Pollution In Rural Areas of Korea

Many city dwellers of today have at one time or another dreamt of leaving the city for the quiet and tranquility of rural life. Some have realized that dream, but it has not always been what they expected. A professor of horticulture, in his column for the Catholic Times, explains what they are likely to find when taking a trip to the country. Often in the evening they will probably become aware of a smell not noticed before: it comes from incinerating farm rubbish.

Burning to dispose of rubbish has always been part of rural life, but in the  past the material burnt was mostly organic; that is not the case today. Weed killers, vinyl, pesticides and other chemicals used on the farm are now part of the matter incinerated. He quotes a study indicating that 85 percent of the residue from the burning is used to make compost, which is then returned to the earth as fertilizer, posing a serious health hazard for all, no matter where they live, as it  becomes part of the food chain. 

We have been given, the professor reminds us, water air, earth, mountains, oceans--all of the natural world, and it is our duty to pass it on unpolluted to future generations. Our cities have done a good job segregating disposable trash and garbage that is biodegradable from hazardous materials. The government should now step up its efforts in the rural areas, including  programs to educate the public  on environmental issues. Though recycling of vinyl has begun in the country, there is much more to be done.

The professor is surprised and  depressed that the mass media, environmental groups and social movements have not made the impending degradation of the rural areas more of an issue. He surmises that since pollution has been a common element in much reporting over the years, these singular kinds of  environmental problems are overlooked. However, it is precisely the lack of concern, or any consciousness of wrong doing, that should make us turn  our attention to what is being done. The material incinerated today is no longer the organic matter of the past.

He concludes with the hope that Christians will get behind this movement for a cleaner environment, not only in the cities, where pollution is obvious, but where it's not so obvious, in the rural areas. Much of the failure to deal with environmental issues in the rural areas comes from a lack of knowledge. He suggests that the government work together with the rural agencies to convince farmers of the serious nature of the problem, so that the present hazards they face, as well as everyone else who eats the produce they grow, can be eliminated.

Pope John Paul II Learning Korean

In a  series of articles in a Catholic magazine, the ordinary emeritus of Chunchon diocese, Bishop Chang Yik, was asked by the interviewer to recount his experiences with Pope John Paul II. The bishop recalled the time in 1982, when the pope, who was scheduled to visit Korea in 1984, expressed a desire to speak the language of the people when he arrived here. Responding to John Paul's desire, Cardinal Kim of Seoul entrusted Fr. Chang, studying in Rome at the time, with the task of teaching him Korean.

Fr. Chang was at a loss on how to approach the teaching of Korean to the pope.  But he was determined to put all his energies into finding the best way. Searching materials at the library, he found a number of ways to convey the Korean pronunciation, beginning with the alphabet and drawing each vowel and consonant to make it easier to learn each letter symbol. The pope's secretary called him on the Pope's Day (a holiday in the Vatican);  and learned that the pope wanted to start that evening at 6:30pm, only to discover that the car he had parked on the street had been towed away, with the material he had prepared for the class-- a small disaster. But he could still work with the alphabet, and since John Paul was familiar with the study of languages, he found the classes enjoyable and quickly learned the alphabet.

The pope wanted to say the Mass in Korean during his stay in Korea, so the common parts of the Mass were prepared with the Korean pronunciation and the meaning of the words in Latin. Since the pope was always busy, more than 40 meetings were needed to accomplish this crash course in Korean. Fr. Chang kept himself always on call, and the pope not once kept him waiting, not even for 5 minutes.The pope would begin the lesson with not much small talk, and was always eager to begin, having done his homework. Putting his newly acquired language to good use while still in Rome, he would say Mass in Korean for the Korean students, religious, and clergy. Fr. Chang was greatly moved to see the effort the pope was making to prepare for his trip to Korea.

The pope prepared the itinerary for the trip, wanting to visit places the government preferred that he not visit, such as the marginalized citizens of the country, and Sorok Do Island, a sanatorium for those with Hansen's Disease, being the first place he wanted to visit.

During the visit, the pope was scheduled to speak publicly at least 20 times. He prepared drafts for all his talks, and wanted to give all these talks in Korean. Fr. Chang told him that would be too difficult. "Who would understand me  if I  speak in a foreign language?" John Paul responded.  Fr. Chang did convince him to compromise: to speak in English, but to begin and end his talks in Korean.

The pope  showed great love for Korea for having suffered  as did his own Poland. When one thinks of how busy the pope was, yet still wanting to give all his talks in Korean, it is hard not to be moved by his love for the people he was visiting.

Korean Catholics and World Youth Day

Madrid 2011, World Youth Day, was a reminder that many young  Catholics were still enthusiastic about their faith life. Both Catholic papers interviewed the three Korean bishops who attended. More than 1300 persons from Korea were present and ready to respond to their call and mission within society.

