Ambassador Han Speaks About Korea-Holy See Relations

SOUTH KOREA - VATICAN
Ambassador Han looks at 50 years of Korea-Holy See relations, the Gospel and the common good
by Thomas Han Hong-soon*

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Holy See. For the occasion, today 19 December, the Secretary of State Mgr Pietro Parolin celebrated a Mass at the chapel of the Pontifical Korean College in Rome, in the presence of worshipers, ambassadors and chargés d'affaires. AsiaNews asked the Hon Thomas Han Hong-soon to assess these 50 years. The Hon Han was the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See from 2010 until 2013. A few weeks ago, he was replaced by Mr Francis Kim Kyung-Surk.

Relations between the Vatican and Seoul have been strong for a long time, even from before the 50 years we are now celebrating. In fact, Korea and the universal Church had relations even before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Korea.

It is important to stress how much the Catholic Church has contributed to Korea's human and social development, starting in the early days of the Catholic Church in Korea, even under persecution. Afterward, with the presence of the missionaries, Christians contributed to the country's modernization and planted the seeds of human development.

An example of this is the experience of equality between human beings and the dissemination of a culture of love. In the early Korean Christian communities, masters sat next to slaves, in a sign of brotherhood. This was something unimaginable before Christianity.

The Church has always had at heart the common good of the nation. After Vatican II, its contribution to development - with a momentum towards democracy and justice - was even greater.

From a political point of view, it should be noted that even under Japanese colonial rule (1905-1945), the Holy See never ceased to recognize Koreans as a people and as a nation.

At the end of the Second World War, even before Korea was recognized by the international community as a sovereign nation (1948), the Holy See sent an Apostolic Delegate in 1947. Thus, the Holy See was the first country to recognize modern Korea, even before the UN.

The Apostolic Delegate to Korea Patrick Byrne (1888-1950), a Maryknoll missionary, never left the country, not even after the Communist aggression from the North. For this reason, he was arrested and died of starvation and cold in the so-called "death marches" inflicted by the Pyongyang regime. We consider him a martyr. The Holy See tried to share this difficult time with the Korean people.

Fifty years of diplomatic relations have boosted even more the Church's contribution to the Korean people and are another reason to give thanks for this tie. The Church has contributed in every way to the dignity of the people, collectively and individually, in terms of human rights, justice, and above all charity. Even with regards to North Korea, the Church continues to push for reconciliation.

Trying to unify the two Koreas without true reconciliation is meaningless. I am very excited to think back over all these years, looking closely at the special contribution the Holy See and the Church made to the country.

Some surveys have noted this. In a recent survey by a Buddhist organization, the Catholic religion comes first as the most valued and important religion in Korea. Why is this? Because of the commitment and unity the Catholic Church shows and experiences with the Holy See. The Korean Church exists in actual and affective communion with the Holy Father.

This has also led to a staggering growth in the number of faithful. In 1960 the Catholic Church had 500,000 members. Today we are 5.5 million, or 11 per cent of the population. And the more we go up the social ladder - intellectuals, cultural sector, business - the higher the percentage.

Korea is perhaps the only country in the world where the Catholic Church has grown hand in hand with economic development. The increase in economic prosperity and materialism has often been associated with a decline in faith, but Korea dispels this link since the Christian faith has expanded along with economic growth.

The poll I mentioned -by a Buddhist research institute - indicates that over the next 30 years more than half of the Korean population will be Catholic, approximately 25 million or 56 per cent of the total by 2044.

In fact, the Catholic Church has doubled its membership every ten years. In 1985 there were 1.86 million Catholics; they were 2.95 million in 1999 and 5.24 million in 2005. At this pace, we can realistically expect the Catholic Church to be largest group in the country.

All this comes from what the Catholic Church is offering the country: unity, above all unity with the pope. In the 1980s we had the privilege of receiving Pope John Paul II twice (in 1984 and 1989). The coming of the Polish pope was a great gift for evangelization, for the pope is always the most effective missionary and has always been very well received by the Korean population.

Even Pope Francis has had real impact on Koreans. After seeing him express his joy, sense of charity, and love for the sick, many Koreans are taking an interest in the Catholic faith in order to be baptized. For this reason, a visit by Pope Francis to Korea, next year perhaps, would be important. The purpose is evangelization is that of pushing further the culture of love, a love that comes from the Lord.

