Russian Orthodox Want a Church in Seoul

In recent months the Russian Embassy has asked for a piece of land to build a Church in Seoul; a request written up in recent Korean newspapers. The relationship of the Russian Government to the Russian Orthodox Church is intimate. There aren't many democratic countries that would ask a foreign government to help build a Church. A ministry official said, if Russia insists, it could be a drawback for Korea-Russia relations, which will mark its 20th anniversary next year.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Korea has a very turbulent history. The first Church was constructed in the central area of Seoul and was named in honor of St. Nicholas. It was built with a gift from the emperor, and destroyed during the Korean War. The Russian government has on a number of occasions asked the Korean Government for land to build a church in the capital city--they have one in north Korea built in Pyongyang in 2006.

The spot that Russia has in mind is the former Russian legation, where Emperor Gojong(1852-1919) took refuge for one year to escape the Japanese who were planning to assassinate him. The place is now designated as one of the nation's Historic Sites.

Russian Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in Russia. There's no Russian Orthodox Church currently open in Korea, and Russian residents in Seoul have to go to another part of the city where they use the Greek Orthodox Church for the liturgy.

The initial request was made by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II during President Lee Myung-bak's visit to Russia in September of 2008. President Lee is known to have said he'd consider it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade followed up on the request by asking the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism if they would agree to the proposal - both rejected it."Fundamentally, the request is against the Korean Constitution that states the separation of church and state," said an official at the ministry and added it isn't in line with religious parity.

The Catholic Church of Korea does not have a close relationship with the Russian Orthodox because of their sporadic presence in Korea. However, the climate between Rome and Moscow is probably the closest it has been in centuries. It would be a nice gesture if the Catholic Church could facilitate this acquiring of property in Seoul, but it is an issue with many problems.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church met on December 3 with Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux. Welcoming the delegation His Holiness Kirill stressed the importance of dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. He recalled that both in Russia and France, Christians had to go through severe hardships caused by revolutionary events and attempts to build the life of society without God. "Today we encounter the challenges of secularism. It is necessary to meet them together, basing ourselves on historical experience," he said.

We do not know when nor where nor even if there is going to be an Orthodox Church built with the help of the Korean Government, but there will be an Orthodox Church some day in Seoul, and the Korean Catholic Church will be welcoming of their presence.

Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Fight in Korea

Up until recent months abortion as a social issue in Korea was ignored by the general public. It was illegal except for rape, incest, mother's health, hereditary or contagious disease. Today's daily paper reported the incident in which a group of gynecologist have begun criminal proceedings against three obstetricians: a fight between the pro-life and the pro-choice forces in the land of the morning calm.

About 600 young doctors in their 30s and 40s have resolved not to conduct any abortions not based on medical reasons, and to indict any doctors that are performing illegal abortions. These young doctors are said to be only 20% of the total, but since they are young, they do have a following, and time will tell if what they are beginning will be a ripple or a tsunami.

Some of the pro-life doctors consider Korea the abortion capital of the world, and want to change this image. Most of the abortions are performed for social or economic reasons and are illegal. The country did not want to see the gap between law and reality."We doctors, judicial authorities and the Health Ministry all have committed a grave error for a long time. That's why the uncomfortable truth has never been revealed," said Choi Anna the spoke person for the group of pro-life doctors.

Now that the issue is before the people there will be a great deal of infighting. The majority of the gynecologist are against what they consider a radical group of doctors. The money is made with abortions and not with births which are few. Not only the majority of the doctors, but many of the women's groups have made a public statement that the proceedings against gynecologists are against urgency and needs of women. It does not respect the right that a woman has over her body and her freedom-- a movement against a women's human rights.

Abortion in Korea was never an issue people felt deeply about, as in the States. Korean society sympathized with abortion, and no one saw a need to have a pro-abortion movement. The leaders of the pro-life forces in Korea make clear that there movement has nothing to do with religion. They are gynecologists and their work is to bring life into the world.

The efforts to eradicate abortion, by pro-life doctors, are cheered on by the Catholic Church of Korea. The Public debate will now begin in earnest, and in time we will see where the hearts of our Korean people rest. The vocabulary used by the pro-choice groups did not resonate with the Koreans of the past; the pro-choice ideas afloat are not Korean traditional views , but imports from the West, accepted by most of the young Koreans.

Christianity and Market Principles

In continuation of yesterday's blog the writer mentions that humanity has two desires: one for material goods and the other for health. In the world in which we live money is the yardstick by which we measure everything. Our position in life is governed by money; we can, after a fashion, buy health and extend life with money. All we do, even our faces are determined by our efforts to attain material goods. This is all very natural, but to what degree do we have to acquiesce to it?

