Overlooked Catholic Patriot

One of the patriots in our Korean History is Ahn Jung-geun. He is the man who assassinated the first Prime Minister of Japan Ito Hirobumi in Harbin, Manchuria in 1909. This is the centenary of the assassination and next year of Ahn’s death. Japan’s imperialist oppression was causing a great deal of suffering to not only Korea but to all of Asia. His action had repercussion all over the world.

The Catholic Church is beginning to take a much deeper look at Ahn. In the past he did not always receive the interest that one would expect from such a patriot. This however has all changed. There are elements to the story of Thomas Ahn that are somewhat embarrassing for the Korean Church. He was obviously a very serious Christian Catholic. The editorial in a recent Catholic Paper mentioned:

Even though one says he knows about patriot Ahn and his act:

for the most part it is that he engraved a cross on the bullet

prayed for success and when in prison heard

of the death of Ito he made the sign of the cross and thanked

God. It is only fragmentary bits and pieces. It is clear that despite the

part in our history we were indifferent and negligent of this.

The editorial went on to say in conclusion that he is a good symbol of a Christian who did not take the suffering of his country lightly. He is an important asset to have for the Korean Catholic spirituality of the future.

There is a good article in the Wikipedia on An Jung-geun which will give you a good idea of the man and his ideals.

An Opinion on Catholic Church Buildings

One of the professors at the School of Fine Arts in the Diocese was asked to write an article on the artistry of our Catholic Churches in Korea. The article would be printed in the Pastoral Letter sent out to the priests in Korea. He tried his best not to get involved but with repeated requests for an opinion he finally said yes.

The Church Culture here in Korea he says has influenced all of us and he was not pleased with the prospects of upsetting his fellow priests. His feeling was that what we have internalized will show itself in what we do with our Churches. He thinks the atmosphere of our Churches is in disorder and confused. He quotes Meister Eckhart to say that God works in our Souls not by addition but by subtraction. He would be for less distractions when it comes to the interior of the Church.The picture beginning this post would probably get a good grade but could be wrong.

One of our very familiar sayings in Latin is: De Gustibus non est disputandum, which means:“there is no disputing about tastes.”Judgments that for the most part are subjective will always be refuted by those that have a different set of values. I do not think there are any firm objective norms on how to judge the appropriateness of a Church's construction, its interior and its furnishings. I consider what he had to say very daring and my sympathies would be with him.

Korean Catholic Missionaries

The Catholic Bishop Conference of Korea has published the statistics of missionaries overseas.

According to the “Korean Catholic Foreign Missionary Education Association, 647 Korean missionaries were sent to 81 countries, as of October, 2007. Among them, 42 are secular priests, and 477 are women religious. The number of missionaries increased 11-14% annually since 2005.”

Since the report of the number of laypeople was not mentioned and this report dates from Oct. 2007 it would seem that the numbers would be much higher than those reported. It is sign of maturity that the Church of Korea in gratitude for the help she has received from the foreign missionaries is now returning to give from what she has received.

World's Largest Catholic Hospital

In one of the recent newspapers was an article that started with: “What country in the world has the largest Catholic hospital?” “Is it Italy, France or could it be the Vatican?” “The correct answer is Korea.”

The Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea was just recently opened. It has a name change from Gangnam St. Mary’s to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital to make it more nationally recognized. The hospital can admit 1200 patients and has 22 floors above ground and 6 below.The overall atmosphere is that of a first class hotel and leaves one with a refreshing feeling, was the report of the writer.

There was a great deal of discussion on the pros and cons of building such a large hospital. The area of Gangnam is one of the most prosperous in Seoul. Some did not think it fitting to build there. However, it seems that many thought that the poor also like to have a nice hospital to go to. The money they make will enable them to be of greater service to the poor which is not in conflict with Catholic thinking. This was the thinking that finally prevailed.

We can pray that this is what actually will take place over time and that Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital will be an example of what all hospitals should be doing.

A Cyberspace Visit to Maryknoll

The Maryknollers here in Korea are part of the Asia Region which is one of the outreaches of the Society. The Society has a website which explains in a attractive format the work we are doing in many parts of the world.Those interested can go to:
the website of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers enabling you to tour the site and see what we are all about.

"Koreans Spend 8 Hours Per Day Online"

A reporter from the Korean Times reported that the average Korean
"spends more than half of his or her active hours logged on to the Internet or using mobile digital devices."

"In a survey of 516 adults, the state-run Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) found that Koreans spend an average of eight hours and 20 minutes per day online, either through computers or portable data devices such as mobile phones and laptops."

This is very difficult to imagine of the ordinary Korean. It is certainly not true of the farmers and the country folk. I suppose this was a survey made in Seoul.But whatever it be, it does speak very loudly of the change that has come over South Korea in a very short time.

A Meaning for Virtue

In the previous post we mentioned how the word virtue is disappearing from its very prominent place it had in the past. The character for virtue is one of my favorites and one that I have used many times in teaching. Years ago when starting to learn Korean I remember a maxim that a General who is brave is less than one who has knowledge and one who has knowledge is less than one who has virtue. We who are Catholic certainly have no difficulty with this, although it is not part of our everyday thinking.

In the "symbol" itself the left side can be considered a person who is walking.That is the body, our external selves. The top right hand side can be taken to be a person who looks over what he is to do 10 times before acting. The cross is ten and the the image below that is a picture for the eye. This is the action of the head the mind. The bottom part is the image of the heart. A virtuous person is one that has the body, head and heart intergrated. A very meaningful ideogram and a powerful lesson.