The growth of the Catholic Church in Korea means that I cannot separate my identity as a Korean from that of a Catholic. The humanization of Korea flows from evangeliaation. This is always the greatest gift that the Church can offer to a country. Therefore, Korea will always be grateful to the Holy See and the Catholic Church.

All the teachings of the Holy Father - catechesis, social doctrine, etc. - must be implemented through the local Church and people in Korea, and the Holy See is grateful to the Korean people for this. Sometimes, the Church's contribution has led to tensions over issues like justice, democracy, ecology . . . . But this does not mean that it has not been appreciated.

For me, the time I spent as an ambassador was a time of abundant grace. In my work I have tried to boost relations between Korea and the Vatican on behalf of the common good.

An ambassador is usually seen as someone sent abroad to lie for his country. I have never had to do that because there is no diplomatic competition or conflicting interests with the Holy See. The Holy See and my country share the same interest in promoting and working for the common good.

Ambassadors to the Holy See do not have to lie; they can be safely honest. When I was unexpectedly appointed ambassador, I felt like the ass in the Last Supper (cf. Matthew, 21:2), which the apostles took on the Lord's order because "The master has need of" him. As "ass" I tried to do my best. At the end of my mandate, I ideally want to say that as Saint Paul said, "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith."

Now I can go home, return to Korea as an ambassador, but as a Catholic, I remain tied to the Vatican (as a member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity). As for the future, I place myself in God's hands; he has always looked after me, in all my plans and beyond.

Such a strong link between a country in the Far East and the Holy See might also show neighboring countries how to manage such relationships. China comes to mind for example. But it all depends on the attitudes Chinese leaders have towards the Holy See, how they see the role of the Catholic Church in China and the world.

Today, the Holy See has diplomatic relations with 180 countries and its role in support of the common good is seen by everyone as highly positive. The absence of diplomatic relations with the Holy See deprives China of a very important contribution in the globalized world.

* Thomas Han was born on 17 August 1943. Married with three children, he is a graduate in economics from Seoul National University (1965), in social sciences (economics) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1971), and has an honorary doctorate in Law from the Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan. He was a lecturer in economics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in Seoul (1972-2008), and a member of the Catholic Lay Apostolate Council of Korea (1984-2010). In addition to various national and international posts, he was also a member of the International College of Auditors of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See (2008-2010) as well as Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See (2010-2013).

Unity With the Pope: A Sign of Catholicism

Korea is a small country with a very well organized infrastructure  and blessed with  one language and culture. The Catholic Church has benefited greatly from this basic homogeneity in the work of evangelization. We have the appearance of unity, which at times gives way to partisan concerns  of the members. This is not surprising for the Church is a part of the society in which we live, but when the issues are serious enough to pit one group against the other, it causes concern.


Over the years the different factions, political  or philosophical have not often surfaced  to need a spotlight,  but recently this has not been the case, and one of the columnists alludes to this right beside the editorial in the Catholic Times, which  considers the problem serious enough to bring it to the attention of the  readers. Especially after finishing the Year of Faith, which was meant to grow closer to Jesus, become more familiar with his teaching, and to renew ourselves and the Church.

With the retirement of Pope Benedict and the beginning of the  papacy of Pope Francis we have a new beginning. Francis wants the Church in preaching the Gospel  to be missionary and to  understand the social dimension of the message and bring about the internal renewal and reform. He is making this clear by his words and actions wanting to energize the Church.

With this as a background, the editorial  mentions that many priests, religious, and lay people who are sensitive to the political issues in society are expressing their views, which are giving rise to discord and conflict within the Church. The evils that are seen in society are connected  to our understanding of justice  and when this is expressed, we have  hostility and division.

The editorial goes on to say  they do not see this tension and  discord completely  as something negative. The Church is made up of members of society and consequently, to have differences of opinion on some  matters is not strange. However, this disunity should not harm our community and the love we have for one another that comes from the Gospel message of Jesus.
 
We need to have respect for one another, and patiently work to communicate in  dialogue  wanting to understand the  other, and  remembering  the fellowship and unity that we have been called to embrace as disciples. We are coming to the end of the calendar year, and we should ask ourselves how we are preparing for the New Year.

