Times of Difficulty for Catholicism

On pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, one of our Diocesan priests was walking alone when he saw a girl waiting for a group to join. They started walking together and he introduced himself as a priest to put her at ease. She called him by his first name, which was Peter. Every time she introduced him to others, it was always Peter from Korea. On his return to Korea, he mentioned to some Irish priests about meeting this girl and was told that in Ireland, because of the sexual scandal, the trust the Irish previously had towards priests has greatly diminished. .

The priest, in a bulletin written for Korean priests, had a great deal to say about this issue in Korea in comparison both to what it was a few years ago and to what exists in other countries.

A priest who lives in the Netherlands, told him he no longer introduces himself as a priest. Even in the States, where priests were respected for years, bishops and priests don't feel the same walking in their clericals. The sexual scandals have changed the environment for all Catholic clergy. China and Russian and other countries under communist rule, because of their indoctrination, have never been friendly to the clergy. Religion was seen as the opium of the people and priests lived, as they saw it, by exploiting this deception.

Another priest mentioned going to the American Embassy for a visa and being given a rather difficult time during the questioning by a young woman employee. He had mentioned he was a Catholic priest; with a sarcastic look on her face, she said: " Do you want me to believe all priests are to be trusted?"

In the world today--outside of Korea, the Philippines, Africa and South America--there are few countries, besides the poorer ones, where the priest would receive respect because of his position.

Korea, however, is a country where priests still receive this respect. Financially, in comparison to many other Catholic countries, Korea treats their priests with great generosity. In 1980 a survey was taken on what occupations in our society the Koreans found most trustworthy, Catholic priests were listed as number one. This is no longer true, according to the priest; Buddhism is ready to ready to take the Church's place.

In Korea Americans and Westerners are still respected. Koreans have accepted the culture and religion from the West and their missionaries. Elder priests, especially, have helped to set a good example. During the years of totalitarian rule many of the priests went to prison for protesting the repressive regime when many citizens found it difficult to speak out. This speaking out for justice and truth has remained in the hearts of Koreans.

Overall, religion is greatly respected by an overwhelming majority of Koreans. One of the reasons is the history of the Catholic Church in Korea. A great deal of suffering and sacrifice were necessary to maintain one's faith during those early years. This is still a vivid memory of our Catholics; hard to imagine that this will change, but public opinion is not easy to determine.

Called To Expand Our Vision

A Maryknoller writing in a bulletin for priests recounts the incident that happened when he arrived in Korea back in 1969. He was a blue-eyed foreigner, which drew the interest of many. Staring at him, a child asked, "How does the world look to you with those blue eyes?" The missioner never forgot the question, and the question he asked himself in response: How do others see this world that I am in and see as my world?

The missioner left the States and a culture he knew well, and soon found himself confronting a new reality faced daily by Koreans. He feels that he has been called to view the difficulties of the Korean reality with a broader angle of vision than he had in the past.

He has worked with workers and refugees, has seen the difficult living and working conditions, and now shares their viewpoint. A few years later he was involved with abolishing the old family headship system, with its paternalism and authoritarianism, that began under Japanese rule, and became interested in the partnership system of leadership. With the spread of American military forces in different parts of the world, he became interested in the movements for peace. And his interests continued to expand to include working for the health of the ecology, as it became evident that the environment was being systematically destroyed by our short-sighted drive for development.

The Maryknoller feels we are all called to broaden our understanding of what is possible. Our Lord has shown us how by his own life. A sign of the mature person, one who has broadened the range of what is possible, who has, he feels, this expansive vision, is the person who is able to love and show compassion.

A child starts with concern only for itself but gradually becomes interested in the immediate surroundings, the family, the school, the neighbor. As the child matures, interest soon widens to include one's country and religion, and, in time, expands even further to include other countries, other religions, and all of God's creation.

In the Beatitudes Jesus asks us to get rid of some of our common sense beliefs and expand our vision to the unseen world. He invites us to read the scriptures with a new eye. The Maryknoller has made this journey and found it liberating. He is asking us to rid ourselves of our narcissim and begin to reach out with compassion and love--to see life anew.

