Muslims in Korea

A priest-professor of patristics (the study of the early Christian writers) at the Catholic University and guest columnist in the Catholic Times this week, reflects on the death of Bin Laden and how his death was received in different parts of the world. He noted that his death was greatly cheered, not surprisingly, in the United States as a victory for justice.

Here in Korea, much of the press were clearly excited and not suppressing their joy that "the darkness was not able to overcome the light." The professor quotes Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Pope's press spokesman, who said that Osama bin Laden was responsible for promoting division and hatred among people, causing the death of many innocent lives and exploiting religions. However, a Christian never rejoices at the death of anyone, he said, but should reflect on the serious responsibility that bin Laden had before God; we should also think deeply on this responsibility ourselves.

Because of bin Laden many think that Islam is a hothouse for terrorists, some even seeing the Crusades as a Christian jihad, a holy war against non-Christians similar to the terrorist activities of the extreme Islamist of today. The Pew Research Center has reported that 23 percent of the world's population is  Muslim. Knowing this, can we continue to say that Muslims are terrorists?

In Korea there are currently 130,000-140,000 Muslims, and of that number about 45,000 are native-born Koreans. We should be careful of the way we think of our Muslim Koreans, many of whom, simply because of their religion, have been harassed and made to feel like outsiders. We have many different nationalities and religions living together in Korea so we should try to understand and share our different cultures.  
Islam and its culture entered Korea during the 13th and 14th centuries. During the Koryo period there was already a thriving community of Muslims with their own culture, and language. At a public ceremony in the time of King Sejong, the Muslims were present, reading parts of the Koran and wishing the King good health. But gradually during the ascendancy of Confucianism in Korea, Islam died out. 

The professor reminds us that we have been living with other people and other religions in our country for a long time. And we should not, without justifiable reasons, criticize others even though their way of life appears strange to us. We should instead try to find the  common elements that unite us. 

Pope Benedict tells us that the commandment of love is what should unite us with the Muslims. They are my brothers and sisters, and they should not be seen as terrorists. The professor, summing up his reflections, asks:  Isn't it often true that we make others terrorists by the way we treat them, by our prejudice and distorted views, and by the violence we use against them?

Aromatherapy in Korea

The guest columnist in the Catholic Times starts his article by telling us that God made everything out of nothing but humans have also made many things. Those with a religion do not take objection to what God has made because of our faith life. However, what humans have made we should not just take as presented but examine it  to judge on its  goodness or not.

Often we mix the two of them, he says. To accept what we have made without any study or verification is not to act wisely.

Plant life was given to us as a gift  for our sustenance. It is not only for our daily  food,
but for our mental and bodily healing. The abundance and beauty of nature, oxygen, ions  etc. the gifts we have received from God are awesome. It is our task to protect and use these gifts. To  use them  in excess and to abuse them is to go against the will of God. These days in the medical world instead of using the word substituting which can be misunderstood the word complementing is more often used. In recent times  we often hear the word Aromatherapy, horticultural therapy, forest bathing, ions and Phytoncides  as a scientifically verified way of complementing the use of   plant life  used for  therapy. It is a method of therapy that uses a small amount of essential oils from plants.

We find some of these aromatic plants recorded in the Scriptures: frankincense, hyssop, coriander, rose flower, cypress, peppermint, juniper,  cinnamon etc. Over 2000 years ago these aromatic plants had various uses in daily life. In the very first civilizations of the world  we have aromatic plants being used for healing.

Whether this use came from instinct or the healing of animals who ate plants we don't know, but from experience and study plants were used as a means of healing. The use of some of these aromatic plants were also used in religious rites from the beginning of history.

In the middle ages in the Church and monasteries this plant therapy was used. From the times of the Crusades what was used in the Arab World was brought to Europe. The trade  between East and West also introduced many herbs and medicinal plants to the West, Arabic medicine, distillation and other methods were introduced. At that time in Europe bathing was not a frequent event and to cover the body odors this whole world of perfumes began to develop.

The modern scientific study began with Rene-Maurice Gattefosse (1881-1950). He is regarded as the Father of Aromatherapy and the inventor of the word. His studies gave scientific plausibility to the use of essential oils in the healing of wounds, antiseptic,
sterilization, anti-virus, anti-inflammatory, burns, skin rejuvenation, mental therapy, cosmetics and more. In France the government has recognized this method of treatment.

In Korea since the middle of the 1990's there has been an interest in the field of aromatherapy. Study is continuing and it is expanding and very active.

Celebrating the 50th Anniversay of the Inchon Diocese

This year, on June 6, the diocese of Inchon will be celebrating its 50th  year of independence from Seoul, as a Vicariate Apostolic and, in the following year, as a diocese.  An  article in the Catholic Times on the Cathedral Parish of Inchon, Tap Dong, says the Cathedral was the primer for the diocese. The cathedral, built at the end of the 19th century and overlooking the Inchon harbor, is considered the gateway to Seoul.

