Words of Wisdom from an Old Missioner

One of our Maryknoll Missioners, Fr. Clarence J. Witte, who worked in Japan for many years and was also Society Superior for Japan and Korea before the title was retired wrote a book ,"What It's All About." It was a reflection on his life as a missioner. "His life was often interrupted by war and other calamities, has paralleled the history of Maryknoll, which was founded one year after he was born. This parallel gave him an unusual perspective in making worthwhile observations on missionary work." He died in 2001.

" What was it that got Maryknoll off to such a good start? It was what our Founders put into us. He did not know Fr. Price but his influence was still with us in the early days; his principal legacy was a life of prayer----a lived conviction that our life must be an uninterrupted prayer, a life of absolute dependence on God and of uninterrupted communion with Him. Bishop James Anthony Walsh had that also, but he was at the same time a very practical man. And he taught us a lot of things---- mostly by example, but also by word and precept. The list runs the gamut of the virtues, but we can emphasize a few of them:

Honesty------ admit when you are wrong.


Humility------ when you get put down stay there.

Generosity------ do more than anyone expects you to do.

Dedication------do the dirty work and shut up about it.

Patience------accept the short end of the stick with a smile.

Poverty of Spirit------give away your last dollar with the assurance that you won't starve to death.

Confidence in God------ don't allow yourself to be frustrated, or even discombobulated by the Sisyphean character of your work, because, for those who love God, all things do, indeed work together for good.


And to sum it all up------ don't ever stop laughing at yourself.

Discrimination in Korea

The number of foreigners in Korea is growing continually. We have many coming to Korea for work, many visitors and those who marry and come to Korea to reside. It was reported recently that by the year 2050 10% of the population will be foreign. Korea has developed greatly in just a few years so many foreigners find it an attractive place to call home for a few years.

With the numbers there has been an effort on the part of the government and those in public service to make living in Korea a pleasant experience but obviously the message does not reach everyone. Korea like any other country will have many sad stories of discrimination. They have their own internal discrimination and having been a very homogeneous country for so long and underdeveloped the change to a first world country and seeing so many foreigners does take time to register on the Korean psyche.

There have been many blogs that find living in Korea rather stressful and many have experienced discrimination. That is a fact that has to be acknowledged. Whether we have more or less than other countries is a question that would be hard to determine. However I believe the government is trying to make it easier for the foreigner to be at home in this culture. The country does not like being singled out as a country inhospitable to foreigners.It will also take time and effort on the part of those who are attempting to adapt to a new culture to feel at home in strange surroundings. In the study of Korean it was made clear that for most who go to a foreign country there will be a cultural shock that could be very serious for some. Everything is annoying: the food, the dress, the streets the people. It is not uncommon and one should be prepared for this phenomenon.


We have had the case recently of a man from India a professor at the Anglican University, who pursued a criminal case for slander against a Korea man who called him a number of racially demeaning names while traveling on the bus. The diatribe lasted for over 10 minutes. With the help of his friend he went to the police station to report the incident and was treated unkindly by the police officer. "He used 'banmal' (informal speech not necessarily rude -but can be rude- but familiar) to me and addressed the Korean kindly. "

The professor filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission after the police made it clear that they had no desire to punish. The man has been indicted. This being the first case of its kind in Korea. Korea does not recognize discrimination as a crime but the case is one of personal insult. The offender was drunk which would excuse him in the eyes of many.

This case is a sign that Korea has come a long way in its approach to "Hate Crimes". We will without doubt also see discrimination as a crime with severe penalties in the years ahead. Discrimination is a part of life and we will never really see it disappear in our life time but it is well to try to see it as a part of out lack of awareness of others and personal weakness.

Whistleblowing in Korea "The Crucible"

Koreans according to what you read are rather lenient, tolerant, at the way they look at sexual problems in society. In recent years there are more reports of sexual harassment, assault and sexual violence issues in Korean society. The macho culture that we have and the lack of information is partially the cause for the so called apathy of the past; this is changing. We do have the process of concientization (consciousness raising) going on: laws have been changed, penalties are getting stiffer and the issues are being publicized.

