Accountability and Evaluation in the Church

In a small country town, a church association of men between the  ages 40 and 50 meet regularly to direct  the functions of the parish. Named after the first Korean martyr, the association has been a great help to the Church. Besides the work of the Church, they often get together to eat and drink; so much so that the families of a few of the members complained because they stayed out late to drink, neglecting their families.

Frequently, the group would get together to fraternize without  any special purpose. When a parish event or finances were involved, there would be good attendance and lively discussion. However, when it  came to Gospel values or their mission as Christians, they said little. The place of the Church in the greater society and what the signs of the times demanded of them were not part of their discussions. A priest from the diocese deals with this problem in the bulletin for priests this month.

This past autumn  they had their parish field day;  they used the  neighboring grammar school grounds. The men's group took responsibility for the event and did a good job. It was the men who were involved, the women and the older people were mostly spectators. And again this year there were complaints for making too much noise with the speakers.  At the end of the day they got together for a meal and drinks.  There was a great deal of talking about what happened but no critique of what they did or what changes would be necessary for the future. Rarely would there be an evaluation of any event to improve if for the next time.

It is  good to have a successful event and to enjoy it, but at the same time it's important to see if the religious purposes  have been accomplished: To see what was boring, what was well done, what has to be changed. Were all able to participate? Did they leave any  out  at the event? Did all behave in the proper way during the event?

Although the Church has many events and activities, the writer feels  we have little evaluation to determine how successful they have been.  It is for this reason that despite the events and activities their effect on faith life, on our way of living, and on our society has been negligible. There is a need to have programs to alert us to what the possibilities are, to see and learn from others. Instead, we listen and do what we are told and follow age-old habits--that's easy. But gathering those involved, examining what was done with new eyes, evaluating and being accountable--that  does not come easy.

Dippping Into History Unwisely

Occasionally, we hear of people dipping into history to persuade others of the correctness of their position. Surprisingly, this has been attempted in a recent article in a Catholic publication discussing the invasion of Korea by the Japnanese in 1592. Such articles, often seen in the West but in Catholic matters rare in Korea, are usually attempting to ridicule the actions of those who are "conservative" in thinking.

History is filled with serious failings of Catholicism to live up to the teachings of Jesus. This is a fact no one wants to deny, but at the same time it is necessary to see the context of that history in order to make a fairer judgment on what happened; not to white wash but to make sense of what was done.

The article mentions that  in the invasion of Korea in the Imjin War under Hideyoshi, one of the Generals, Konishi Yukinaga, the first General to enter Korea, was a Catholic with a large force of Catholic troops. He was an 'outstanding lay person' (said in an effort to emphasize the point being made) and important enough to ask the Jesuit superior in Japan to send him a chaplain for the troops. The Spanish Jesuit Gregorio de Cespedes (1551-1611) was sent, the first European attested to in history to have set foot on Korean soil.

The article mentions that at the height of the invasion there would be more than 2,000 soldiers attending  Mass each evening. In later years, when Konishi  returned to Japan, he was Catholic enough to refuse to commit suicide after being defeated in battle and was willing to accept the humiliation that came with his refusal, which was worse than death.  He finally was decapitated.

Konishi  was a  very zealous layperson, who during the daytime  would be out slaughtering  the innocent Koreans and in the evening going to Mass. There was also a quote to this effect from a popular historical  novel of recent  times. The article admitted that few today would see him as an example of what a Christian should be. It was not the likes of Konishi that brought the faith to Korea, the article goes on to say,  but  young scholars who went to the poor with  open hearts.

The point is  that here we have a very zealous Japanese  layperson following the Church's teachings and yet killing thousands of innocent Koreans. There must be a better way of making this point without going back into history, forgetting  the context and  cultural values of the time, and using a person's Catholicism to show 'hypocrisy'.                                                        

Many  of us do not live up to the teachings of Christ even though  in our daily lives we try to follow what our religion teaches. Most often our thinking is influenced by the cultural values of our society. There is no need to  go back into history to find examples of this; we have plenty of them in our own day, which clearly show  a failure of religious maturity,  of understanding  and a weakness of character. We can be seen as hypocrites by those who are not seeing the effects of  culture, life styles and values  on our thinking and actions. It is not honest to dip into history, without seeing history in context, to find examples to revile those who are trying to live what they deem to be the guidance of  their conscience in today's world.


 
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A Korean Parish for the Blind

A sure sign that the Korean Catholic Church is  on the side of the marginalized is the latest  effort of the Seoul Diocese to start a parish for the visually impaired. This is the second parish in Korea that will be exclusively for the handicapped, the first, a  parish for the deaf  in the Incheon diocese.