In the recent Pastoral Bulletin, a priest reminisced on his days in grammar school and the times he refused to eat rice cakes. It was the custom when there was a family ceremony in the village to offer a dish of rice cakes to the neighboring households. Since the priest's mother was an old Catholic, she would refuse the cakes that came from shamanistic practices or from ancestral memorial service rites. Even at school he would tell his friends, "Our house goes to the Catholic Church; we don't eat that kind of rice cake."

As a boy he was very much interested in what was done at these services and would ask his non-Catholic friends for information. This interest remained with him even when he entered the seminary, became a priest, and went on to Rome for studies.

During his studies, he took an interest in inculuration and did a lot of reading and translating in this area. On his return from studies, he taught in the seminary and continued with this interest and was happy when the Church approved the rites for the ancestors.

However, he mentions a number of problems with the ceremony. In many families, when they hear that others are having the rites for the ancestors, there is often bickering. The Church has said the rites are good, but it has not said that you have to have these rites for the dead. It is here that we have misunderstandings. Some take it so literally that they want to go to the Confucian books to find the correct way to set up the table, what foods to prepare, and how to bow.

The priest reminds us that the Church has not given permission for the Confucian rites. When we have a rite according to the Confucian world view, these views are different from our own, and we are bound to have problems. Inculuration is important but there should be much thought given to what we are doing, and the Church should have guidelines for what is permissible.

And there are such guidelines on what may and may not be done. Over the years, however, the guidelines tend to be forgotten, or we lose interest and simply go along with what others are doing. The Catholic view of the afterlife is different from the Confucian, and without making allowances for these differences our understanding is bound to be affected in some very important areas of daily life: suffering, moral principles, beliefs, relationships, views on material goods, dealing with crises, death, and appreciating the beauty of the life. These are all important issues and how they are understood will affect our value system as followers of Christ; this could be changed by what we do in the rites for the dead.

Go For Broke-- All or Nothing Syndrome

In an essay in the daily newspaper, a Korean in the States gives her opinion on the reason why Koreans become addicted to games and cosmetic surgery. She feels Koreans enjoy competition and want to be number one.

This desire to succeed in competition has enabled Korea to achieve much in such a short time. It is one of Korean's noble traits, and this desire permeates all of society. Parents have great expectations for their children, which also makes for much unhappiness.

When children are online and game-playing with their rivals, they see the points registering and this stimulates their desire to succeed and gives them a great sense of satisfaction.

Over half of Korean children want to be in the entertainment world. They know the exhilaration that comes with holding a microphone in hand and experiencing the adulation of their classmates.

The writer mentions that a friend, teaching in an academy in Korea, told her most of the girls wanted to be stewardesses because they were considered beautiful. These young girls knew that beauty gave them power.

Why is it that women, and now more frequently men, are frequenting the cosmetic surgery hospitals for a change of face and even for a change of body? Is it not because of the intense competition that we now have in society?

She mentions her own competitive drive. She was a well-paid lawyer in a big company but gave it up to become a writer. She looks back and sees it as something she did without a great deal of thought.Her son discovered hundreds of letters of rejection from her publishers. It took her 11 years before her first novel was accepted. She is doing something, however, that she enjoys.

The Korean temperament thrives on competition: winning is all important, and is the main reason, she believes, there is so much unhappiness among the children.

She wonders how this competitive climate might be changed, and proposes that there be more opportunities to succeed outside of studies. She doesn't think there is a need for more opportunities to have more star athletes, more famous musicians, more successful entrepreneurs. She hopes that more will see the beauty of life and look for the opportunity to experience failure and success in other areas of life.

Her thoughtful commentary was refreshing to read. The "All or nothing" attitude that she feels best describes our young people is bound to frustrate many--few ever become number one.

Growth In Faith Not Always a Given

Ranking Christians in some kind of order is not an easy undertaking, but one of the columnists in the Catholic Times did make the attempt, and although such a ranking has no objective basis, there were some interesting observations.

Sampling some Catholics in his neighborhood, the columnist assessed the quality of life after baptism, designating that life as one of four types: A, B, C, and D. He looks on the life after baptism as a continuum looking for blessings, the period of trial, and maturity.


Type A Catholic is one who is faithful to his duties, gives generously to the Church, and then suddenly stops practicing the Faith. His sample Catholic had a son who was not accepted in the university. This Christian is looking for blessings. When they don't come, his response is to leave the Church. The columnist finds this Type not insignificant in the makeup of our Catholics.

