels very strongly this is no longer necessary and mentions this is also the direction of the Vatican. Evolution and Religion are both compatible and compliment each other. There is no conflict between the Church's idea of Creation and Evolution.


Father has his own website which is in Korean but he also has links in English to Theology and Natural Science, Vatican Observatory, and the International Society for Science and Religion. For those who are interested they may enter his website by going to:http://ohkh.net/

The Seoul Incheon Canal And Its Opposition


Work began on the Gyeongin canal in 2001. It is a canal that will stretch from Seoul to Incheon. The construction of the 18-kilometer waterway linking the Han River and the Yellow Sea was suspended because of opposition. Many found it lacking basic economic feasablity along with serious damage to the eco-systems. It started again this past month. ``Once the canal is completed, it will serve multiple purposes, ranging from flood control, cruise tours and logistics, to serving as an artery between Seoul and a new city built in Seongdo, Incheon, bringing change to the industrial and geographical map of the western regions of the nation,'' an official said.

There was a plan to build a canal from Seoul to Pusan but this plan because of intense opposition was scraped. This project from Seoul to Incheon is not of that scope but is still getting a great deal of opposition from an alliance of civic groups that includes many priests from the Incheon Diocese. Even the Bishop of the Diocese is very much concerned because of the prayer meetings and fasting that many of the priests have been involved in for some time. It was a project pushed not by the needs of the people but as the Bishop says in his Easter Letter more concern with those with power and influence. The Bishop mentions a project that was suppose to be an example of what can be done with a polluted lake; there was all kinds of false publicity concerning the project only to have no one around to defend it after it turned out to be a disaster. The lake became filled with polluted water from the ocean. The bishop's desire was a hope that projects would begin with plans well thought out, with the citizens to benefit from the project, and to have their support. He hopes that the Government will not side with those with power but be interested in the welfare of the poor and their needs.

We have had problems in recent years with the conflict between development and environment. It is something that we are being faced with more and more. The Church’s
Social Teaching has a number of principles and I would understand the Bishop to be stressing some of these in his brief comments on the Seoul Incheon Canal:
The Common Good
Solidarity
Subsidiarity
And to Stand with the poor.