The bishops agreed that they saw much joy in the meetings with the young. It was an opportunity to experience the universality of the Church and the one family of brothers and sisters, overcoming difficulties of language and culture to experience their oneness. To the question on what they saw to be the biggest lack in the preparations, they agreed that having few places set aside for the different cultural groups to meet and share their  heritage was a major problem.  

The bishops were particularly concerned with the problems in Korean society that the young have to face, especially the high unemployment. One bishop felt that the young were overly centered on themselves and hoped their experience in Spain would help them be more communitarian. It was the hope of the bishops that the young Catholics, on returning to Korea, would  put into practice what they had experienced, as they confront the proverbial fork in the road: compromise by living a worldly life or maintain a strong faith life. not only

The interviewer asked the bishops what would they like to say to those working with the youth in Korean dioceses. They felt that the young needed to feel the love of God and the love of the Church for them, and feel the joy of living the faith life. One bishop stressed  the young are not only  the future of the Church but should be part of the present Church, although this is not currently the case in Korea. Another bishop pointed out that those  working with youth should never forget they are teachers and mentors and not only friends.The hope is that  the young will apply what they experienced in Spain to live a more integrated life in the Korean Church.

"Inchon Hope Forest" in Mongolia

Many of the citizens of Inchon have for a number of years planted trees in  Mongolia. Other cities, and certain industries, from 2008 to 2010, have also helped. It is part of the "Green Start Movement," profiled in our Inchon Catholic bulletin. The goal of the movement is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the non-industrial sector of the country, along with supporting the tree planting efforts of our citizens in Mongolia.

The writer of the article mentioned going to Mongolia to see the "Inchon Hope Forest," where the citizens of Inchon have planted their trees. It is hoped that this newly planted forest will help to stop the desertification of the country by setting up a windbreak, reducing the winds that now carry the yellow sand to other parts of the Far East.

Because of the climate change in Mongolia, over 90 percent of the country is turning into a desert. Most of the rivers and  lakes are drying up, and this past winter, because of the severe cold, more than 80,000 animals died. And in Korea, because of industrialization and the movement of people to the cities, the effects of climate change are also being experienced, though differently than in Mongolia. Here the trees and land for farming in the cities have disappeared. We continue to use fossil fuels, and our eating  depends on what we import.  If we know the dangers that inevitably come with climate change, says the writer, then we should see the preciousness  of our earth and the dangers of turning over production of our food to others.

To begin addressing one of the problems of climate change, a new practice is taking hold in our cities--city farming: farming in boxes, farming on verandas, farming on roof tops, farming on the outskirts of the city. We are seeing the beginnings of a cultural movement that encourages consumers to grow and enjoy  some of the food they eat. This movement indicates a new and deeper appreciation of life, and of the steps needed to change our way of living.

The plight of the Mongolians are making us think a little more critically of our consumer society and our comfortable lifestyle.  The pain and dust storms being experienced by the people of Mongolia are sending us a message we are now beginning to take to heart.

 

Christian Muslim Dialogue in Korea

In Korea, there are about 120 to 130 thousand Muslims; about 35 thousand are Koreans. Among OECD countries, the country with the greatest increase in the number of immigrants is Korea. If this trend continues, as is likely--in the last ten years the number of immigrants has increased 611 percent--Korea will soon cease to have a homogeneous population. And it is easy to foresee a time, suggests the desk columnist of the Catholic Times, when a  significant portion of the population will be Muslim.

Since 55 percent of the world's population are either Christian or Muslim (with one billion 600 million Muslims) it is imperative, the columnist says, that we start talking to each other. After citing the recent London riots and the Norwegian tragedy that were fomented, at least in part, by the terrorist mentality now being spread by Muslim extremists, she goes back to the time of the crusades, when the conflict between Christianity and Islam was the central story. Since Islam has emerged as the second largest religion in the world, and since even in Europe we can see its strength growing as the number of Muslims increase, it is becoming increasingly clear that dialogue is necessary if we are to have world peace. And the Vatican continues to keep the way open for this type of dialogue.

The Pontifical Council For Inter-religious Dialogue as usual has sent to the Muslim community a message for Ramadan, their month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, which began this past month.  The message starts with "Dear Muslim friends" and continues, "Christian and Muslims, beyond their differences, recognize the dignity of the human person endowed with both rights and duties. They think that intelligence and freedom are indeed gifts, which must impel believers to recognize these shared values because they rest on the same human nature."  The message is just one effort, among others, to improve communication between the faiths. As we know, these attempts at productive dialogue have not been easy.

In 1955, the Korean Muslim Society was founded, developing later into the Korean Muslim Federation. And in the 70s many Korean workers stationed in the Near East  accepted the Muslim faith, further increasing, along with the number of foreign Muslims working here, the number of Muslims in the country.

