Catholic Publishing in Korea

Koreans are not known as great lovers of leisure time reading. Because of their work ethic, leisure time is not readily available and if it were, they would prefer climbing mountains rather than reading books. This poses a problem for the book publishing business and for the Catholic Publishing Corp., the oldest of the Catholic publishers now working in Korea and celebrating this year 125 years of publishing. The editorial in the Catholic Times reminds the Catholic Publishing Corp. that its history of publishing in the Catholic Church of Korea began in 1859 when the fourth Vicar Apostolic of Korea St. Simeon Francois Berneux began printing books in Korea with  a wood block printing press. This makes it their 152th anniversary and not 125th.

Interviewed recently by the Catholic Times, the priest-president laments that although the cultural advances in Korea are breathtaking, Catholics have not kept up by reading and buying books. Which means the more they publish the more they go into debt. However, this will not diminish, he says, their efforts to get Catholics to read. If we look only at the publishing end of the business we are in the red, he says. But when we look at the evangelizing aspects of the work, it is all profit. It is impossible  to evaluate this aspect of the work by the expenditure of money. When someone has a closer relationship to God by reading a book, that can't be quantified with money.

The present concern of the company, he said, is to hire more qualified  editors, find new  publishing projects, and make the infrastructure stronger, which requires bringing in specialists and significantly increasing the payroll. He will begin addressing these needs by sending a good  number of representatives to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.

Another concern he hopes to address is the lack of books for young people. This lack is especially worrisome to him because in a society where God is missing, books for the young are crucially important. He hopes to publish more in this area with a more focused sensitivity to the needs of the young. He  also wants to uncover new writers, and begin to invest in the burgeoning e-book market. 

Both Catholic papers praised the ambitious goals of the company, and looked forward  to seeing the company take a leading position in the publishing world. It would be, it said, an important step toward  cultivating a Catholic culture among our Christians.

Globalization and Neoliberalism

 What is the understanding of the Church concerning the almost daily changes in the world? How should the Church respond to these changes? Just as we are told new wine needs new containers, there needs to be a new understanding of what is going on in our newly globalized world, said one of our Korean bishops in his weekly column on economics.

Globalization is to be seen not only negatively, he said. In matters of finance and culture, countries, when not limited by their borders, are benefited in many good and profitable ways. There can be, among other things, sharing of medical knowledge and economic expertise, along with the flow of monies to the underdeveloped countries from the developed countries. Though the proponents of globalization stress the  positive contributions to the global economy,  opponents stress the  negative side. Money that comes into the marketplace from the wealthier countries can tilt the economic scales against the underdeveloped countries and fuel unlimited competition, which favors the developed countries. This face of globalization, which is often called neoliberalism by the opponents, is the other side of the same coin.

In 1970, the recession circled the world; the movement to counter the recession was neoliberalism with its free markets, relaxing of regulations, and emphasizing property rights and individual initiative. The proponents of this position said  government intervention by any country into the marketplace would do harm to its efficient operation, believing that the unregulated forces of the marketplace   guarantee  economic success for all participants. In their view, the least control is best for a smoothly running marketplace otherwise  governments would be forced to spend more on welfare, encouraging the workforce to lose the  desire to work, fostering social unrest. 

It is this potential for disrupting the labor force in the underdeveloped countries, leading to a depressed economy and unemployment, and further alienating its under payed workers that is overlooked by globalization proponents. say their opponents. The developed countries not only are putting pressure to open all markets to the usual goods but are aggressively forcing the underdeveloped countries to accept advanced technologies and questionable items like genetically modified foods, which can negatively impact traditional methods of farming and manufacturing.

Korea, though not an underdeveloped country, has direct  experience of what it means to deal with the power brokers in the grain market. Grain prices are determined not by the free play of the market, but by the big multinational companies and by investor speculation. Adding to the difficulty experienced by many countries, the world bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) which provides funding do not always have the poor in mind when it comes to  loans. A fact Korea has experience first hand. The bishop emphasized that both sides of  globalization, as seen by proponents and opponents, must be kept in mind if we are to get a valid picture of the current world economy. Perhaps less pressing, but equally important in the long run, is the harm done to the environment, often cited as a side effect of globalization, which occurs when underdeveloped countries adopt industrial and farming methods of the developed countries in efforts to compete with them in the global marketplace.