One of the more popular novelist Gong Ji-young (Mary) has written a novel which is online. I do not know how serious her Catholicism is but she has been strong in working to do away with the death penalty and is interested in human rights issues. Her recent novel The Crucible is a novel that deals with a factual case in Gwangju Inhwa School for the deaf and dumb students. The education workers and the principle sexually abused the disabled students in 2005. This is the incident in which she uses as background for her novel. Both Catholic papers had a short article on her recent book.

The protagonist of the novel is a teacher who was hired to work at the school and makes a discovery that all was not right. The new teacher learns rather quickly that the students in his class have been sexually abused by the principle and other co-workers in the administration. The principle was the son of the founder and was considered a devout Christian and had the respect of the community.

We have the story here of a whistle blower who suffers and becomes a victim for trying to do what is right. The whistle blower had made his own sexual mistakes in the past which were used against him. The community stands by the principle and the teachers. The police are taken in by the community and even the parents of the victims agree to cover over what happened for the money they received.

The three are accused and sentenced to probation and are set free to return to the school. In real life they were given jail sentences.

Whistleblowing is where an insider discloses wrongdoing within an organization, calling for rectification. They have a difficult time of it in most countries. You are making something known that is going to be traumatic to many and bring about a change which is difficult for most. The protagonist in The Crucible, because of his own mistakes in the past, suffered a great deal and decided at the end to leave it all. This seems to be the lot of the whistle blower. He has to put up with retaliations from those he was living with and those he has worked with and his family can't helped but be involved. This is very difficult and in many cases the truth does not win out at least initially.

In Korea we have laws that help to protect the whistileblower. He can be monetarily rewarded for his disclosures but it is still a difficult road to take. One has to think well and long for he often will be facing a strong legal system that is often in the hands of those with the financial means. The results of the conflict often take years to conclude and not always in the whistlerblower's favor. However it is a great service to society and a very powerful way of conscientizing society.

Another Catholic Conscientious Objector

South Korea does not recognise the right to conscientious objection. Objectors to military service are sentenced to 18 months in prison. Korea has the largest number of conscientious objectors serving in prison, and most of them are Jehovah's Witnesses. Click here for a previous blog on the subject.

The situation in Korea is different from many other countries and the conscientious objection movement has a hard road ahead to find approval. The Catholics for the most part are opposed to alternative service for those with problems of conscience. The Catholic Bishops do not have any formal statement on the issue.

The previous South Korean government announced preparations for a law recognizing conscientious objection, but the new government has abandoned these plans. Amnesty International, War Resisters' International and other human rights and peace organizations are campaigning for South Korea to recognize the right to conscientious objection.

A Nahnews report mentioned a Catholic who made a telephone call to the Military
Manpower Administration a few days ago, refusing to serve in the military. He was a member of the college student group in the Seoul Archdiocese. The chaplain of the group made clear the Church's teaching on conscientious objection and supports the young man in his decision.

In January 2007, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognised the right to conscientious objection as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,

There has been some improvement in the understanding of what conscientious objection entails and the reason for accepting it as a viable response for those who do not in conscience want to serve in the military. One of our Korean Maryknollers, Fr. Russ Feldmeier back in 1968 refused to serve in the Vietnam War and joined the Peace Corps as his alternative service. He came to Korea, served as a Peace Corps member and after his term of duty was over, returned to the States to join Maryknoll. Ordained to the priesthood in 1980 he returned to Korea as a missioner, and is presently working with a team on partnership issues and interested in human rights. He feels strongly that we should have an alternative response for those who do not want to serve in the military and shows strong support for those who are now making a stand for conscientious objection status in Korea.

Cardinal Cheong's Influencial Role in Korea

A news weekly has selected Cardinal Cheong Jin-Suk, the archbishop of Seoul, as the most influential Religious leader in Korea. The weekly had a well know public opinion polling organization make the study and the Cardinal came in first in the religious category. There were 10 different categories in the study. He received 38.8% of the vote to best the second who received 29.3% and the third received 18%. The deceased Cardinal Kim came in fourth with 12.9% of the vote.