Even though we have a difference of opinion, we should not resort to propaganda, deny the existence of the other or condemn the other. This is a way of entering the new year with  peace. The accompanying column mentions that the Pope was said to be a Marxist which of course, he denied, but it should help those who have difficulty with the Church getting involved in what some consider politics, something to think about.

Working to Change the Culture

All animals have two eyes. With only one eye, it's difficult to gauge distances and have a correct conception of space. Human vision, however, differs from animals in having a "third eye," an inner eye able to distinguish between the intellect and the emotions, subjective and objective, beauty and ugliness, good and bad, among many other distinctions--which makes for human character, according to a professor at the Catholic School of Art.

Writing in a bulletin for priests, he introduces us to Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant of Greek mythology, a beast that would eat humans in the morning and again in the evening. The professor marvels at the wisdom of the ancients in making him a one-eyed monster, no doubt knowing the problems of seeing with only one eye.

When politicians see only with one eye and blame everything on others, there are likely to be problems, says the professor. When industry makes profit the reason for every marketing decision, there is one-eyed vision,  When religious persons think they have all the truth, there is one-eyed vision. The self-righteousness that is propagated by this secular gospel, he says, is not for life but for death. They are dispensing mind-numbing opium and not the saving word to life.

A  society with most citizens seeing with one-eyed vision is not going to be  a happy society. Concern for others is not only absent in such a society but the concern itself is embarrassing to many. One-eyed educational programs promote selfishness and competition for securing the best jobs; anything that fosters one's personal goals and the goals of one's group, without regard for the common good, is permissible and even encouraged.
 
However, the professor does not think our society is made up only of individuals seeing with one eye whose only consideration is personal gain and loss. There are many who, though not recognized in our society, are keeping our society going, he says. He quotes a German historian from the past who said that what supports a society is not the military or a thriving economy but the virtuous life of its citizens.  

The professor, at the end of his article, suggests that Christians go beyond the capacity for virtue to the kingdom of God, and then ask themselves: What composes our inner eye? What are our values?

The blindness of the culture to these important questions frequently results in the same blindness of its citizens, he says. Though Christianity is meant to influence the prevailing secular culture, it is not difficult to see that we are being influenced to a greater degree by the secular culture shared by everyone born into that culture. We can readily see how it influences what we wear, what we consider beautiful, how we behave in society, what we say and do. The challenge for a Christian to overcome this influence is difficult, he points out; nonetheless, we need to try to change this culture as much as, if not more than, the culture tries to change us.

The Gift of Hope and New LIfe

We are made to be happy, and as Christians we find this easy to say and believe, but there are many without our beliefs who exclaim in the same way. An older priest writing in the Joy and Hope Bulletin quotes Herman Hesse, "The reason for existence is nothing else but to be happy."

During the season of Advent, we contemplate the happiness of living in God in God's presence and look forward to its fulfillment in God's time. This is the attitude of a person of faith. Our whole life of prayer has this hope deep down in our hearts. Christmas forces us to make a choice. When we look at the crib, we have to ask ourselves: Will it be the joy and hope of God's kingdom or will it be the kingdom of sadness and despair? Whether we experience joy and hope or sadness and despair will depend on us. We cannot rely on or blame others for that choice. As we have been told, in Deut. 30:19: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life that you and your descendents may live." Advent, being a time for self-examination and for opening ourselves to change, is the time to make sure we have made the right choice.

A teacher who was near death was asked by one of his students how was it that he was always with a happy face. The student knew that the teacher must have had in life, as does everyone, many difficult problems to deal with, but he never saw him express anything but joy. And even now, as death drew near, he could laugh.
 
The teacher quietly responded that at the age of 17 he had already known the reality of  unhappiness and pain. But his own teacher at that time taught him an important truth by always being in a good mood. Finding that strange, he asked him how he managed to do that. He said that though he had experienced much sadness in life, he realized that whether we are sad or happy is the consequence of a choice we have made. From that time on, every morning on waking up he would ask himself: What will it be today joy or sadness?

We are not saddened when we meditate on the last things during this time of the year. We are not afraid. Emanuel, God, is always with us. We are always waiting for Jesus to come into our lives. God has overcome the injustice, intimidation and fear rampant in the world, for we believe that God continues to build his kingdom here in this world, and we have the choice of choosing joy or sadness.

