The Preparation for Catholicism in Korea

In sermons it would be difficult to give credit to all those who have helped in their composition. It is a good thing we need not fear being called a plagiarist. Scripture is the basis but to try to explain it properly there is no religion, philosophy or idea that is out of bounds.

In Korea many ideas have been imported from China and changed by the Korean mores. You have Shamanism , Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity. Many ideas would have been spread by means of books among the educated classes, working their way down to the ordinary citizens by the culture that resulted. Our thinking is formed by innumerable 'downloaded' information.

It is difficult to keep all these movements separated for they have cross fertilized each other over the centuries. Even the scholars agree that some of the Chinese classics attributed to an author are probably anthologies, put together by followers of the different movements.

Catholicism in Korea is considered to have been introduced in the last part of the 18th century by some books that came in from China. It is difficult to reconstruct what happened in the past for each history is written with each historian's personal history.

Confucianism was part of the reason for the quick growth of Catholicism for the belief of an older son or a father would be the means of spreading it to the other members of the extended family. The parts of Catholicism that were egalitarian where attractive to many and aroused an interest in Catholicism, a ferment that preceded the introduction of the Church in 1784.

Catholicism started with scholars and went from there to the poor because of the hope that Catholicism gave them. The books by Matteo Ricci were already known in Korea before 1784 and helped to transmit western ideas. These ideas were in circulation and began to influence the society and culture. The seed had been sown and Koreans were being changed. For a Catholic, the revelation that came with Christ does not change but the way we teach and explain it, can and does. Cardinal Newman said: "To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often." Korea was being changed and continues to change; grace hopefully will be there to help.

Catholic Awakening to the AIDS Prejudice

There are in the world today, many dioceses, religious orders, lay movements and Catholics, involved in one of the largest networks of hospices, orphanages, clinics for the care of those sick with AIDS. The Catholic Church of Korea is also very much involved in the care of HIV/AID patients. In all there are seven different places in Korea operated by the Church for rest and rehabilitation of those with the disease. The Church is working in a climate not sympathetic to the disease. There are children, young people, women , men, heterosexual and homosexual with the disease, received by sexual contact, by blood transfusions and by needles from drug use.

The editorial in the Peace Weekly mentioned ignorance and misunderstanding, causes a deep rooted prejudice in Korean society, making it impossible even for a person diagnosed as HIV (a person with the virus but not AIDS) to function in society. This means that it remains hidden and does not get the care that will prevent more cases. The facts are a person with the disease, with periodic check ups, and treatment can function in society; that is not the case today in Korea.

For ten years now the Church has with little publicity been involved in the care of AIDS patients. It started when there was a great deal of fear with anything to do with AIDS. There is still a great deal of misunderstanding about AIDS. This is the reason that the Church had difficulty publicising the work with the sick. It is estimated that there are about 6000 people infected with the disease in Korea.

The Church will now take a more active part in trying to change the climate that surrounds the word AIDS. Someone has been put in charge of the Red Ribbon Movement which will incorporate the present works of the Church and look for government help in the future. Korea has a great deal to overcome for the proper understanding of what AIDS is all about but has made big changes in its approach. The Church also will be more involved in educational programs , publicity and helping those who have the virus to function in society. The number of those committing suicide on knowledge of having the virus is extremely high and the reason is that they are treated like those with leprosy in the time of Jesus. There is a hope that the efforts of the Church will be successful.

Cardinal Kim and Organ Donations

Cardinal Stephen Kim the archbishop of Seoul died in February, and donated his eyes to help those who can't see. This was picked up by the different media and there was a big jump in the number of those that expressed a wish to donate their organs. It was an increase of 2.4 times what it was last year. A government agency said that so far this year there has been 177,063 donations.


The understanding of Confucianism in Korea in the treatment of the dead is one of the reasons for hesitancy to donate organs. Korea has not kept up with the other developed countries in this area but this is now beginning to change. In the past few years it was only about 80,000 donations a year; this year we have seen the big increase.


The Cardinal's donation and the efforts of religious groups and the government brought about a great leap forward. There has also been a great increase in donations for welfare programs in Korea. The daily newspapers have reported on this recently. Today in all the Sunday Masses we will be taking up a collection for the needy- being Almsgiving Sunday .


One-body One-spirit Movement in Korea arose out of preparations for the 44th International Eucharistic Congress in Seoul in 1989. The movement started with about 3,700 Catholics, including the late Cardinal Kim and his priests, promising to donate their eyes and other organs upon death. This was the first "mass movement" for such donations. This has been a work in progress and has since spread to all the dioceses in the country.

To go to the English web site of the One-body and One -spirit movement click here.

The Mind and Heart of Patriot Ahn

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of the first Japanese resident-general of Korea, Hirobumi Ito, on Oct. 26, 1909, in China.There is an exhibition in Seoul commemorating the 100th anniversary of Korean patriot Ahn's death.


The works of calligraphy patriot Ahn has left us have been collected and are being exhibited. They show the spirit and the spirituality of a man who loved his country and his God. This is reflected in the topics that he selected for his calligraphy and show why he did what he did. I will list below the English translations of a few that are being exhibited. The first one listed is the translation of the calligraphy on the left.

If I do not read every day I will have thorns in my mouth



If poor not to flatter, if rich not to be proud



A mature person even facing death his heart will be strong as iron, a just person in danger will have the strength of clouds.



One has nothing to discuss with a person who is embarrassed about the rough cloths he wears and the poor food he eats,



Loneliness comes from pride



Be a person of much reading and control the body with proper conduct



Without vision it will be difficult to do great things.