The bishop concludes with an example which underdeveloped countries, and those who have more than  economic interests at stake, have difficulty understanding. Why did the United States, he asks, refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases?  Many see this as the United States staying on the sidelines because of the harmful effects to their economy that would result from implementing the Protocol provisions. Though no one believes that the poorer countries can solve the climate problem, since their contribution to the problem is almost zero, the US position seems to be content to leave it up to other countries to solve the problem.

The economic realities today are too complicated even  to begin to give a brief, completely understandable picture of what is involved. But what is clear and indisputable are the many misunderstandings and the bitterness the underdeveloped  countries have toward the developed countries, who are, they claim, the sole beneficiaries of globalization. Whether the accusation is deserved or not, it  should be considered worthy of discussion by the developed countries. Korea, being one of these developed countries, with many multinational companies overseas, would do well to point the way to discussing measures that would lessen the misunderstandings and bitterness that now characterize so much of international trade.














 

New Face for the Catholic Diocese of Seoul

Thirty years in preparation, plans for the reconstruction of the Myeong Dong Cathedral have now been finalized. The date for the work to begin, according to the Peace Weekly, is September 16, a day eagerly awaited by all Catholics, as it was by this site's blog of the day, April 7, 2010: "New Face for the Myeong Dong Cathedral."

Although construction plans are primarily concerned with preserving and enhancing the historic character of the Cathedral, several other objectives will be accomplished. The grounds in front of the Cathedral will be transformed into a plaza and park open to all, eliminating the road that now leads up to the Cathedral. Underground parking beneath the plaza-park area will accommodate the present vehicular traffic, which will not be allowed in the vicinity of the Cathedral, and which now poses problems for the structure itself and for the safety of both pedestrians and drivers, especially when crowds gather in front of the Cathedral on Sundays and for special events. Not only will the underground parking remove some of the congestion, it will  also restore the front of the Cathedral to the way it looked in 1900.
                
A long-cherished desire was to have all the diocesan offices, now in different parts of the city, brought together in one building. That will soon be a reality. Another desire soon to be realized when the construction is complete is to have a Cathedral parish with enough space and modern facilities to serve an estimated 2 million Catholics by the time of the forthcoming 200th anniversary of the diocese.
 
The construction will proceed in four stages and will not be completed until 2029. But it will not take that long for the Catholics of the Cathedral diocese to begin envisioning the many benefits they will be enjoying, sometime in the near future.

Cliquishness and exclusiveness, a criticism that the Catholics do not want to hear, is also a driving force behind the new plans for the Cathedral grounds. The area around the Cathedral is  one of the most expensive pieces of property in Korea and opening it up to all the citizens is a visual effort  of the diocese to communicate with the outside community and to dismantle some of the walls that have prevented easy contact with the larger society.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                     

Nothing is Free

Once upon a time, as stories in the olden days often began, there was a king who loved his people and wanted them to live the good life. But how could he best do this, he wondered. He decided to bring together the wisest men of the kingdom, and told them to set down in writing what the the people needed to know to live a life worth living.

Hundreds of sages, after much discussion, put together 12 volumes of wise sayings, and presented them to the king. He told the sages that the people were too busy and had no time to read 12 volumes, and that they should reduce the number of books. After reducing the 12 volumes to one, and presenting it to the king, the sages again were told to reduce it further so the people would be able to quickly understand how to live the good life. After some months of further discussion and deep thought, they came back to the king with one sentence:  "Nothing in the world  is free." Of all the wise sayings that have been passed down to us over the years, the sages found this saying to be the most valuable.