Humanity is in search of material things for happiness. Not only for food, clothes and shelter but for better food, better clothes and a better house in which to live. We seek to satisfy our desires; to make a profit we try to maximize everything we do; the virtues of this enterprise are competition, efficiency and rationality-- words fitting the economic man.

The Christian is one who is diametrically opposed to this way of looking at life. It is not the amassing of goods but ridding oneself of goods that brings happiness and prosperity. Christians believe true prosperity does not come from our strength, but is a gift of grace.


There is no other people like Koreans that work so hard for development and growth. We live in a society in which financial value and financial growth is the greatest earthly virtue.

The Church does stress that quality of life is important; working for the common good and not the free market is what is important. Spiritual growth will bring us happiness is the constant message of the Church. However, in the jungle in which we live, does this have any drawing power for those that hear the message? Is the Church's job only to make this message known; or to live the very life that it preaches?

Secularists said religion would disappear, but what has happened is that it has thrived and is growing. The churches have picked up the capitalistic know-how, and have used it to advance the cause of religion. To draw people to the churches they are using efficient and very competitive means. The churches are imitating the business world. Religious people are polishing their products to fit the wants of the consumers. They are emphasising a spiritual product but selling it in a material way. Christianity has become a big business--Christianity Incorporated.

We are told that what is small does not last long. Only what is big will last. More than the values of the Gospel are we trying to increase the numbers at the expense of the Gospel? Has our own Catholic Church been assimilated into using the principles of the market? Is the Catholic Church using these principles of the market to compete with the other churches and trying to be more efficient in raising the numbers of our Christians? It isn't that we are only interested in the increase of numbers is it?

Christian Examination of World Economics

"Some would like to see Christianity devote all its energy to spiritual matters and stay out of the economic picture entirely." In a recent issue of the Kyunghyang Magazine, a Korea Catholic priest, with a doctorate in economics, presents a number of reasons why the Church should take an interest in world economics: Finances manipulate the world and all of our lives; economics and its power moves the world, buying a good education, assuring better health care; getting respect and the envy of others. In short, many doors to wealth, honors and a good life are often dependent on how successful we have become in manipulating money." (Second segment treated tomorrow.)


The priest lists four ways in which the Scriptures regard money: 1) Poverty is a challenge to the believer; 2) money is a problem for the community; 3) God is asking for justice; 4) the power of money blinds us to the plight of the poor-- the ever present danger of making money our idol.

There are three different theological approaches dealing with economics:

The first viewpoint considers morality as the starting point for economics. The development of economics from the earliest days was based on virtue. "The separation of morality from economics is the problem in our day;" are the words of a Nobel prize winning economist.

The second approach is to expose the the fallacy of those that are approaching economics from an ideological basis, and to show that economics is not a value neutral science. There is a hidden theology as the basis of many economic theories. A Korean theologian in Brazil says in some economic theory there is a borrowing and a distortion of the Christian message: the reason for sin is poverty and the eradication of poverty will bring heaven here on earth.

The third group, which includes Pope Benedict, want to see a small scale networked economy.
"...not only that traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated, but also that in commercial relationships the principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity can and must find their place within normal economic activity. This is a human demand at the present time, but it is also demanded by economic logic. It is a demand both of charity and of truth."(Caritas in Veritate #36)

In Korea we see the effects of a mismanaged economic system, evident also in other parts of the world: not able to find work, forced retirement, gap between rich and poor getting larger, factories going overseas, more people making money with money, discouragement of farmers etc.. This will get many thinking of a better way to manage the world of economics.

Pornography Destroying All That Is Sacred

Pornography is a part of the world in which we live, the price you pay for living in an advanced country, and by some not considered something bad. True. Eradication of the scourge is not possible, but there is little doubt that it is a cause of great harm to all societies; Korea is no exception.

Koreans have a basic feel that pornography is bad. Their traditional views on sex, their respect for motherhood, and all that it means, however, are not strong enough to keep them from pornography. The most populated country with the largest tie up with the Internet , Korean cybersex is readily available and rampant.

It is no longer necessary to be embarrassed or make much effort to see pornography; all that is necessary is to sit before your Internet screen. Those who frequent this world of cybersex are not only men but women, young and old; breaking away from porn, once habituated, is more difficult than giving up drugs.

The press has not waged war against this enemy of the family nor has the Catholic Church of Korea made it an important part of its interests, but it is a big part of the culture of death. A recent article in the Peace Weekly sees this as an area the Church has to enter, for this disease not only infects us, our families, our children's lives, but also destroys the life of the Church.

In one diocese in the States, mentioned in the paper, 10% of those who faithfully attend Mass are addicted to pornography. This disease will cause us to always look for another level of intensity to satisfy our sexual desire. Pornography is a reason for the number of sexual crimes, the breaking up of families, the problems with elementary school children, and the cheapening, and destroying the beauty of married love: sex, seen only as a tool to satisfy one's sexual desire, disregards the essential component of sexuality.