Two years ago, according to a government survey, there were 65 mosques in the country, and this number has undoubtedly increased, and will continue to increase in the years ahead. What should be the response of the Korean Catholic Church, asks the columnist, in the face of this growing Muslim presence in the country? She believes the Church should turn its attention to the growing significance of Muslim religion and culture in Korea, and find ways to reach out a supporting hand as this new culture to our country tries to adapt to our ways and our culture, and at all times keeping open the lines of communication between the two faiths.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Foreign Brides Living in a Foreign Culture

Society faces grave problems, asserts a priest working with immigrants in his diocese, because of the large number of women entering Korea for marriage. Since the year 2000, and particularly in 2002 with the joint hosting of the World Cup matches by Korea and Japan, there has been an increase of 'international marriages'.

Writing for the Catholic paper  the priest lays out three conditions the Church views as necessary for  marriage: love, consent, and contract  He feels that the first two conditions are either weak or missing in most of these marriages, giving rise to many of the problems. But even when all three conditions are present, many of the marriages end in divorce. How much more is this the case, says the priest, when these marriages lack the necessary love and consent of the partners. It is during his work in counseling those in such marriages that he often finds himself at a loss for words and frustrated.

One day a Filipina married to a Korean came to see him. She and her husband were not able to agree about her proper duties as a wife and mistress of the house, so she left him, with no intention of going back. The priest told her to return, for he knew that if she did not, her situation would get much worse. She replied that living with him was little better than being a slave, and that it would be far better to go  back to the Philippines, and be free. The priest understood her situation and no longer urged her to return home to her Korean husband, knowing that without equality in marriage, there is little chance for happiness in such a marriage.    

Another women left her husband after one week, seeing no hope that the relationship would improve. In the beginning they had a good relationship, she said, but because of his increasingly demanding behavior she was not able to continue living with him. When the priest asked why she got married, she explained that being the oldest daughter of an extremely poor family, she felt she needed to support them. 

The priest cited the importance of understanding the role culture plays in adding to the problem.  Because of the cultural differences of marriage partners, the three conditions for marriage are often missing. To illustrate the point, the priest recalls the woman who made her husband some Philippine chopsuey, only to hear angry abuse coming her way after he tasted her version of the dish.  We may laugh at this, and think it's a small matter because most couples share the same cultural likes and dislikes,  but it's not a laughing matter to couples who have to live in a home divided by two different cultures.

Because society does not show much concern for the plight of the 'foreign bride' in these international marriages, the priest would like to see someone take a maternal interest in these women, mentoring them, offering advice when necessary. He suggested that this could be done by setting up a subcommittee in the parish councils that would have these women as their sole responsibility.

Not an Unfamiliar Father- Son Relationship

A columnist of the Catholic Times recounts the not unfamiliar tale of a difficult and, in this case, perplexing father-son relationship. After having "tried everything,"  the parents of a middle-school-aged boy sought advice from a priest. The exasperated father told the priest that nothing worked in getting through to his son; he would just spend his time at home looking out into space. The mother explained that the father tries to be good to the boy, but she believes that his authoritative manner is difficult for the son to accept.

The mother went on to say that during grammar school, the son was obedient, well-behaved, and  a good student. But all this changed in 2nd year-middle school  and it has now come to a point where father and son are not talking to each other.

After hearing what they had to say, the priest  recommended that the father and son go on a four-day  trip.  It was not an easy thing to do but the father was ready to try anything that would better the situation. It was more difficult for the son, but with continual cajoling, he finally agreed. Since the  priest suggested the trip, he recommended they follow certain rules: they were to go to any place the son wanted, respect the son's plans,  and before going to bed exchange feelings on what happened during the day.

Ten days after the trip the priest met with the father and son and saw in their faces that they had a good trip. "Yes, it was a good trip," they said, thanking him.  But the priest was surprised to hear that it  worked out so easily; the father then told him what had happened.

"I was prepared to do everything he wanted but when we arrived at the destination he had nothing planned," said the father. "I was ready to explode. The only time we saw each other was during meals, and whenever we were together he would just stare at the clock. At these times, I felt the urge to give him a beating." 

"There were no plans?" the priest asked. "We went mountain climbing and swimming,"said the father, "but just for a short time; the rest of the time he was in his own world. On the way home, on the train, grace came into our lives. I dosed off and when I awoke, I saw my son looking out the window, crying. I asked what was bothering him, and he told me one of his friends he had helped in school turned against him and began bullying him. He wanted to bring this up but was afraid of how I would react. It was the bullying that had changed everything.  He didn't want to go to school and couldn't concentrate on his studies. I wiped his tears and stroked his back, and he laid his head on my shoulder and continued sobbing."

The son had wanted to draw up the plans for the trip but was afraid of  what the father would say. It was then, said the father, that he realized everything he said or did was noticed  by the son. And that if he had been a less demanding father, his son probably would have told him of the bullying at school much earlier. During the trip, he didn't get angry or do any commanding, which drew the son closer to the father. But the son, not knowing how to behave, did not have the  confidence to speak. The column ends with the priest giving advice that, though obvious, is all too often forgotten: fathers have a difficult task but when they listen to their sons and refrain from getting angry and show patience and understanding, the relationship often becomes one of trust and confidence.