The Desk Columnist  of the Catholic Times wants us to reflect on the wisdom of this parable. In Europe, they say: Only the cheese in the mouse trap is free. We know that in life if  one side gives and the other side only receives, this kind of relationship  does not last long. There has to be a mutual giving and receiving to have the relationship continue. That's why our ancestors' "spirit of mutual help," "exchange of services and labor," and "the bucket and water relationship" have been so important to Korean thinking.

God is always giving, but we have to cooperate with what was received and is being received with our 'yes'. The 'free' gift that Jesus gave us, as a token of his love, came with a cost. The whole idea of grace may be misunderstood if we believe it demands nothing from us. Grace is indeed free and is moving us continually, but we can choose  not to  cooperate, to receive but not to give back. This whole idea of justification (whether by grace or by works) has led to one of the most contentious issues between Protestants and Catholics. It is surprising that we have not been able to overcome this misunderstanding  by what we have experienced in life.

Though the saying that "there is nothing free on the earth" may seem not to be true, since we tend to think that the most valuable things on the earth are free, we would be forgetting that even the seemingly free things we are blessed with on earth are not without cost, as the columnist makes clear. If we have received something, even if it seems free, it involves a debt we have to repay, an exchange  between the giver and the receiver, a relationship expressed by "The way we plant is the way we will reap." A principle we do well in following.

Fan Clubs and Sunday School

There seems to be always somebody looking for reasons why something is not going well. In recent years Sunday school programs have not been doing as well as expected, with decreasing attendance the norm in all the parishes. To deal with this situation, and others, many of our young priests are going on for degrees in youth studies, which will bring new ideas into pastoral work with the young.

A  Peace Weekly article profiled a young priest who wrote his master's thesis on the fan clubs now popular with many of our young people, specifically on how much time young people will devote to participation in society as a result of their participation in fan clubs. The clubs can be dedicated to any of various interests concerning the stars they adulate, but in all cases the clubs are run by the  members.   The priest sees a similarity between the deference given to celebrities by their fan clubs and the way Catholics participate in the Church.  Even though club members have never met the stars they adulate, they think of them often, wanting to do what they do, but desiring  nothing in return.

To put it bluntly, we are Jesus' fan club; we are his enthusiasts. While the priest was studying for his thesis a member of a famous band had to leave the band because of what he had said publicly.  For 3 months the fan club marched in silence to have him reinstated.

To gain first-hand knowledge of these fan clubs, the priest joined a club that decided to help a preschool group of children. It was during this time of sharing deeply with the fan club members, seeing their energy, creativity and spontaneity, that gave him the opportunity to discover some answers to the Sunday school problem.

We often say the stagnation we see in the Sunday school programs is due to the passivity of the young people. However, the priest's experience with the group that helped the preschool children clearly showed that passivity  was not the problem. He found that young people, when properly motivated, can be very active; in this particular case, hiring buses, preparing for a concert, and all the while giving the praise for how well the work was progressing to the group they were helping, even though it took time away from their own personal lives.

The priest feels that utilizing  the fan club format and its built-in enthusiasm will help solve the problems besetting our Sunday school programs. We need to make use of the  same energy shown by the fan clubs, he says, its potential for creative and  dynamic action to invigorate the Church programs. As they are now designed, our programs follow the cramming method of education, and the students are not given any opportunity to participate.

His conclusion, using prayer as an example, is to start praying before you start defining what prayer is, before you start reading about it in books. After praying, then share your thoughts  on what was felt, and only then go on to the theory.  We should never forget that before speculating on how to deal successfully with our young people, we need to start by listening to them. remembering that whatever is finally done to correct the present difficulties with the Sunday school programs, our young people are and should remain our main focus.                                                                                                                                                          

Negative Aspects of Religion Easily Seen

A professor emeritus writing in a Catholic magazine contends that Christianity is being challenged by the current attacks on all religious beliefs and by an increasingly secular civilization. The first challenge comes from the "New Atheism," which is receiving a lot of media attention lately, and the second challenge, from the materialistic values aggressively promoted by our consumer-driven civilization.

Atheism as a movement  is not new but can be traced to the Renaissance and  the humanism that followed.  The present atheism is a different strain from those of the past and what we saw in Communism. Current opposition to the belief in God is more intense than in the past, and the number of  those who sympathize, both intellectually and emotionally, with the atheistic position continues to grow.