The Seoul Diocese did have  programs for the blind, and a place where they met on Sundays. 500 were registered at the mission, and on  Sundays about 100 attended. It was served by diocesan priests who would take turns saying Mass at their  auditorium.

An editorial in the Peace Weekly mentions how difficult it is for the blind  to live their faith life. The Church has given them the opportunity of offering Mass and studying the catechism, but there was always something missing, lilke not having their their own pastor, and priests would have little time to spend with them because of their other duties. The new parish will change all that and be a catalyst in the pastoral care of  the handicapped.

The registers of the  Catholics will be at the new parish, helping  to form this new  communty. A priest will always be with the community, giving it life, with plenty of time for the members to interact, and accessing  the sacramental life with less rushing. 

The ideal would be to have the handicapped associate with the  non-handicapped in the areas where they live,  but the parishes are not equipped for this role so it was decided to have the  handicapped together in the same parish. They will then  relate easily with other community members and feel less alienated than they would be in a territorial parish. The priest Director of Culture and Information feels that this will encourage the diocese to become more involved in other special pastoral endeavors in the diocese.

Faith Is Not in Externals

In the Catholic Times, a columnist discusses the problem which can arise when some spend too much time in prayer, too much time in  service to others, and filling their  homes with religious articles. They  can become so infatuated with a desire to experience God that they can be a disruptive influence on members of their family, and often turn them against religion. If it goes to an extreme, it becomes a religious delusion.

In these cases, they need medical help; with the proper medicine, they can find peace again but the underlying cause remains, a blindness that can return to rupture the relation they have with family and friends.

They mention that in their prayers and dreams, they often experience God. From such experiences, they try to live their lives. Faith  experiences, are very personal, they are  beyond our  ability to verbalize them or even categorize what was experienced.  The writer mentioned that he has visited with a couple of people who thought they were God, having received a message in their dreams. When he meets them, he asks if they are faithfully taking their medicine. They have told the doctors, but since the doctors don't believe them, they mention it to the columnist in a whisper. They say that they have not made this known but everybody in the hospital knows.

Belief is not something one understands only as an experience. What is experienced is not the totality of faith. We know this to be true for the disciples, who experienced our Lord right up until his death on the cross, and yet were without faith. If we are to have a healthy experience, it is necessary to have a correct faith life.

When we have the correct life of faith, we are able to understand  God correctly. When we have the proper relationship with God, we have the proper relationship with ourselves, with family and with others. It allows us to see ourselves as we are: joyful, humble, and knowing the meaning of life. It is this mature faith that allows us to have joy in our lives and to bring this joy to others.

Korean Catholic Attempt at Theater

The Catholic Church of Korea in recent years has been trying to get more involved in the cultural aspects of the country, and one important aspect of  culture is the theater. A priest from Jeju-do has started a theater company and is presently preparing the script for his forthcoming play on the life of Cardinal Kim, " Cardinal A Fool."  It will be presented at the end of the month to commemorate the second anniversary of the Cardinal's death on Feb. 16.

The company was started in 2008, with the musical on the life of St. Paul: "Imago Dei" (lmage of God). It had a successful run with over 126 performances and over 27,000 spectators. Their second production, "He Gave his  Heart," enacted the life of St. John Vianney. This production went to 80 parishes, with 135 performances and 35,000 spectators, a response beyond the world of the Catholics.

On the company's first anniversary, the priest founder mentioned the difficulties of starting a theater company in Korea:  Catholics were skeptical, some not knowing that the play was being performed in their parish, his fellow priests offering little or no encouragement, and the members of his team disappointed by the  lack of interest. The priest and his team, however, are not put off by this general disinterest; they feel that the Church needs their entry into the theater culture of Korea, to provide another voice in spreading the Gospel.

The problems they will encounter will be many. The finances necessary to put together a team to stage one of these productions is staggering. But it's obvious, also, that those willing to get involved in this kind of enterprise are seeing the benefits for the Church, which empowers them to put up with a great deal of misunderstandings and non-cooperation. The Korean Church has progressed to where she can think of other ways  to proclaim the  message. And efforts in music, literature and theater have begun. The hope is that these cultural excursions of the Church will bear fruit, and in time be a force for good in our society.

