Lowering the Walls between Dioceses

Not all parishes and mission stations in Korea are self supporting and independent of outside help. You have mega parishes , but also the small communities that work to supplement their income coming from collections , Mass stipends and free will offerings-- reality in many small country parishes and mission stations in rural Korea.

Many Maryknollers stationed in rural areas benefited by help given them by wealthier parishes. These poorer communities would visit city parishes to sell their farm goods: pumpkins, sweet potatoes, turnips, peppers and the like. They would make the rounds of parishes that would welcome them. The rectory and church of the mission station where I am in residence was built by parishioners selling farm goods and sea laver in city parishes.

On occasions you have city pastors going to country parishes of another diocese to work and realizing for the first time how high the walls are that divide the dioceses from one another. One pastor, with many years experience in Seoul, wrote about his experience of working in a poor country parish, and concluded that the concern for the poorer areas of the country should be a concern of the wealthier parishes.

He recalls the day he received a telephone call from a priest from another diocese telling him that some members of his pastoral council were planning to visit. On their arrival he was surprised to see the visiting priest had attended the same seminary. The pastor of the country parish was more surprised, however, hearing that the visitors would have a second collection once a month and deliver it personally to the poorer parishes in the country.

The smallest diocese in Korea has about 46,000 Catholics and 73 priests in 36 parishes. About half the diocese makes their living from farming and the other half makes a living offering services to the farmers. It is dioceses of this type that need help to develop.

One of the signs of our Catholicism is unity. The country pastor dreams of the day when this would be more visible in church life. It is important to have concern for one's own diocese, but this still can be done with more efforts in equality of Catholic growth throughout the country. The Church's social principles of 'solidarity' and 'common good' could be applied in this area of Catholic Life.

Work of Love Delayed for 20 Years.

After 20 years the doors of bronze a sculptor made for the Myong Dong Cathedral in Seoul finally found their designated place, and this year in recognition of his work the artist received a prize at the 15th art award ceremony of the Catholic Church.


Choi Eui-Soon (John Vianney) received the commission to make the doors back in 1985, he finished in 1987 and for the last 20 years the doors remained in the storehouse of the Cathedral. Because of the door's weight and the condition of the building, they postponed putting the doors in place until repair work on the building was finished last year.


Cathedral doors were to express in bronze relief the beginning history of the Catholic Church of Korea. For one year Prof. Choi traveled around Korea to the different pilgrimage sites, and spent time reading Catholicism's history in Korea so the representation would be true to history.


Depictions on the doors are the first Chinese priest saying Mass, the representation of his first catechist receiving communion, a Paris foreign missioner taking care of orphans, persecution of the Catholics, and the clay pots that the Catholics sold to make a living during the years of persecution. It does give one a feel for the years of persecution and what it must have meant to the first Christians.


In 1953 Prof. Choi entered Seoul School of art and sculpture after experiencing the cruelty and shock of war. His dean said he would make a good religious and recommended he enter the Catholic Church. He started to receive instructions was baptized and continued to relate his art to his religion. He hopes all those who come to the Cathedral and see the doors will want to imitate the faith of these early Catholics.

A Legacy Left By A Man For Others

On the 16th of February we remembered the first anniversary of the death of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan. An example of love for country that was bigger than the materialistic and opportunistic values of his time. He had a vision of what should be when many preferred the status quo and were fearful of making waves. Cardinal Kim was an attractive personality to many of the citizens not only Catholics. Love one another, forgive and give thanks were his last words remembered by many during the past year.

Editorial in Catholic paper laments the present situation because of political infighting that prevents the government from taking on serious problems facing Korea. They are occupied with materialism opportunism, pragmatism and local interests that blind them to the larger interests facing the country.

Using the fable monkey's dilemma the editorial compares the problems facing society with the poor monkey who has his fist in a jar of food. The empty hand goes in easily but with food gripped tightly the monkey can't get fist out from the jar's mouth. Monkey either chooses food and loses his freedom or drops the food and lives to begin another day. Government has their hands in the jar and are not able to see that while concerned with those smaller matters they are missing matters of greater importance.