Those who think that this atheism is a result of Communism are living in a dream world, says the professor. He believes that the atheism we have today was born in a Christian culture and matured in the civilization of Europe, and that the monotheism of the three religions based on the faith of Abraham--Christianity, Islam, and Judaism--is especially the object of much of the criticism. After the destruction of the twin towers in New York, many who are not atheists have come to agree with them that  religious beliefs can and have become problems in achieving and maintaining peaceful societies in many parts of the world.

Probably, says the professor, there are Catholics in Korea who believe since Catholicism has a good reputation in Korea these problems should not be our concern. But he disagrees; he believes it will be necessary for Catholicism to be open to the pluralistic society, showing tolerance and going beyond the simple moral guidelines of good and evil.

Christianity forms the basis of the civilization of the West, with its values of equality, justice, love and the dignity of the human person. The words of Jesus, now known as the Golden Rule, briefly summarize his teaching: "Treat others the way you would have them treat you." This teaching refers to all persons. Jesus made this clear in his parable about  the Samaritan, its message being:  accept all persons as brothers and sisters irrespective of race, nation, social status, money, religion or ideology. This is not easy, but it provided the moral foundation  of our Western civilization.

In our present society, little attention is given to the lessons of history. However, within history lies a purpose and meaning to help guide us through life. As is often said, "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." And as a Church, the professor reminds us, we can't afford to forget this warning. What is important, he believes, is to keep the general direction and intention of our history in mind. Society today is concerned with all kinds of material values and is  busy quarreling  about money matters and how  to get ahead. What is important is to keep the general direction and intention of our  civilization in mind. The professor ends by saying he feels  God is happiest when  we remember the purpose and intention of history in our lives.
 

Buddhist Temple-stay Visit of Benedictine Monks

Korean media found  it worthwhile  to  publicize  the visit of eight young German Benedictine monks who have come to Korea for a 40-day exposure to Korean culture.They are also interested in seeing their elder Benedictine monks, as they pursue their work in and around the Waegwan monastery, to gain a deeper appreciation  of their own mission call.

They are living at the Benedictine monastery, where they are learning about the culture of the country, hearing lectures on the language, politics, finances, and  the history of Catholicism in Korea. They will visit the many works that have been undertaken by the Benedictines over the years--and it has been many years. The Benedictines, the first male religious order to settle in Korea, arrived in the country more than 100 years ago.

During 3 days of this month, the young monks spent time in a Buddhist monastery to experience  the life of Buddhist monks.  To help them to know themselves better, the chief monk, on the first day of their temple-stay, gave them a question they were to reflect on while at the temple. His question:  "How many points do you have to have to enter heaven? Is it 100? 70? 50? And who gives the points?" The Benedictines thought it was an interesting question to ponder.

In silence, they went mountain-climbing, listening to voices from the heart. Like the Buddhists, one of the Benedictines said Catholics also respect all of life, and that doing the bows was a way to appreciate the others religion. When eating, they knew that they were to take only what they could eat, not leaving any food on the plate. The temple-stay was a helpful time for the Benedictines, and one monk said the experience helped him in his own prayer life.

The temple-stay program, which the government inaugurated and helped finance, enabled foreigners, as well as interested Koreans, to learn something of the traditional culture of the country. However, at the end of last year the government cut  some of the funds for the program, causing friction with the government. The president, a devout Presbyterian, is seen by Buddhists as not being friendly to their interests: at the beginning of the year, all members of the government's ruling party were banned from attending  Buddhist events. But this situation has changed. The government has reinstated the funds to their former level, and after some misgivings the  Buddhists have extended their hand in peace, and the government has reciprocated.

Catholic monks making a temple-stay should be a sign to  Koreans that the Church desires to see harmony between all segments of society, especially when it occurs between religions;  their efforts to understand and to dialogue with each other sends a message that speaks loud and clear to all of us.  It could also be a sign of what will be required to ameliorate the situation between the North and the South.