The Archdiocese of Seoul’s Social Correction and Pastoral Committee works with detention centers, prisons, and juvenile prisoners. After receiving ten volunteer training sessions and meeting with the priest in charge, you are given your assignment. The columnist is working as a catechist at the Southern Detention Center. Volunteers mainly help with the Mass liturgy and distribute snacks. Women volunteers have direct contact with the women in the detention centers.
After volunteering for about a year, the columnist thinks: 'I’ve come to the right place'. Last November 9th, in the classroom of the second-year graduating class of the Catholic Seminary there were briefing sessions for help in six organizations, and for help on the missions.
Efforts are needed to create an era where theology can prepare a person for a career in that field. This was the title of the front page headline of the November 12th edition of the Catholic Newspaper.
There are not enough places to study theology within the church, and there are no suitable career paths to live as a theologian. He hopes that theology will spread beyond being the exclusive domain of clergy and religious and into something that all believers can do.
He greatly sympathized with the article that dealt with ‘lay theologians’ as part of a layman’s Sunday project. Overlapping with the current status of missionaries and catechists who graduated from the seminary, thoughts on the present and tomorrow of the church came one after another.
Currently, the church advocates a synodal church and is seeking the independent participation of clergy, religious, and laity. Priests must first put aside clericalism, which is constantly under attack both inside and outside the church, and help laymen carry out their duties as non-ministerial priests. Therefore, there is ample reason for laypeople to study theology. Moreover, lay theologians and missionaries are valuable assets that must be raised and utilized for the church.
The author is already nearing the end of two years of seminary life. Since he spent most of his time buried in classes and theological books, he developed the habit of summarizing the key contents of the books. Isn't it best to share good things? Every morning, he posts three or four short sentences in a group chat room. The response from his classmates and some acquaintances was good. Reading and studying to extract those few lines became his daily routine 'doing theology as a layperson'.
However, not only are there a very small number of lay theologians, but there is also a severe lack of pulpits and research institutes where they can utilize the studies they majored in at home and abroad. Just looking at the seminary alone, there are only 4 lay theologians out of 26 students taking courses this semester. Even in parish lectures, it is extremely rare for a layperson to take the microphone. Although their reason for existence is clear, there is no position or carrot to stake their future on, and interest and support from the church are minimal.
There is only one lay missionary and catechist training institution in the Archdiocese of Seoul. Recently, next year's admissions guide was sent to several places. Students even visited the parish priest and delivered the message directly. More than 1,000 envelopes were sent to parishes in Seoul and four dioceses in the metropolitan area and to correspondence course students. If the parishes took an interest in recruitment you would eliminate worries about unopened or closed departments. A change in thinking and will is an urgent priority in dioceses and parishes.
"Great changes are occurring throughout society in the digital environment. In it, laypeople are taking the lead in promoting the church and proclaiming the gospel." I was also drawn to the "Comprehensive Report" of the first session of the 16th General Assembly of the World Synod of Bishops, which concluded on the 29th of last month. A statement about the layperson's mission summons a passage from Scripture. "I have fought well, I have run the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). Let us first make a pledge that God’s people, the laity, will have a sense of ownership and fulfill their calling.