Cardinal Kim gave us a good example of being a Cardinal for all. His coat of arms carried the words "For you and all." His strong position on siding with the poor and the alienated was not missed by many even though the oppression of the times made it easy to forget them.

When one realizes things are not going the way they should and like the monkey one realizes results are not what were desired, it is time to change course and begin again. Party interests , personal grudges, should not be the overwhelming concern of those in government but the serious interests of the people they were elected to serve.

"Good, Bad And the Ugly" All Can Be Graced

A Lenten meditation on the value of pain and suffering was the topic of a recent newsletter. An incident in the book by Jean Vanier
(Canadian Catholic philosopher, humanitarian and the founder of L'Arche) where a young girl had difficulty relating with her mother introduced the meditation. Daughter would always end up confronting her mother in anger, and the mother couldn't understand why mother and daughter had to relate with anger so she recommended therapy.They discovered that the girl had a great deal of pent up anger against her mother.


When the girl was 3 years old her brother was born and the poverty of the mother made her give the children to her sister. In the eyes of the girl the mother abandoned her, and hidden for 20 years was this unresolved resentment towards her mother. When she was able to face this bitterness, and understood her mother she was able to forgive and the relationship with the mother changed.


There are many who have a 'hole' inside of them that doesn't allow them to accept life as is. This affects everything they do. Unbeknown to the person there are scars below the surface that still ache, and they are not able to function properly in society until they are acknowledged and healed.


Another incident was about a young man who after graduating from school got a job in a construction company. All was well, he looked forward to a bright future until a car accident crippled him, and prevented him from continuing in the work. He was greatly depressed lost his desire to live, but during his time of recuperation his acquanitance with those more handicapped than himself turned his own life around to a point where he decided to work with the handicapped--satisfaction from his new life changed even his appearance.


St. Augustine tells us God brings good out of evil: "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist." During this season of Lent let us remember the words of Jeremiah: "I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows." Jesus did not pray that the disciple not suffer, but they be delivered from the evil that could come from suffering.


Lent is a time to realize some of the greatest positive changes come into our lives from failures and disappointments we experience, and not the successes. A great danger is to have these failures and disappointments permeate the present moment to such a degree that one continues to live in the past. Strange tho it sounds we can be thankful for the 'good the bad and the ugly' in our lives, for in God's providence they can be stepping stones to a life that we never expected, a life even more satisfying than the one we were hoping for. Lent is a time to see the possibilities of grace. The temptations are always there, but the trust we should have in God should be stronger than the temptations --the lesson of today's Gospel.

Another Sign of the Passing of the Old Korea

On a visit to one of the families in the mission station a few days ago the discussion turned to the genealogical records of the family.The grandfather brought me the register of the clan, a record of the family going back into the past for hundreds of years. This register, rather expensive, is republished every thirty years or so with new additions. The old Koreans are proud of their family history, and all that it means for family and country-- a precious heirloom.

The grandfather talking about his own family made it clear that because of globalization and intermarriage with foreigners elements of Korean history are disappearing. The young Koreans are not interested in old Korea, so it will not be long before genealogical records are a foot note of history. All this he said with a very matter of fact tone of voice, little emotion.

The feeling of older Koreans for the ancestors is not only with words, they have records they can check, names, achievements of the ancestors which makes for a family spirit that is difficult to appreciate for a non-Korean. When they have the rites for the ancestors they not only remember ancestors, but have names and locations on the map that give life to the past. This gives meaning to the rites they perform at least twice a year.

Attachment to their family history is a sign of their love of country along with the love for ancestors. They meet regularly with members of the clan to discuss their relationship and what has happened since their last meeting. They add new names to the lists, and although women did not appear in the registers in the past the names of female family often appeared now.

