Korean Catholiic Church

Fifty years ago the Church in Korea moved from being a Vicariate Apostolic to a church of  diocesan rank: setting up a formal hierarchy.  A professor examines the meaning of this for the Korean Church, a very young church compared to Europe.  The Korean Church has not had the time to come to a full understanding of how best to acculturate the teaching of the Church into the the cultural life of the country.
 

After the 17th century, becoming a Christian meant an acceptance of Western culture.  It was during this period of confrontation between the East and the West that foreign missioners, by not understanding  the diversity of cultures, failed to appreciate the difficulties these cultures presented in spreading the Gospel.

In the 20th century, we have a different approach to cultures. The Gospel is not a culture but something that transcends cultures, and efforts should be made to find a way to the Gospels regardless of the culture of the country. This approach makes for a different way of transmitting the Gospel message and opens up wider  horizons for mission work.

A sign of the success of the new approach was seen in China, where six bishops were installed in 1926, becoming heads of dioceses, and religious orders began to appear with their own leaders. This growth continued in the following years, and made for a  great advance in mission studies.

It took the Korean Church 131 years, from 1831 when it became a Vicariate Apostolic, before it became a diocese in 1962. The Japanese Church was elevated in 1891, and China in 1946. Korea, since it had a formal hierarchy in 1962, was able to attend the Second Vatican Council.

The professor feels that the Vatican did not realize how far the Church of Korea had come, which was the reason, he believes, for the recent date for the elevation of the Korean Church to diocesan rank in 1962.

The inculturation of clergy was soon achieved and inculturation in other areas is continuing. This will enable the work of reform. However, the professor feels that the Church in Korea is still looked upon as immature, for it remains under the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and not under the Congregation for Bishops.  The professor would like to know what are considered the signs of a mature Church. It seems to him an unmistakable fact that the Korean Church qualifies as a mature Church and should be under the Congregation for Bishops. He would like the matter reexamined by the specialists at the Vatican.