This kind of talk may seem like the pie-in-the-sky understanding of religion, not foreign to many in our society. And yet without believing in the meaningfulness of life, without the sustaining hope and joy that can be experienced even in the face of death, our lives become meaningless. Pope Benedict, in his encyclical on hope (Spei Salvi #2) says, "Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. So now we can say: Christianity was not only 'good news'—the communication of a hitherto unknown content. In our language, we would say: the Christian message was not only 'informative' but 'performative.' That means: the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known, it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life."

A Cardinal's Hobby

Books have for thousands of years been an important builder of culture. They have done much good but also much harm, but that is up to the reader to discern. They live in most cases beyond the life of their creators and have influenced many. They build on what has preceded and often give rise to what will follow. Recently, Catholic papers and even the secular press have reviewed the latest book by retired Cardinal Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul, his 52nd published book: Dialogues of Jesus that Open Wide Closed Hearts.
 
His motivation for writing this book, he said, is to share with others what he has learned from books that have enriched his life. Before his ordination, he promised, along with another deacon, to write a book a year. The other priest has since died but he was also a well-known writer. Cardinal Cheong has kept that promise with this latest book which contains his commentary on the words of Jesus in the dialogues of certain passages of the Gospels.

Jesus received many questions that were intended to entrap him, questions concerning the woman caught in adultery, working on the Sabbath day, the Samaritan woman, proof for his authority, and the like.  With these as a starting point, the Cardinal employs them to help us understand the background of each incident, and the truth being conveyed. What comes before and what follows each incident is also included in the commentary.

Despite a busy schedule, before retiring at the age of 80,  he was busy writing in various forms: books and essays, and on many subjects: canon law, doctrine, spirituality. The example of a busy cleric who continued to publish a book a year is a living example of how to make a hobby something very profitable for the Church and for oneself. No one within the Church has had such a record of having published a book a year, since ordination to the priesthood--in his case 52 years ago.

The cardinal goes to bed early and gets up at 3:00 in the morning, giving him three hours before Mass to do his writing. This seems to be  his only hobby or interest, outside of his work as pastor of the diocese. The retirement age for bishops is 75, but he continued until his 80th year when the pope finally accepted the resignation.  Bishops are required to submit their resignation to the pope upon turning 75. There were only two others who were older than Cardinal Cheong. As Cardinal emeritus he will have more time to write, and as long he enjoys health; we will certainly be seeing other books coming from his hand each year.

At the present time, the Church of Korea does not have any Cardinal as ordinary of a diocese, so they will be looking forward to one being appointed at the next consistory. Cardinal Cheong mentioned that he felt one of his duties was to help facilitate the unification of the country; the other was to foster a culture of life. The cardinal has mentioned in interviews: "I had asked for permission to go to the North but the authorities would grant it only on the condition that I bring a very substantial donation with me. It was a figure that my diocese could not afford, so I did not go. It must be known that one can enter the North only if one is bringing significant aid." 

It has been for all concerned a very bumpy road with the North, but nonetheless the Church of Korea continues to work for unification of the country, along with its tireless fight to make the culture of life for our Catholics a practical alternative to the present cultural practice, and with some  success. The new ordinary of Seoul, Archbishop Yeom Soo-jung, continues to stress the importance of these same objectives.

Inculturating the Gospel

One of the lectures, recently given by the Catholic University department of spirituality, and written up in the Peace Weekly, considered the culture at the time of Jesus and the way we should look upon any culture.  When the priest-lecturer talked about culture, it was not the intellectual or the literary culture of any one time, but the reality that most people were living, which is always in a period of flux; the culture we are living in today, for instance, is  decidedly not that of 10 or 20 years ago, he says.

When we speak of Jesus, we have to speak of the Gospels. And when we speak of the culture of the Gospel, we need to see it as a challenge to the prevalent culture, and as harboring a desire to change it.

Though Jesus lived 2000 years ago, the meaning he has always had for all of us is our response in faith, present now and real, and requires that we understand the culture in which Jesus lived. It was a time when the Roman polytheistic religions were entering the Semitic culture of Israel, which led to a clash of cultures. Polytheistic religions were also part of the Greek culture at that time. The Gods of the Romans and Greeks were thought, by the wisest men of those times, to be the most reasonable explanation for the existence of humans and the world. For the Jews, knowledge of the supernatural was revealed truth, something received as grace. This was the big difference between the alien religions and  the Jewish religion.