Not having any real knowledge of what is entailed in these histories my understanding would be that those who have nobility of some sort in their pedigree would have a register. There are over 250 surnames, and each surname may have many different clans depending from what part of Korea the first ancestors lived. To have a register means that you have a known pedigree. In the old days this register would be extremely important for you were not to marry a member of your own clan, and many would like to check the pedigree of the new possible family member. This has only changed in recent years, and it shows the importance of these family records in Korean history. The pedigree in many cases is now determined by something much more concrete and visual.

Many of the more traditional Koreans see this lack of interest in genealogical records as a slippery sloop to democratization of all Korean life. For many it is painful to see the love of the culture, love of language and their history eroding. Reaction of the children to their own history is easily seen by the elders. Globalization and the multiculturalism of modern times is destroying the homogeneity of the once proud Korean Culture. Efforts will be made to keep the good and minimize the bad, but the direction in which Korean society has started to move will not be derailed, and the young Koreans are the harbingers of this new world.

Not Able To Hear The Small Voice Within

Many hear the call of the wilderness, the call of silence. Mother Teresa of Calcutta affirmed: "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees, flowers, grass--grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.... We need silence to be able to touch souls." These thoughts are not unique to Christianity, but known by different cultures and religions; the response of many, " it didn't work, I tried it."

A woman writing for the The Catholic Times answered that call for silence. She rented a house of a friend; left the noisy city of Seoul, and went to the country for some peace and quiet. On arriving she felt like a camel seeing an oasis in the desert. The mind was relaxed and all was well.

That evening the silence was so pronounced she could not sleep. She turned on a music radio station, and finally went to sleep the following morning with the chirping of the birds. She left the city for peace and silence of the country, and was forced to return to the noise of the city. She changed the location but she wasn't able to leave the noise and 'give and take' of city life. It was her addiction.

She remembered, at a younger age, walking at night under a full moon enjoying the quiet peace. At the ocean she would sit on a rock overlooking the great expanse, and for hours be lost in deep silence. What happened to that independence she once enjoyed?

Imperceptibly she had become addicted to the noisy city life. She was caught in the grip of technological advances in communication: she walked with a receiver in her ear; she needed her hand phone to feel at home and if forgotten felt restless; she had to find the latest news on the Internet. Her eyes and ears where always tuned to something outside of herself. She no longer had time for her inner life.

For Christians the problem with this addiction is we no longer have the silence in our hearts that enables us to hear the whisperings of God. We are turned on to what is outside of us; we don't have time to turn within. Bombarded with all kinds of sounds we miss the " tiny whispering sound" that gives life and joy.

Nothing Is Small With Matters Of The Heart

How to address God among Korean Christians is an area where we do not agree. The Protestants want to use the word Hananim "God who is One" (하나님), the Catholics and Anglicans prefer the Haneunim "God of Heaven"(하느님). Protestants think the word "God of Heaven" would not make clear the monotheistic position of Christianity-- the one and only God.


In 1971 the Scholars on both sides translated the Bible from the original languages in a common translation. They decided to use the Korean word "Haneunim". The majority of the Protestants did not like the choice, so the Common Bible was used mostly by Catholics until the Catholics decided to translate their own Bible. Not only doctrinal points separate the Protestants from the Catholics but even how to address God has the possibility of dividing Christianity.


Catholics did have problems with the lay out of the Bible because there was a section which was called the deuterocanonical (books in the Septuagint Greek Old Testament--but not in the Hebrew). The Jews in Egypt translated the Scriptures into Greek before the time of Christ. This is called the Septuagint, the book the early Christians used. The New Testament is the same for Catholics and Protestants,but the Catholics accept all the books in the Septuagint and the Protestants decided to accept what the Jewish leaders declared to be their official canon of Scripture after the destruction of the Jewish Temple. This eliminated seven books of the Septuagint: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and parts of Esther and Daniel.

Catholics and Protestants working together to publish a Korean Bible both groups could accept was a great ecumenical step. A sign of what was possible and gave hope for more progress in this area, but it was not to be. The translation was from the Hebrew Masorectic Text and the name chosen for God was just too much for the majority of the Protestants to accept. It does indicate how difficult rapprochement is despite efforts being made by both sides to overcome the difficulties.