Both editorials in the Catholic papers bring to the attention of the
readers the difficulties of the migrants in Korea. Today Korean Catholics remember the
101st World Day of Migrants and Refugees along with Vocations on Good Shepherd Sunday.
The
world village in which we live brings the reality of different people
and cultures living together. Korea has ethnic Koreans from China,
Russia and North Korea and many other migrants with different facial
features who have come from poor countries and are here to do the
difficult, dirty and dangerous work of the society, often discriminated
and shunned. There is also a large number who have married Koreans and are living in the country.
They are often treated worse than those in the
lowest stratum of society: they are the invisible persons in society.Very basic human rights are not respected, health care, educational aid,
and when sick hospital care is not easily found, and in school ignored by classmates. Even in the Church we see this happening. We have separate Masses for them and they are not relating with the parishioners. When we don't accept a foreigner
we are refusing something basic of a person's humanity. We are treating
another as a commodity and fitting them into the
structures of the society we have made.
In our elementary, middle and high schools one out of a hundred are children from another culture. This shows that we are becoming a multicultural country. This requires we change the way we think and act.
Many
in society do not hear the cry of the weak, and fail to see their
pain and the need to find solutions. A survey made recently found that those married to Koreans, in 2009, 36.4 % felt discrimination and in 2012 it increased to
41.9 %. Three years ago 3.% of the migrants said prejudice and
discrimination made life difficult, this has now gone up to 7%. A sign
that we are not doing well in our efforts.
Pope
Francis in his message for the 101st World Day of Migrants: "The
Church without frontiers Mother to all, spreads throughout the
world a culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as
useless, out of place or disposable. When living out this motherhood
effectively, the Christian community nourishes, guides and indicates the
way, accompanying all with patience, and drawing close to them through
prayer and works of mercy."
In April, for the last two years, we had issues which caused a
great deal of public anguish. Last year, the sinking of the Sewol Ferry,
and this year the news of large scale corruption in government, but it
is also the month of flowers and weddings.
Many are
renewed by the attendance at a wedding with the newly weds expressing
their joy in a new life that begins. Peace Weekly, Peace Columnist,
recounts the joy of attending a Wedding Mass and all that is associated
with a wedding. He laments, however, this is not something that all
can enjoy and precedes to tell us why.
He introduces
us to a book by two professors Cabone and Cahn who have written Marriage
Markets, which describes how income of the couples influences the markets for
marriage: less marriage when the income is lower and more when higher.
This
is also our reality. A marriage business enterprise, working in the
field is quoted as saying, the average money spent on a marriage
including the home would be over 200,000 dollars. Without this kind of
money available one can't contemplate marriage.
In
Korea those who are not married by 50 are consider unmarried for life. In 1980
only 0.4% were in this category, in 2010 this has increased to 5%.
Japan is in a more difficult situation, in 1980 only 2.6% were
unmarried, in 2010 it rose to 20.1 %.
This year we will
have the population house census made every 5 years. Since Korea, in
respect to population transitions, has many similarities with Japan,
the writer surmises that there will be big surprises in the
numbers who remain single for life--those who have given up on romance
and marriage because of money and emotional reasons.
Last
year we had the extraordinary synod on the family and Cardinal Yeom of
Seoul was quoted as saying that with the solving of the problems in the
family all will be solved. The first barrier for this is marriage
itself and a need for the Church to get involved. The family is what supports the country, society and the church, We don't want to go in the direction of the United States, where marriage becomes the choice of the
elite and middle class.
The Church needs to open the doors
of its 1,682 churches to those who are dreaming of marriage. The church
needs to lower expenses and start spreading news to make a new culture for marriage.
A survey made by the Catholic Times in 1988 showed how the
Church had become middle class. In the 90s the word 'middle-class' was used by religious sociologists, and appeared in many articles
written about the church.
A professor and deputy
director of the Catholic Cultural Research Center has an essay in the
Catholic Times about the weakening of the Church's prophetic role in society and the reasons. Scholars see this as a
change in the Catholic situation in society.