The Peace Weekly article explains that the Jews at the time of Jesus believed in the law but were divided into different factions: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and the like. The Temple was a place that united them and after its destruction, the Scriptures became their guide. St. Paul had to contend with the challenges presented by this Semitic culture and by the polytheistic cultures of the neighboring countries by relying on the culture of the Gospels.
 
The religious desire is to please God and the usual way was by means of ritual. Christians, according to the priest, have  the same desire. We have ceremonies, including the liturgy. But with the Christian, it doesn't begin with us but with God. God gave us everything; we give thanks for what we have received, and the liturgy is the way we do it.  The means are the same but the ways they are used are different. The Gospel that Jesus proclaimed is intended to change the established culture, when that is necessary for us to find a more abundant life. 

The Gospel is an absolute value. It can't be compromised and seeks to challenge the prevailing culture, showing where it is wrong, what and how to change it.  This is the work of a Christian. We have to know what can't be negotiated and what can. We try to foster this Christian culture in what we do and say, always asking, what is it that we believe? When we live the Gospel, we are not only fostering our religious culture but at the same time inculturating our Gospel values into our present culture providing it with a more humanly fulfilling alternative. 

In order to do this, we have to meet Christ in our own lives; without this encounter we will not  succeed in building up an attractive alternative to the surrounding culture. This goal has to be at the core of our efforts, as we continually seek to live it. When this becomes our personal culture, we will be living and   transmitting the  Gospel at the same time. Shouldn't this be the goal of all of us during this time of preparation for Christmas?

North South Dilemma in Korea

In Korea as in the West, there is hesitation on how much we should see the negative along with the positive. Seeing the positive is healthy, they say, and the negative not so much. Those who see "the fly in the ointment" are not always seen affectionately, and yet it is necessary at times to see what is there even if it may hurt.  In Korea, there are many who want to help the North because they are our brothers and sisters. But at times those with authority make this difficult. The truth should not be overlooked, however, regardless of troubling circumstances, even if it may not be good for our public and private 'health'.

Writing a series of articles in the Catholic Times on the state of human rights up North, the head of the Database Center of North Korean Human  Rights reports on the three churches in the North: Protestant, Russian Orthodox and Catholic. The Buddhists have a temple that speaks to their cultural history in Korea. The churches, he says, were built by and run by the  government, and they decide who may attend. There are no priests or sisters in the North. There have always been doubts about the sincerity of the Christians attending these Churches, he makes clear.

Refugees who have left the North almost all say there is no religious freedom there. Most say you are punished for practicing your faith when you are found out. He has in his database 1,152 incidents of religious persecution, involving 700 people. Many have been publicly executed, and large numbers are considered political prisoners and kept in concentration camps, punished with a life of hard labor. 
 
He asks what is the reason the government continues to say there is religious freedom in the North and yet severely punishes those want to practice their faith?  The center has for ten years documented the human rights violations of the North, and can document instances of government deception. 

The silence of the South concerning the cruel treatment of religious believers in the North is hard for the columnist to understand; this includes, he says, religious believers in the South. Though they pray for them and for an improved religious climate, and support humanitarian aid to the North, religious believers here, he regretfully notes, have made no concrete effort to support ending the persecution of religion and the cruel treatment of prisoners in the North, not to mention raising their voices in protest over those who have died as martyrs fighting for religious liberty in the North.

Those suffering because of religious persecution in the North, and those who are in the concentration camps as political prisoners, are waiting for someone to help them. Not only the religious people but all who are threatened with death are waiting for deliverance, he said. He wants the whole world to know the situation up North, so that something can be done about it.

Each year the Center publishes a White Paper. The first White Paper was sponsored by the Bishops Committee for the Reconciliation of the Korean People. He knows they are not able to free those who are suffering in the North, but they are able to make known to the world the plight of those who are suffering by publicizing the atrocities committed. This is the hope that he has, and he wants the rest of us to participate.

In the global village we live in, we often see this kind of  dilemma. In Korea, the same divisions exist. There are those who do not want to alienate the North by continuing to point out what they are doing, because it will have a negative effect on inter-Korean relations. Though an undeniable fact, what is to be done when others want to make the situation known, hoping it will help relieve the suffering up North? Because both approaches hold out the promise of finally achieving the stated goal, it's difficult to persuade adherents of either approach to support the others position and relinquish their own.