The Catholic Times had a interesting comment on this recent poll. The second place was a Buddhist leader and the third was a Protestant . The editorial was quick to comment that the general public is 'fickle" . They can support you today and turn on you tomorrow. Consequently it should be taken in stride and not taken too seriously. The Catholic Church is young in Korea while Buddhism has a long history and has a valued place in the Korean heart. Buddhism has had some internal difficulties and some of the leaders have not lived up to their calling but the Koreans have been tolerant. This can be compared to the place of Catholicism in Europe.

Korean Society looks upon the clergy, religious and the organization of the Catholic Church with a rather strict yardstick . Korean Society is such that even a small fault when found within the Church can cause despair and turn society against the Church. This is a sign that the The Catholic Church has not found a place in the hearts of the Koreans.

The acknowledgement of the Cardinal's influence is a sign of the efforts of the Church. We should not overly rejoice or simply find satisfaction in seeing the positive place the Cardinal has in Korean Society but should accept this as a prod to do better.

Catholic Women's Religious Vocations

In recent years there has been a large decrease in the number of young people who are interested in a religious vocation. This was not always the case. Some 5o years ago Maryknoll had so many applicants there was a problem with space. They had to build to accommodate those who were entering. This we all know has changed drastically.There are many in Korea seeing this happening for men in the near future.


The Nahnews had a provoking article on the problems with women vocations in Korea. The priestly vocations are staying pretty much the same, the men religious are similar to the diocesan numbers but the women religious have decreased. There are 103 different groups in the country. In 34 communities there is no one in training, only one in not a small number of communities. Compared to the past this is only about 1/3 of the numbers they had. This is not something which came on suddenly but was statistically
foreseen during the last 15 years.


The author thinks that the reason for this are plentiful in our culture. The improvement of the condition of women in Korea is one of them. "Have only two and educate them well" was the motto under which many were born; this enabled the girls to flourish. They received the love of the parents and they were not exposed to the discrimination of the past. Although it is still a man's society, in certain areas of the society they were given equal opportunities.
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With the women's entrance into society the idea of man's partner is not readily acknowledged. Rather we have an increase of weaker men and those who are afraid of women. With the ability of woman to make money there is no need to depend on men. Many women instead of trying to accommodate to the patriarchal society have opted to remain single.

Since we do have a large number who remain single in Korean Society this should be a large pool from which to expect vocations but most are not interested. Since we have so few being born it was reasonable to accept the decrease of vocations but this way of thinking no longer has reason on its side.

Many of the young women feel that the restrictions in the Patriarchal society are similar to the restrictions of the religious life; they enjoy the freedom of living the single life in society. With this in mind the author concludes that it doesn't seem things will change in the near future. He compares this to what happened in the States in recent years with vocations to the religious life.

The Conqueror of Leukemia in Korea

One of the professors who was instrumental in bringing blood forming bone marrow stem cell research to a point that it could be used in the treatment of Leukemia in Korea has retired from his position at the Catholic University Medical School.


The Catholic Peace newspaper had an article on Professor Kim Chun Chu who worked for 40 years at the university medical school and will go to Cheju -do to continue his work at a hospital on the island. His work enabled the University Medical Team to become the hub in Asia with bone marrow transplants for the treatment of leukemia.


Leukemia is the excess of white blood cells in the blood stream. In Korea before 1983 there was little that could be done. He felt that there was a way and went on to experiment by selling his apartment and putting the money into the experiments: there was no hope in getting financial help. He did succeed and the transplants were highly successful.


There was much speculation on why he chose to got to Cheju-do when he could have gone to many hospitals nearby. He feels a loyalty to the Medical school that gave him his start and did not want to bring any harm to his alma mater in the Seoul area. The necessary infrastructure in Cheju-do has been put in place to perform the operations. One of the junior doctors from Cheju-do was at his side at the medical school for 6 months to accustom him to what will be done in Cheju-do. Professor Kim hopes to be of help to the many who will find it difficult to make the trip to Seoul.


Although he is an authority in his field of medicine he prefers to be called a poet. With his retirement he will have his seventh book of poetry published. His own description of himself is a "life the interior of which was full of cabbage". The needs of time require that he change his place of work . He will have much to do and wants to continue his study and be of service to those who need treatment for blood diseases.