By using
these words we are saying the majority of the Catholics belong to the
middle class. The professor believes we may think the number of
Catholics in the middle class would be about 70% but it is closer to 45~55%, 5% of this number would be the
upper class. With this being the fact is it possible that we are making
too much fuss about this? But the reality is that Catholics before
1980 were poor, the results of the religious persecution that lasted
for over one hundred years.
In the 1980s the young,
highly educated, and economically well-off began to enter the church.
Those entering were imbued with the dynamism from the church they entered which lasted up to the end of the 90s. Numbers
entering began to increase greatly.
Those entering were changing the make-up of the Church, both
within and without: numbers of church buildings and their sizes increased, the quality of the material improved, the
number of welfare programs improved, shrines for the martyrs were developed, and the exterior of Catholicism was changed.
Catholics with
money and time were only half of the numbers registered in the Church,
but they were the ones attending the Masses and involved in church activities, however, the
prophetic role of the church decreased greatly. The symbolism of
the old time Catholicism and its culture grew weak.
Catholics increased, but the quality did not keep pace and we hear the continual voice for renewal.This, in the words of the professor, explains the present
Catholicism with which we are faced.
In April our Korean Bishops made their regular visit to the Vatican;
and as was reported in the press the first thing the pope asked the
bishops: "How was the Sewol problem being decided?" The pope on the
other side of the world was showing solidarity with those who were
hurting.
While here in Korea he showed concern for the
families of the victims and accepted a yellow ribbon which he wore while in Korea. On his way back to Rome on the plane at
the press conference he was asked a question about his position on the
Sewol ferry tragedy.
"I put this on (the yellow
ribbon given him by the relatives of the victims). After half a day of
wearing it, I took it on for solidarity
with them. Someone came up and said, it's better to take it off.
You must be neutral. But, listen with
human sorrow you can't be neutral. It's what I feel."
These
words and the attitude of Pope Francis shows us what the Christian
essence of love should be. We need to show mercy and solidarity to those who are the sickest, and poorest in society. In our social
teaching we express this with a preferential option for the poor.
You can't be neutral in
the presence of human suffering. Before the poor become a concern of
politics, economics and culture, the issue is theological and
religious. God was on the side of those hurting in Egypt and Jesus: "I
was hungry and you fed me" (Mt. 25:35); Jesus identifies himself with
the poor.
"The poor person, when loved, 'is esteemed as of great value',
and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor differ from
any other ideology, from any attempt to exploit the poor for one’s own
personal or political interest. Only on the basis of this real
and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path
of liberation. Only this will ensure that 'in every Christian community
the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most
effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom?'
Without the preferential option for the poor, 'the proclamation of the
Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being
misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us
in today’s society of mass communication" (Joy of the Gospel #199).
There are
many in society who select those hurting, and
being with them inspire us with their service for the poor.However, it is also true that many do not understand and worry
about the results. We have a person who told the pope won't it be better to remove the ribbon since you are to be neutral. It was then he answered: we can't be neutral in the face of suffering. Work with the poor and the suffering always goes beyond politics.
Koreans enjoy using aphorism, and Catholics using what we called
spiritual nosegays. They were like a bouquet of flowers
that we could take out when needed to overcome other odors that were
harmful or at least distracting us from what was important.
Articles
in both Catholic papers, mentioned a movement among the different
religious groups in Korea to live what we believe: living according to
our identity. One writer quotes Pope Francis in his talk to the Asian
Bishops while here in Korea. "If we are to speak freely, openly and
fruitfully with others, we must be
clear about who we are, what God has done for us, and what he asks of
us."
Identity is a difficult word, the representative
of the 7 different religious groups did decided in the common campaign to live what we
believe: like a mother, like a human, like a citizen, like a Catholic,
like a worker, like a believer. A consensus among the different
religious groups in a campaign to work together is itself of great
import.
The declaration of the campaign listed: to
look first for the reasons for our problems in ourselves, to understand correctly
what we do, and act accordingly. See our mission directly,
and make it our starting point; pledge to act in the family, in
the church and in society like a member of that community should.
Not an easy thing to do. We have to understand who we are and realize how
precious we are and live in the way we know we should. Cardinal Kim who
was the ordinary of Seoul is quoted as saying: " It took him a life
time to have what his head knew descend to his heart." The effort will be
that of a martyr.