The final documents of the Inchon Synod give a brief history of evangelization in the diocese.The facts are not easy to find, but it is surmised that since Lee Seung-hoon (the first  baptized Catholic ) and Whang Sa-yong (the writer of the Silk Letter) were active in the early Church, the gospel spread rather early in Inchon and Kangwha. And since there are many martyrs who were born, or at least resided in Inchon, we know that Catholics were living there during the persecution.

The Chemulpo parish, now the Tap Dong Cathedral parish, was the first parish of Inchon, established in 1889. With the Korea-France Treaty of 1886, missionaries were allowed to come to Korea and to Inchon to construct rectories and churches. With the increase of Catholics in October of 1958, Inchon became a separate deanery of the vicariate apostolic of  Seoul, which was entrusted to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. On June 6, 1961, Pope John XXIII made Inchon a vicariate apostolic, separating it from Seoul.

On March 10, 1962, all the vicariates became dioceses. Today there are no longer any foreign ordinaries, all is in the hands of the Korean Church. Inchon began its own diocesan major seminary to train seminarians  for the diocesan  priesthood, as well as to form future missioners for North Korea.

The Cathedral is considered a national treasure and there are plans with the city to set aside an area around the Cathedral for a park and exhibition hall. The present pastor of the Cathedral  parish says: " Our Catholic community is like a giving tree; it unsparingly takes care of the parish, refreshes and gives rest to all those who participate, no matter how briefly. It also strengthens the faith life of our Christians, both by the beauty of the surroundings and by the example of our community life. We do not have many young people, which is a problem, but the Cathedral parish is trying to make the community a place of joy and peace for all."

Problems with Reproduction in Korea

A professor  emeritus at the Catholic Medical School mentions in his column on the culture of life that 15 percent of married couples are sterile, or over a million couples. During the last 10 years this number has increased almost  four times.

Generally, the male is responsible for the sterile condition about 30 to 40 percent of the time, and the female for about 50 to 60 percent; about 10 percent is unknown. On the women's part, the ovulation phase is mostly the problem and with the man it is the testicles that are not producing sperm or in the numbers necessary.

In recent years the age of marriage is later than in the past, which brings in physiological problems for reproduction. Abortion on the part of women before marriage also plays a part, the professor says.

This problem with sterile couples is a problem for the nation. The government is helping couples with in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to decrease the number of sterile couples. The professor admits to having a strange feeling when he heard that the government was helping those who were not having babies. For a Catholic all that is possible is not always the way to go.

The professor goes on to say that with these artificial means of fertilizing the egg, there are problems: legal, social,  and moral problems  but also medical problems that come with  fertilizing outside the womb and   implanting  the embryo in the uterine wall.

The Catholic Church continues to be concerned with the problems of sterile couples, publishing in 1985 the Instruction on Respect For Human Life In Its Origin And On The Dignity Of Procreation: "Nevertheless, whatever its cause or prognosis, sterility is certainly a difficult trial. The community of believers is called to shed light upon and support the suffering of those who are unable to fulfill their legitimate aspiration to motherhood and fatherhood. Spouses who find themselves in this sad situation are called to find in it an opportunity for  sharing in a particular way in the Lord's Cross, the source of spiritual fruitfulness. Sterile couples much not forget that 'even when procreation is not possible, conjugal life does not for this reason lose its value. Physical sterility, in fact, can be for spouses the occasion for other important services to the life of the human person, for example, adoption, various forms of educational work, and assistance to other families and to poor or handicapped children." (58)

The Church is asking Catholic doctors and the medical  world to find ways of solving the problem of sterile couples that do not include artificial fertilization and fertilization outside the womb. There are, he says, many ways that sterile couples are finding medical help to conceive and this will continue.


 

Life Without Meaning Is Empty

Counting with numbers, both in the East and in the West, makes use of the decimal system. A poet writing for the Catholic Times suggests that we started counting this way because  we have five fingers in each hand, for a total of ten.

Why, he asks, do we have five fingers in each hand and five toes in each foot? Not easy to answer, he says. Is it the  natural order of things or did it happen by chance? There are many other series of fives in life. We have the five physical five senses, and in the East the basis of philosophy is the negative-positive of  the five elements that compose all life: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. He asks what is the meaning of these five? Isn't this meaning hidden from us?

Because we have the five senses, we can go out to the whole universe, he says, and the universe can come to us--by way of these five passageways. However, the poet  prefers to use, instead of the word  passageways, the metaphor of a window, five windows of different colors to express the five  senses. 

Each of the senses has it own sphere of interest. How full of splendor the world the organ of vision sees; it dazzles the eyes; the world of sound, how deep and solemn; the world  of smell, and so on... Even though there  are many sense openings to the world, they come together in a harmony of oneness. Trying to  discover the depth  and different facets of the universe, we are captivated by the worlds our senses bring to our awareness. 

We have received our bodily life from the material substance of the universe, and by accommodating and overcoming the difficulties of this environment we continue to have life and live.

