One of the editorials in the Catholic Paper this past week was about the second Korean priest, Choe Yang Eop (Thomas). April 15 was the 160th year of his ordination. He is being proposed for beatification with 124 Korean martyrs. He will be the first non-martyred Saint. His cause is separated from those of the martyrs. He worked for 12 years in pastoral work among his Korean Christians. Kim Andrew was the first Korean Priest but died a martyr’s death shortly after ordination. Fr. Choe was actually the one who helped the Church to grow. He can be considered a Korean Church Father. He was born in 1821 and died in 1861 overworked and dying of typhoid fever.
The editorial went on to say It is sad that the spirituality of Fr. Choe is so unknown among the Christians. They all know he was the second Korean Priest but they are not familiar with his spirituality.
This is also a time it said to look into the life of his mother, RiSeong Rye. She temporarily denied her Faith because of her bond with her breast feeding son. She was able to overcome her maternal instincts,separating herself from her son and entering jail on her own to face beheading. This example of his mother was instrumental in making Fr.Thomas Choe the heroic figure that he was.
The editorial finishes on hope that he will soon enter the ranks of the Saints and be a new model of spirituality for the Catholics.
According to 2005 statistics compiled by the South Korean government, approximately 46.5% of the South Korean population expresses no religious preference.Of the population, 29.3% are Christian (of which 18.3% profess to be Protestants and 10.9% to be Catholics), 22.8% are Buddhist, and the restbelong to various other religions.
South Korea has the largest mega church in the world. The YoidoFullGospelChurch has over 250,000 in attendance on an average Sunday. The membership is well over 800,000. It is reported that the 10 largest mega churches are in Seoul.
The Protestant Church demands a great deal of the Christians. The common understanding would be: no alcoholic beverages, no smoking, no work on Sunday,not to participate in the Korean Confucian Rites and to tithe, besides taking all the teachings of Jesus seriously. The KoreanProtestantChurch, for the most part would be evangelical and puritan in tradition.
It is difficult to make general statement about the Protestant Churches since they do differ much among themselves. The YoidoFullGospelChurch’s website says that “Full Gospel” means taking literally the Bible and accepting fully and totally all that is in the Bible. They list the Seven Theological Foundations of the Full Gospel as:
Faith in the Cross on Calvary
Faith in the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
Faith in the Spreading of the Gospel to All the World
Faith in the Good God
Faith in ChristWho Carries Our Diseases
Faith in Christ Who Will Return
Faith in Sharing (blessing through tithing)
We as Catholics would have little difficulty with most of this but the emphasis on the Gospel of Prosperity would have to be qualified a great deal.
The following report below was taken from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.
2008 Annual Report on Religious Freedom in North Korea
“This report is based on a survey of 2047 North Korean defectors who entered in South Korea between 2007 and 2008 and on the data of 345 cases of religious persecutions in North Korea with 252 related persons.
According to the report, 99.7 percent of respondents said they cannot freely practice their religious belief in North Korea. When a North Korean practices or proclaims his/her religious belief in public, possesses religious things, or comes in contact with religious people, he/she is persecuted in North Korea.
Mr. John Yun Yeo-sang, who as an expert member of the CRKP took a charge of the survey and prepared the report, gave suggestions for solution to relieve and prevent the North Koreans from the religious persecutions: a regular monitoring of the reality of religious freedom and persecution in North Korea; working on a method to prevent North Koreans from the religious persecution and help its victims; inter-Korean religious exchanges and examination of a connection between humanitarian aid of the religious world to North Korea and the extension of religious freedom; strengthening official and unofficial religious approaches to North Koreans; organizing an interreligious federation to extend the religious freedom in North Korea; strengthening assistance to North Korean defectors in South Korea in practicing their religious belief; developing a long-term strategy for evangelizing North Korea.”
There are a few difficulties for the foreigner living in Korea and one of the least trying is the inability to register on the internet when it is required. We all have a 13 digit registration number. When it is used to access Korean websites most of them do not accept the alien registration. The government keeps on saying this will change and it probably has changed but the websites have not.
Even if this is true Korea has a wonderful internet system. In my understanding they have the world's fastest internet connection speed which will be getting even faster. It is a pleasure to work with the internet in Korea and the afterservice is just exceptional. All one has to to do is call KT and within a few hours he is at the house and no charge.
The Catholic Church in Korea has a great technical tie up with all the other dioceses for exchange of data but they are not in the forefront of using the internet for communication within the diocese between the Christians and the Diocese.
