The Cardinal's Message

Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan left us yesterday, but what has been taking place in Myeong-dong was nothing short of a miracle.

Endless streams of mourners visited Seoul’s Myeong- dong Cathedral where the cardinal lay before his burial, an unusual scene even in a Catholic state.
Choi Jong-tai, a sculptor and the member of the National Academy of Arts, said,” I feel he was a saint like Mother Teresa.”

The cardinal indeed led a noble life. In 1966, when he became a bishop, he decided that he would be guided by the motto “For you and all the people,” and urged followers to do the same.
The motto came from his conviction that a believer must devote himself to other people, as Jesus did. And Cardinal Kim’s life was lived out according to this principle.

This is why 400,000 mourners waited in cold weather for three hours to see his face one last time.

What took place in Myeong-dong is just the beginning. Cardinal Kim’s lasting message was about love, and he ignited the flame of love not just in the 400,000 mourners who visited the cathedral, but in millions of people across the country.

On the Web sit of the Korean Organ Donor Program, the number of people who have promised to donate their organs after death had surged drastically.

The average number of people who sign up for organ donation is 25 per day. This surged six times on Feb.17, the day after the cardinal's death, 10 times on Feb. 18 and 30 times on Feb. 19.

More people promised to adopt abandoned babies and donate money to scholarship foundations.

The flame of love must spread and continue to blaze far and wide. Cardinal Kim’s message of love, sacrifice, volunteer work and reconciliation must reach every corner of our society.

His message must help politicians and leaders of our society, who m must work to fix their confrontation and division, and open themselves to reconciliation and cooperation. The message must give hope and courage to youths who feel frustrated because of the economic crises, and underprivileged people who life in hardship.

The cardinal must keep on living in our hearts. Even if we cannot live as he did, we must make an effort to carry out his message. His message of love has already created a miracle. The miracle must continue to cure Korea’s chronic disease.

Taken from JoogAng Daily 2/21 2009

North Korea Visitation Report of 2006

Because the Maryknoll Superior Jerry Hammond was busy doing what he does best (keeping busy), he asked me to fill-for him and go to North Korea. (This report by Richard Rolewicz) goes back to Nov. 3-18 06. I thought the section on the Church in North Korea would be interesting.) I traveled through the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as a member of the EugenBell Foundation delegation. Among several other health-care projects, this interdenominational NGO has been providing medical & farming equipment, medicines and supplies for T.B. hospitals and care-centers at 40+ locations over the past 12 years. Skip…

Sr. Mary, Fr. Stan and I would get together early each morning for Mass privately in one of the rooms wherever we happened to be. On the two weekends of the trip we were in Pyong Yang so the whole group also attended Church services. The first Sunday at the Protestant Church, the second Sunday at the Catholic Church. In both places our group was ushered into the front pews with other foreign visitors. Skip…

At the Catholic Church the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved. Fr. Stan and I were asked to come up into the sanctuary but we both respectfully declined. North Korea has no resident Catholic priest and there is a question as to just who the "Catholics" attending services are. As a result the Cardinal Archbishop of Seoul asks visiting priests not to offer Mass publicly. For the service three young men in their 30s wearing white albs (no stoles) stood behind the altar facing the people. The man in the center led the service. He used the prayer from the Missal which was placed on the altar. The service followed the usual format for Mass: Penitential rite, Scripture readings of the proper Sunday; a sermon was read; creed recited and prayers of the faithful offered. But there was no offertory rite (collection yes). Then into the Preface. When we all were reciting the "Holy-Holy..." I began to wonder what kind of Mass this was turning into. However once we finished the "Holy-Holy..." the leader introduced the "Our Father" per usual (no Canon or consecration). Finally, with no last blessing, came the dismissal. So there was no attempt to offer Mass, although all the prayers, minus the canon and last blessing, were from the Mass Missal. Under the given circumstances I was expecting the “Out-station service without a priest” format to be used.

As happened the previous Sunday, we foreigners were ushered out of the church first. Except for an elderly gentleman who mentioned that he remembers Bishop Patrick Byrne, M.M., there was no contact with the local faithful. Bishop Byrne is buried somewhere just south of the Yalu River in North Korea. How that came to pass is recorded by F. Philip Crosbie, S.S.C. in March Till They Die.

Fr. Stan and I wore our Roman collars for both Sunday services, entering and leaving North Korea, while sightseeing and at the banquet with concerned government officials the last evening in the country. I'm also wearing it in the picture of my U.S Passport. I'm proud of it.But I must confess that while in the north I wore the collar with a somewhat in-your -face attitude.

More knowledgeable people might easily take issue with these superficial observations. I'll be the first to admit my ignorance of the North's Military First Politics and the social, economic, quasi-religious underpinnings of their system, i.e., their own homegrown Juche (self reliance) interpretation of communism. But by and large, I was pleasantly surprised during this trip mainly because of people of good will on both sides. These people of good will are the raw material out of which the Christmas message of "Peace on earth" (Lk2:14) becomes a reality. Their efforts are helping people in need and making this a more perfect world. The alternative to this is the gloom and doom of the Korean proverb: "When whales fight, the the shrimp get crushed."