Type B Catholic was practicing for about 10 years but a couple of years ago started to miss Mass, giving as his reasons: work and hobbies, the priest's sermons were of little help, those working in different service areas of the Church were, he thought, arrogant, and he didn't care for them. He calls these Catholics Nylon Christians. They have problems with the way the Church is run and not interested in having a deeper relationship with God.

Type C Catholic was a woman who was devoted to her faith life and did a great deal of volunteer work in the parish but had little time for prayer and study of the Bible in the home. Mass was just an obligation and when problems came, she prayed, but rarely found consolation and peace in her life.

Type D Catholic was a man the columnist met during his Legion of Mary's work. Always concerned for the other and willing to give a helping hand; he was an outstanding example of a mature Catholic. At one time, everything, he owned was burned in a fire. His neighbors and friends were speechless at his misfortune. But he went to our Lord with this burden and found the strength to start over again, and now has no financial problems. He has faults but is considered saintly. .

The columnist feels that we have to cooperate with God's grace by upgrading our faith life. There are plenty of opportunities to do this: programs in Scripture studies, charismatic renewal programs, M.E weekends, Cursillos and countless other programs. God gives his gifts in the present; we miss opportunities by putting off what we should be doing now.

Life Of Blind Starting to Change

In Korea like any society, there are many who are not able to partake of the good life. The Peace Weekly, in a recent article on some who are having a difficult time coping, told the story of a woman who was born blind and was left in front of a hospital shortly after birth. Now 30 years old, she is in school studying music.

She was in the orphanage attached to the hospital until the age of 7 and then transferred to the school for the blind. She tells us: " I was lonely and wanted to talk to others about my situation, but I kept it to myself even during the years of puberty. I have a grudge against my parents. However, there must have been a reason for them to hand me over to the hospital. They got rid of me, but I want to forgive them."

She graduated from high school at no expense because of a government subsidy which also pays for her current music studies, but leaves nothing for her use.

In order to earn some money for her living expenses she has worked in massage parlors but most of them are places for sex. Only the blind are legally permitted to give massages, but the restriction is often not taken seriously.

When she got chubby, she was fired and then decided to work in the field of music. She's been told she has talent but living in a culture that is not very understanding of the handicapped, she often is frustrated by the responses she gets when she expresses her desire for a career in music. There are signs that this unfortunate situation is changing: we will soon have our first blind lawyer in Korea.

The Japanese, by training the blind to practice medical massage, were instrumental in opening the way for the blind in Korea to work in this area. This has now spread to other parts of the world. The blind make good masseurs; it is a shame that the image of the massage parlor is no longer what it was.

An Jung-geun Not Only Patriot But Saint?

The Seoul Diocese will begin the process to canonize An Jung-geun (1879-1910). This was made known at a press forum at the beginning of the month by the auxiliary bishop of Seoul. The long process of looking into the life of the patriot to see what his faith meant in his efforts for justice and peace will take time, but it should bring an appreciation of Patriot An to more Koreans. He will then take his rightful place in the Catholic Church's understanding of one of their very spiritual members.

In 1993, Cardinal Kim of Seoul made it clear that what An Jung-geun did in killing Ito could be seen as righteous self-defense. Cardinal Chong, speaking at a memorial Mass celebrating the 100th anniversary of the death of the patriot, emphasized the spirituality of the patriot: “Thomas An was a devoted Catholic and we cannot understand his life without his faith. That’s why we celebrate this Mass remembering his death."

China has always seen An as a patriot, believing the killing of Ito not a grudge killing but an effort to find peace. It is surprising how long it took Korea to understand the motivation of the patriot. His decision came only after much soul-searching, and was prompted by what he understood as his faith commitment to Jesus. Part of the reason for the long delay in appreciating Patriot An's actions was the Catholic Church's collaboration with the Japanese during those years.

His fight against imperialism was not only for Korea but for peace in East Asia. He was a true patriot, an independent freedom fighter who took upon himself the effort of doing something that others found hopeless. A great deal of information is available on what motivated him. He knew the stories of other fighters for independence in other countries, which prompted him to return to Korea and work for peace not only with Japan but throughout Asia. The canonization process that is beginning will help us to understand how difficult it is for a person to do what he feels is right when many in the society of his time did not have his vision, courage and commitment.