Each religious group will have
different resolutions that they will explore and carry out according to
their beliefs. The hope within the Church is that it will spread to all
the dioceses in the country.
The pastoral head of the Seoul
Parish Council reminds us of the sinking of the Sewol and how easy
it is to have all our problems sink like the ferry into the unknown. In order to change
the lack of trust in society we need to live according to the
will of God, which is living what we believe.
Koreans are tired. They have the longest working hours, and children the longest hours for study. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) in its survey of 18 countries showed that Koreans had the least
hours of sleep for both adults and children. Korea in the last 50
years was the country that achieved the fastest rate of growth, a
sign of their diligence, and if they did not achieve this success with
sacrificing even sleep would it have been normal? The leading role in
this leap in progress are now the elders in our society,
and of 91 countries, Korea was listed as the 67th in welfare
programs for the elderly, which the columnist considers a big
embarrassment.
The columnist is an educator who
writes in Window from the Ark of the Catholic Times. Our present
competitive society directs us to will what we want to achieve, but at a
great price, sacrificing leisure and overworking; often times feeling
guilty for resting and becoming addicted to work. The environment in
which they work, pushing for efficiency and production leads a large
percentage of the work force to feel burnt out.
At this
stage there is a loss of desire. Similar to an excess of voltage in an
electric line which causes the fuse to blow. The worker loses the meaning for life, and runs out of energy.
Burnout
Syndrome does not only affect the person but his family, the work place
and society.When together with others we have the meeting of a tired
society. This becomes contagious, easily spreads and we have the making of psychological problems.
Rest
and leisure are not a waste of time. Why is it that we don't
understand the reason for rest and leisure? He mentions a study made
that showed that those who have leisure and sufficient sleep are better
able to fight off dementia: the best and cheapest way of fighting
off the aging of the brain.
God made us to play. He
shows us a number of passages where we have the day of rest,
festivities, dancing, and banquets.There is a need for a rhythm in life of work and rest. We are made to celebrate-- homo festivus. The Sabbath Day is the best example of this. He concludes the article by
asking the church to take notice of the seriousness and sorrow in
society and help the tired ones to enjoy the creation that God has
given us.
“I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community” [Augustine]
We often hear our large scale enterprises must do well, if the common
people are to live well. Jobs are made, incomes improve: at first
glance this makes a lot of sense. A priest sociologist working with
laborers, in an article in the Catholic Times, does not agree.
Government
apparently believes this to be true, and does what it can to make the
growth of these conglomerates as smooth as possible. Removing many of
the obstacles that prevent growth. However, is it true that the workers
benefit from this largesse?
When big business does
well, and we have the trickle down effect as it is called, the overflow
of wealth from the big enterprises and the rich will enter the lives
of the masses--no proof, only an hypothesis and common
belief.
Government and the Korea Bank Statistics shows something different. Under the government of the past president the income of the conglomerates continued to increase with the business friendly policy. The income of families on the other hand continued to decrease. Why are the incomes of the families supposedly increasing, and why more poverty?
Pope
Francis has expressed the opinion that there is little to warrant this
kind of thinking, and said so in Joy of the Gospel. "In this context,
some people continue to defend trickle-down theories
which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will
inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness
in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts,
expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding
economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic
system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting."
In
1997 the Catholic Conference of England on the issue of the common good
was sharp in criticism of this thinking-- when the rich get richer the
situation of the less wealthy and the poor is improved-- The bishops
expressed doubt on this position, and said there is no evidence of this
and goes against common sense. This kind of thinking only goes to
justify the search for wealth.
When big business does
well this does not translate into the good for the ordinary citizen. For
this to happen the government has to get involved with regulations to
make this happen, and to extend the welfare system to include more
people. When the government sides with big business and abrogates many
of the regulations this is not only hurting the citizens but not making for an efficient financial market. If the government is to take an interest in the life of the citizens
they have to be conscious of the solidarity of the basic community and the
common good.
Both editorials in the Catholic papers bring to the attention of the
readers the difficulties of the migrants in Korea. Today Korean Catholics remember the
101st World Day of Migrants and Refugees along with Vocations on Good Shepherd Sunday. 