The way we see life forms our attitudes. It is obvious that the whole of life is not only what we can see. We can say that material things are necessary for life, but we can't say that material things are  the whole of life. We can say that depth psychology and its revelations about the unconscious has been able to explain much of our actions. But to say it explains all our actions is clearly preposterous. Life is made up of many different and yet harmonious factors that still elude our understanding.


We are faced with accepting this often mysterious life, with all its difficulties--accepting it with meaning or seeing it without meaning, as essentially empty. You are forced, our poet says, to accept one or the other. If one accepts meaning than with time more meaning appears and with more depth; all will then be seen positively and with hope. Even pain itself will make us see life more completely. On the other hand, seeing life without meaning with time all becomes more meaningless. We end up in the grasp of the god of nihilism from whose hold one has difficulty escaping: the variety of its fascination is numberless.

The writer says that he is just over thirty years old and after many ups and downs he has given the  meaningless position  a kick and withdrew from its embrace, joining the side for meaning. Since then his world  has been a zig zagging path but still keeps going toward light and life.

Political Scenario in North Korea

Last year we learned of the ascendancy of Kim Chong- eun as the new leader of North Korea, ushering in what many believe will be a shared leadership with his father Kim Chong-il. Writing for the Catholic Magazine, a member of the Catholic Bishops Committee for Reconciliation of Peoples leaves us with some thoughts on the implications of this new political scenario in the North.

We are told that the political system will be strengthened but that the chances for discord and complications will also increase.  Setting up new political structures, he says, will entail a generational shift that will very likely  upset many of those who were in power under Kim Chong-il. For there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the writer believes that Kim Chong-eun will have to surmount three difficulties.

First, what will happen if Kim Chong-il, because of his frail health is not able to rule for the next three years? Chong-eun does not have the experience to govern nor has he the chance to grow in the job like his father. And yet, he will have to show that he is capable of running the country.

Secondly, how is he going to strengthen the extreme fragility of the government? For the last 20 years, the North has not been able to solve its economic difficulties, depending on others for survival. In order to eke out a living the citizens have put in place the beginnings of a market economy, which is now flourishing without any government control. This has  made  more evident the weakness of the government's policies, particularly the failure of their economic policy, which has for many years angered the populace. This will be a serious problem for the future.

Thirdly, a potentially major problem is overcoming  the family succession policy of the North. The officials see Kim Chong-eun as too young to govern but have little recourse but to adopt a "what can you do" attitude; the intelligentsia and the middle class are relatively critical, while most of the citizens are merely spectators. They just want enough to eat, and many are not getting enough. Under Chong-eun, things have not gotten any better. This will also be a problem for the future.

With the recent currency reforms in the North, the financial condition has worsened. And the question of food shortages is a serious concern. The government is trying to get countries to send more food, and also allowing the export of goods that in the past were restricted in order to gain foreign exchange, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron and other minerals. It seems clear they don't have the foreign exchange to buy what they need. And even if they do import the food, those who need it the most don't have the money to buy it.

The situation in the North is clearly getting worse, but many say the system that was in place under Kim Chong-il will not change under his son, but will continue for the near future. The long range outlook is that change will have to come, and  South Korea will have to prepare for that eventuality.

May the Month of the Family

A counselor in the family court writes in the Catholic Times about the days in May devoted to family and the way Catholics should look upon these  days.

Children's Day goes back to 1923. The motto at that time was: "Let us be strong and honest children, always loving and helping one another."  The Children's' Charter was drawn up and the day commemorated on May 5th as a national holiday. This year a survey revealed that Korean children, when compared to children in other countries, were considered superior in scholastic performance and study habits. However, in their subjective evaluation of their happiness: (encompassing factors such as health, school, overall satisfaction with life, feeling of belonging, able to accommodate to their surroundings, and feelings of loneliness) they were the lowest on the scale used for OECD countries. The family was selected from among all the factors for happiness as being the most important by the students surveyed.

In Korea Mothers' Day started in 1956 on May 8th; in 1972 it was changed to Parents' Day. The relationship with parents is a strong indication of the happiness of children. If before the age of 18 we have divorce in the family, the thoughts  of suicide are over three times the average for that period of life.
The article mentions the efforts of the World Wide Marriage Encounter Movement  in 1981 to have a day to commemorate marriage. The first celebration of the day in Korea occurred in 1990, receiving the blessing of the Church in 1993 and then spreading to other countries. The National Assembly has taken up the idea and back in 1996 the President and the Cardinal presided at a ceremony proclaiming a Marriage Day. In Korea, the name was eventually changed to Husband and Wife Day, and is listed by that name in the liturgical calendar. 

For the first time in three years the number of marriages in Korea has increased; and the number of divorces has decreased by 5.8 percent. Births in 2010 have increased by 25,100 from the previous year. These are happy statistics for society and for the Church. The writer wants us to look at these positive tendencies in our society and with wisdom  make the efforts to continue in this direction.