Endeavoring to Change Eating Habits

The recent foot-and-mouth problem in Korea has results not easily seen by the non-effected observer; for those affected the pain has been great: many Catholics in certain dioceses canceling their Marriage Encounter and Cursillo programs, their retreats and meetings. People would not go to Church to prevent the spread of this highly infectious disease, though rarely affecting humans; we can be carriers. For New Years many would not have relatives come to their homes. It was not like the New Years of the past.

Even those not directly affected couldn't  sell their animals, and money was hard to come by. Seeing the animals buried alive was especially difficult. Some even left the homestead to go with their sons and daughters to the city to forget their troubles. Many of the villages were in mourning, very much like mourning a death in the family--and it's not over yet. 

This was the worst outbreak of the disease in Korean history. In the papers, we hear daily about the possibility of  contaminating the ground water supply because of the burial of so many animals. One bishop, in his pastoral letter, asked his diocese to be concerned for the problems of the farmers and to remember them in their prayers. Compensation from the government is slow; without it the living conditions of the effected farmers, already difficult, becomes worse. The pain of even one farmer, said the bishop in the pastoral, is the pain of all.

Also mentioned were the additional problems that have come along with factory-farming, which has evolved to keep up with our current eating habits. We are eating meat, as if we're eating rice. And raising more livestock than ever before to feed this runaway habit.  As more animals are bred and raised in ever more confining spaces, and given unnatural feed, we are not only inviting the onset and spread of the disease, but also destroying the environment.

In the Catholic papers, we hear a great deal about the need of Koreans to change their eating habits. Back 30 or 40 years ago Koreans would have meat on the big holidays, once or twice a year, but this has all changed; they probably consume more meat now than Americans.

This past week five religious group got together to talk about the problem, concluding that the present diet is bad for our health, and that there has to be a change in eating habits. They pointed out that the raising of livestock requires more water and energy than does the growing of grains, and decided to initiate a network that will help spread a more healthful habit of eating.

Their plan: eat more vegetables than meat, and when eating meat choose pasture-raised animals. Eat vegetables that are organically grown, and eat with no waste.  If we change our way of eating to more sensible, healthful, eco-friendly meals, the world will soon change, providing us with a sensible, health promoting, sustainable food supply.

The Catholic Church and the Internet

The Internet is changing the world, says the priest responsible for public relations in the diocese of Chunchon. Writing an article in our weekly bulletin, he asks if it's possible to live without the internet. Excepting those who are not experienced with, or do not use, the internet, most would be far from negative about this electronic marvel. It has for some time now influenced the way many of us live.

The Internet was first developed for the military. During the cold war the US Defense Department, assuming the worst about the Russian military buildup, believed they needed a reliable network system, which turned out to be the computer. From the military it moved into the  educational system, to facilitate non-profit research. and then in 1990 the business world took an interest, increasing the ways it could be used, and soon it became a necessary part of every day life.

The internet, having started in the military and having made its way within a few years into an estimated 1.9 billion homes (and growing at about 12 percent a year, an indication of its importance in today's world) is a great blessing. The Church, recognizing this fact, asks that we take an interest in this revolutionary medium of communication. 

From the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (#10): "Religious people, as concerned members of the larger Internet audience, who also have legitimate particular interests of their own, wish to be part of the process that guides the future development of this new medium. It goes without saying that this will sometimes require them to adjust their own thinking and practice. It is important, too, that people at all levels of the Church use the Internet creatively to meet their responsibilities and help fulfill the Church's mission. Hanging back timidly from fear of technology or for some other reason is not acceptable, in view of the very many positive possibilities of the Internet. “Methods of facilitating communication and dialogue among her own members can strengthen the bonds of unity between them. Immediate access to information makes it possible for [the Church] to deepen her dialogue with the contemporary world...The Church can more readily inform the world of her beliefs and explain the reasons for her stance on any given issue or event. She can hear more clearly the voice of public opinion, and enter  a continuous discussion with the world around her, thus involving herself more immediately in the common search for solutions to humanity's many pressing problems.”

To make full use of this new medium, the priest says that we have to be able to accept the societal changes that have come along with the medium. The priest makes two distinctions. First, it's not a one-way transmission of information but a mutual exchange; whether one is young or old is immaterial, all can  participate. Second, the internet erases the usual constraints of time and space. We can in seconds give many pages of information to others on the other side of the world, and develop a relationship  with anyone anywhere in the world--that alone is an amazing achievement.

As we become users of the internet, it's useful to keep in mind the words of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication. We, as religious people, whenever possible, should be intent on using the many communication features of the internet--whether blogging, emailing, or  by any other means of communication--to be in touch with like-minded people in order to strengthen the bonds of unity between us, and between all peoples.