The Peace Weekly tells us that when we have the urge to see pornography let us remember that the woman involved is some one's daughter and possibly one of our sisters. Let us remember the love that we must have for all those involved in this world of pornography. This motivation, in itself, should be reason enough to say no to this horrible scourge in our societies.

Korea Prepares to Help the Foreign Needy

How many Catholic bishops' conferences would have a symposium to discuss giving aid to needy countries? In preparation for today's Foreign Aid Sunday, (a collection for the foreign poor was taken up in all the parishes), the bishops sponsored a symposium to deal with the present situation of aid, and determined directions for the future.

The Catholic Church intends not only in doing something meritorious but in developing a network to help in the eradication of world poverty.
Only recently has she become a giving Church. The amount given is small, for the number of Christians, but this is beginning to change. Not only is the Church interested in the giving of money, but in how and to whom to give.

Some of the problems seen in the symposium was the competition among the different groups: How much has been raised? How many countries have been helped? How many different works sponsored? Although this is to be expected-- the same problems have been seen within the Church; efforts are being made to remedy the situation.

Catholic have given only about 2 dollars a piece in aid to the foreign poor and it was suggested that the reason for this was a lack of transparency in the reports; no people specified, lack of continuity and no results returned to the Christians. The Church has not always been clear in the use of funds as some of the other Non-Governmental Organization have done.

One of the representatives of the Official Development Assistance Watch had a few suggestions for the Church. The Church should be an example of giving aid. The receiving country should not be dependent on aid but should be helped to help themselves. The society being helped should work with those who are trying to rid the country of corruption: Develop their need for democratization, equality of the sexes, and to guarantee that the poor and alienated in the society receive benefits. It is possible to give aid in a bad way, you can subordinate the one receiving to the aid given. You can remove them from the democratic process, and if aid is standardized and given as the West has traditionally given, you can destroy the diversity in the culture.

Aid given in a bad way can strengthen the authority of men at the expense of women. The help can separate the different peoples and different tribes in a country. Aid not given well can help not the poor and the alienated but the wealthy, those with power and the small privileged groups in the society.

In the future, countries joining the world-wide effort to help the needy in other countries may find it useful to learn how this is best done by emulating the current efforts of a country and Church that have in a very short time moved from receiving aid to giving aid. The bishop sponsored symposium has focused attention on doing more in this are of world-wide need and may be a heartening sign of the times. It seems that we can be optimistic that wealthier nations of the world will be more aggressive in giving to the poorer nations in the coming years, and very likely Korea and the Korean Church will be prominent in these efforts.

How To Make Sense Out Of Absurdity

How does one convey the Christian message to the people of our time? The old way of dealing with the message falls on deaf ears, the message was heard and discarded, it is understood to be a bunch of dos and don'ts and the response-- not interested. Disinterest is more evident today. The youth are bored by religion. They are searching but it is unending.This vacuum in lives is seen and experienced and some moved to do something.

In the twentieth century we have had a number Catholic movements started by lay people who felt this emptiness in life, Mr. Francisco (Kiko) Argüello is one of these. He started the Neocatechumenal Way in the slums of Spain in 1964 with Ms Carmen Hernandez.

In Kiko's own life he felt a profound existential crisis and accepted the philosophy of Sartre: the world is absurd all is absurd. He dedicated himself to art and although he was successful it all meant nothing. "It meant absolutely nothing, to live for what? To paint. And why paint? To make money. What for, If nothing satisfies me? I knew that sooner or later I'd shoot myself, I'd kill myself."

At the height of the crisis he read another philosopher, Bergson, "who says that intuition is a... way..., deeper than reason itself, of arriving at truth. And surprised, I found that, deep inside, my artist's intuition did not accept the absurdity of existence; I was aware of the beauty of a tree, of the beauty of things; there is something there that can't be absurd. Then if the absurd is not the truth, if there is a reason for being... the next step was: then somebody created us.... At that moment... something in me told me that God existed... that God loved me... that I was a son of God. And with great surprise I found...that this God that appeared in my heart, in my deepest soul, was Jesus Christ, the Jesus Christ of the Catholic Church."

As time past this teaching was embodied in a catechetical syntheses, founded on what is called the tripod: Word of God- Liturgy- Community that seeks to lead people to fraternal communion and mature faith. It is a message of Joy and given for free to anyone who opens his heart to receive it.

The priests of the Incheon Diocese this past week had a five day retreat conducted by a priest of the Neocatechumenal Way. It was the old story told in a way that made it clear to all that Christianity is not a teaching of morality or dogma but accepting Jesus into our lives. He came to divinize us. To make us like Him. He made us to be happy in the only way that true joy can be found, living in and with Him.