It is the duty of a soldier to give his life for his country



Do not pass your time idly your youthful years will not return



Love yourself like a precious jewel



Be concerned and anxious about the nation and its security



The joy of heaven is forever



The flowers of the field stay the same every year but we change



We have peace in the home with the practice of continual patience



Having all the money in the world is not worth having one disciple



If we do not accept what heaven is giving us we will be open to misfortunes



The ideas contained in the above sayings are part of the wisdom of the East which became part of Ahn's Catholicism. God speaks to us in many different ways and many cultures. "...the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason." (Catechism of Catholic Church #36) Confucianism was a great preparation for Catholicism in Korea.

The translation of the above are free translations of the writings; translators often can be considered traitors to the intention of the writers but hopefully these do not deviate that much.

Difficulties with the Korean Language

While studying Korean at the Maryknoll House many years ago we received a visit from a political figure. I remember the one word he used with his driver:
'가' (go) without any amenities. It was on the spot experience, hearing a verb form I hadn't heard in speech until then.

Not qualified to speak about the Korean language in any authoritative way I will simplistically express some thoughts on what I feel is going on when Koreans speak to me. Most will use the honorific ending of a verb when they speak . There is an informal or casual verb ending, which was used by women in Seoul, no longer the case. There is also the root of the verb which would be the informal, intimate or familiar, called in Korean pan mal.

Have heard from many quarters it is not polite to use the root of the verb when we address older people: we should use the honorific. In Korea we have the conflict in the eyes of many between your position in society and the respect we should have for others. Social class would allow one form while polite society would expect another: democratization of Korean Society is still in the making.

Our teacher told us to stay away from using the root of the verb, for the intonation that we give it as foreigners, may come across as being rude and arrogant. She recommended the middle form, which is formal (informal) polite in all cases. For a Korean to use the root of the verb with family , friends and children is taken for granted and is expected, very intimate and familiar. However, when someone addresses me with the root of a verb- pan mal, I cringe. Most of the time I suspect it is a sign that they want to be familiar but I am not Korean enough to accept it in that way.

There are many times when someone will tell me to lower by speech since I am using the honorific, I never do. For me the most difficult to relate to, are children, in a group less so than when I am dealing with one or two. In that case they would expect me to speak in pan mal but I can't manoeuvre with that form with any confidence. The politician mentioned in the beginning was using pan mal and the driver had no difficulty with it. Even today pan mal comes as an unpleasant sound to my ears, because I came to the language late in life.

Language is an important part of whom we are. Many of the problems that we have as missioners have to do with language: the intonation is not quite right, meanings not expressed properly, the non-verbal doesn't fit the words used. Koreans are quick to grasp the situation. This makes our life always interesting and gives us plenty of material to reflect on during our prayer life.

The Catholic Missioner of the Future

Changes in society also bring changes in the way we do mission. In previous times in Korea a missioner came to die before his time. The first years of mission were not welcoming and many joined their Christians in dying a martyr. In recent years we heard the life of a missioner is temporary, flexible and mobile. Here in Korea all the Catholic foreign missioners could leave tomorrow and all would be well. A change in the way we looked at mission was required.

The efforts of foreign missioners is acknowledged and appreciated; the Korean Church will now repay by sending their own missioners to different parts of the world: a sign they can see beyond their own borders.

Looking back on the years of getting acquainted with the culture and the language there are many things I wish I had done. In the beginning there was much work to be done, churches to build, parishes to staff, work was tiring and many didn't find the time necessary for continued study.

During the period of study I wish someone would have made it clear that it would be good to say the breviary in Korean. I suppose using daily prayer as a way of study was not considered proper. Looking back I think that the effort to say the prayers in Korean would have been appreciated by God and the effort blessed. We spend about an hour a day with the breviary and to have worked on that during the period of language study would have been a lesson continued every day of our lives. The words in the psalms would have come into our preaching and we would have a better feel for the books of the Bible.

There are many areas of our life that would have been helped by the input from those that preceded us. Gathering the missionary wisdom of the past would be a great help to those that will follow. In this postmodern age it seems all want to discover for themselves what was discovered in the past. In the formation of those going to another culture as Catholic missioners a 'Great Book' list would help many from repeating the mistakes of the past, overcoming cultural shock, and fill their life with joy. This list of books should be required reading matter for all the Koreans that will be going to other mission countries.

Meditation on water

Received two e-mails this past week that gave a teaching lesson from the 'way' of water. One has roots in Lao tzu, embellished by Korea and the other was taken from a Korean poster.

Although water has great strength it is humble and soft and from that we can learn.

Water is adaptable. If we put it in a square container it takes that shape, in a triangular shaped container it will become triangular. In every case it doesn't change its nature but adapts to the situation.

Water has great strength. Depending where it goes: it can make rice grow or slack the thirst of a deer. But it can also on its course break rocks and demolish mountains.

Water always flows from the higher to lower ending up in the wide ocean. Like water, when sociable, adaptable, and accepting, not hesitating but acting bravely before justice, like a rice plant that lowers its head when ripe, we will live with wisdom.
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A child in kindergarten on a picnic, asked her teacher: "Why does the stream make a noise when it flows?"

The teacher gave her attention to the stream listening intently, and agreed that the stream was making a noise.

The teacher on her return starting looking at all kinds of books to find an answer. She found that it was the uneven stones in the stream that was causing the beautiful sound.

A beautiful and mature personality also will have the gift of beautiful music with the 'stones' of adversity present in life.

Hopefully, this is the way we will see difficulties.