The Suwon Diocese has taken a lead with the starting of an internet newspaper. It will facilitate the mutual communication of the Christians and the Diocese. Since they are limited by the funds they have: a lot of people involved are volunteering their time and know how. Congratulations are deserved. Hopefully this will be a priming of the pump for the other Dioceses to follow.
This is “pumasi" time in Korea (품앗이). Life without it would be very difficult. This is a word that is used to signify exchanging labor. It is not easy to find laborers to work in the fields so the farmers lend their hands to others to be repaid in kind when asked. This is partnership where the results are easily seen.
In the district in which I live there are usually 6 families that group themselves to help and be helped during the busiest times of the farming season. That means that with the husband and wife it usually is 12 people.Here in our district they are presently getting ready the rice seedling beds.
When I first came to Korea I remember seeing 3 farmers with one shovel working together. The one in the middle would hold the shovel and you would have one man on the right and the other on his left with a rope that each held that was tied to the shovel handle. It was like a dance. The man in the middle would take the lead with the shovel moving it from the earth that he was digging and letting the dirt in the shovel fly off in the direction that he chose. The other two with a similar rhythm would go back and forth helping the man with the shovel. It seems that they could do more work doing it separately but it would not be as much fun.
The word synergism can teach us a lot. I have heard it over and over again that two horses, pulling in unison, canpull more than three times the amount that each horse can pull separately. You hear this
so often that there has to be some truth to what is being said. I would like it to be true also in our human society. This would revolutionize everything. I also believe this is the reason Our Lord sent his disciples out in twos. One plus one can be more than two.
Ithas been said that “the society we are living in has set the task of making it
unnecessary for one human being ever to ask anything of another in the course of going about his daily business” This is certainly not Christian nor very human either. Would it not be better to do nothing alone that could be done better with another? The Korean pumasi is a good lesson for us.
A group of Catholics in Korea have launched the first "independent" Catholic news "Here and Now" website.
It is an attempt to focus on the poor and socially underprivileged ; it desires to stress the justice of God. It wants communication between the Church and the World. They do not desire to just follow the ways of the world but do not want to ignore it either. The group wants to take the Second Vatican Council seriously and attain its ideals. The priests, religious and laypeople as equals in communicating will make for a stronger Church.
The group wants two way communication between the Church and the World and within the Church. The group says the Church must not be like other groups that just selfishly think of themselves and become like a big business. They feel that the Church must search for ways to heal itself and overcome laziness.
The head of the Korean bishops' Committee for Social Communication admitted that existing Church media mostly highlights the clergy. He hopes that the new website "would help the Church mature by addressing laypeople's voices in various ways"
It was reported that over 3500 visitors a week visited the website even before it was launched. May it be a blessing for the Church in Korea.
On the occasion of the 29th National Day for Persons with Disabilities, to be held on April 20, 2009, the Most Rev. Lucas Kim Woon-hoe, Episcopal Vicar for the Social Ministry of the Archdiocese of Seoul, issued a message with the theme of “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13,34).
In his message, Bishop Kim stressed that our neighbors with disabilities are same human beings with dignity and rights as I am. He said, “A person cannot be valued by the degree of his/her physical or mental disabilities, but by his/her human dignity.” Then he emphasized that we, human beings, are invaluable beings because we are loved by God.
Then he added, quoting the Encyclical of Pope John Paul II Laborem Exercens: “They too are fully human subjects with corresponding innate, sacred and inviolable rights, and, in spite of the limitations and sufferings affecting their bodies and faculties, they point up more clearly the dignity and greatness of man” (n. 22).
He concluded the message, saying, “I hope that this Day for Persons with Disabilities gives all the people in this land an opportunity to realize our Lord’s love for all of us with or without disabilities.”
There was an article in the Catholic Paper this week mentioning that the Catholic Church in Jeon Jyu Diocese was defaced by graffiti. The Church is the Jeon Dong Church which was the oldest Romanesque Church built in the Honam district on the site where the first martyrs Yun Ji Chung (Paul) and Gwon Sang Yeon (Jacob) where martyred. This Church has been designated by the government as a place of historical interest.
In Korea it is rare to hear about the defacing of monuments or public places and Churches of any kind. I do not remember having ever heard of such a problem although there must have been situations where it has occurred. The article's big print had : "Who? Why? this Evil Deed?"
The understanding is that it was a deliberate act of at least 3 persons. It was done during the night and discovered in the morning by the Sisters of the parish. The writing was in three colors, blue, white and red. The words were ANTI CHRIST, PSEUDO and FUCK and similar words. There was also an upside down cross.
It is sad to see this type of defacement especially when it seems to be religiously motivated.
