Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church

Of the world's 7 billion people one out of three are Christians, and one out of ten Christians are Orthodox Christians, about 250 million. In Korea there are less than 3000 Orthodox Christians so their way of life is not well-known. The Peace Weekly, in its series on Catholicism and other religions in Korea, profiles Christian Orthodoxy this week. Though their number is small in Korea, Orthodoxy is an  important part of Church history.

With the travels of St. Paul, the Gospel spread to four large areas around the Mediterranean Sea: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and later Constantinople, when the Holy Roman Empire moved its capital there from Rome. These became the 5 Patriarchates.

In 381, this was the accepted make up of the Church, but because of the different languages used in the liturgy, the disagreements concerning the use of images, and the political conflicts, the divisions between the East and West became more pronounced, and in 1053 Rome and Constantinople excommunicated each other, which led to the formal split.

Constantinople soon began to evangelize the Slav population: Bulgaria in 864; the Russian Kiev in 988; Serbia in 1220; but when Constantinople in 1453  fell to Islam, Russian Orthodoxy became independent of  Constantinople and became the third 'Rome'. In Orthodoxy, the Patriarch of Constantinople has the highest dignity but all patriarchs are considered equal.  Orthodoxy in Korea is part of Greek Orthodoxy and is affiliated with the province in New Zealand.

Orthodoxy differs from Catholicism in several main areas: There are 3 more books in the Old Testament than in the Catholic Old Testament. They do not use the word Trinity but the trinitarian meaning is accepted. They do not teach the existence of purgatory but acknowledge the possibility. They make the sign of the cross somewhat differently. At baptism they have a threefold immersion and the priest who gives baptism immediately gives Confirmation and the Eucharist, under both forms, even to babies. They do not use the confessional for the sacrament of Penance, and they follow the Julian calendar, which makes their dates for Easter and Christmas different. They do not use statues but use icons on flat surfaces, which are very important to their cultural way of praying and decorating their Churches.
 
The writer feels there is good  reason for Roman Catholics to be interested in the Greek Church Fathers and the spirituality of Orthodoxy. Although the similarities are many, the differences are important and deserve to be studied. The hope of Roman Catholicism is that in time and with a lot of good will, we will see the two again united.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Growing Old Gracefully in a Difficult Society

The guest columnist in the Catholic Times recounts the story two American professors who had a bet with each other on estimating the average age of those living in the year 2150. One said it will be over 150; the other said no one will reach 130. They both put money in a special savings account that would go to the winner's grandchildren in the year 2150.
 
Those who study the subject of longevity believe that in the future the average age will exceed 80, which we are now approaching in Korea. We now have over 2000 centenarians. The writer feels that it is not unreasonable to expect the young of today to reach the average age of 100.
 
Living longer, is it a blessing or not? he asks. Living to be 100 is a blessing if preparations have been made so the advanced years can be enjoyed; otherwise, he feels it can be quite the opposite. Korea will enter a super-aging society by 2030, which means that one out of four will be over 65. For those who enter this period with dignity and grace it will not seem long, but for many the situation will not be bright. For the poor, sick, alienated and lonely these years will be difficult, requiring much effort if their situation is not to be intolerable.
 
The columnist compares Korea with the West, where 2 out of 3 retirees  see it as a time of freedom and happiness. In Korea, it is only 1 out of 3 that see it that way; for the rest, it is a time of money problems, fear and loneliness. For one to have a high quality of life in retirement not only money and health are necessary but leisure time, something considered worthwhile to do, and mental maturity.

For a person to live without anxiety, the columnist believes there are three necessities: tranquility at night, tranquility during the winter, and tranquility in old age. There needs to be, he says, more organizational thinking on how to use time well in retirement.
 
The columnist thinks the Church should take notice of this and get involved with the elderly in society. Society will have to find ways to deal with their failing health, inadequate finances, their often crippling loneliness in order to help them adjust to a society that pays little attention to their needs. These common problems experienced by most of our elderly are what societal welfare programs will have to consider. The Church can help with spiritual maturity and loneliness issues.

Jesus, he concludes, gave us a very explicit field to work with in service to society: the hungry, the thirsty, those to be clothed, the sick, those in prison--and now we can add another, the lonely old people of society.

Korean Office of the Dead

In Korea when one enters a large  funeral home,  you have many grieving families in their own rooms greeting the mourners. The Desk columnist of the  Catholic Times tells us it is easy to find the  Catholics because of their  singing the prayers for  the dead--'yeon do'.

November is the month of the  liturgical year in which we remember the dead: the  last month before the new year of Advent. Catholics during this month will have the occasion of  remembering the souls in purgatory by reciting the 'yeon do' in groups, according to their traditional melody and rhythm. A large group would be divided into two 'choirs' that alternate  with the responses.  It is something only seen in Korea.

The meaning of the two words  'yeon do' means prayer for the souls in purgatory. The columnist tells us that many think that the 'yeon-do' is a translation from prayers of the Western Church, but this is not correct. Those who have made a study of the issue say it was part of the early Korean  Church. Prayers of the Church were set to their own music and in a special order by the Korean ancestors in the faith.

The 'yeon do' is a very important part of the Catholic rites for  the dead. Since in the beginning Catholics did not follow the ordinary Korean rites for the dead the 'yeon do' helped to take the place of the traditional rites. After religious freedom was declared the purgatorial societies had a big role in helping  the grieving families.  After the Korea War with the introduction of  the Legion of Mary they also played an important role in helping the mourning families.  It is well known that this help to the grieving families was  instrumental in spreading Catholicism.

There are many who have been moved greatly by the response of the Catholics in  the help given the  families when someone has died. With the 'yeon do' and the service to the bereaving families this has moved many to see Catholicism in a different light. 

To show their respect for the dead, which many in society thought was missing from Catholicism, and one of the reasons for the persecutions, the Catholic ancestors devised the praying of the 'yeon do' for the deceased which in later times became a means of spreading the faith. This gives us plenty of matter for thought.


                                                                           

The Meaning of Prayer

The Catholic Times has selected the author of the Introduction to St. John of the Cross for recognition. The author has a doctorate in Spirituality, and besides teaching in the seminary is also the  pastor of a parish.

In an interview with the Catholic Times, the author said, " In the process of imitating Christ the  obstacles we face are personal faults, desires, attachments, the capital sins. Spirituality is detaching ourselves from these obstacles. We have to discern when and how we do this. We use the Scriptures and  Church teaching to achieve this goal.  Our Catholics have read the Scriptures with their heads, and now it is time," he stressed, "to examine how the words are to change our lives.  St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross show us how this is to be done."

The study of spirituality has not been a strong point of the Korean Church. The theologians of mystical theology talk about our feelings about God and those who have not experienced contemplative prayer find their words difficult to understand. These theologians are not only telling us how to approach God but how to get rid of everything that is preventing this union: when we go deep into meditation and rid ourselves of all desires, we can experience God. God gives us a taste, so to speak, for something more, a taste for extra- sensory phenomenon.

The author introduces us to a case in Korea concerning a woman who was said to have experienced  extraordinary phenomenon.  Most know that what she maintained was incorrect but few know why, this being the work of the mystical theologians.

To understand the mistaken notions about prayer and meditation, it is necessary for Christians to read and understand the books of these mystical theologians. 

Prayer, he concludes, "Is the changing of myself. However, many Christians believe that it is pestering God to do what they want. Before they despair in dealing with God, they should check to see if they have the correct understanding of prayer. The more I pray correctly the more I will be imitating Jesus and become like him."

Violence in the Name of Religion

The 25th anniversary of the Peace Meeting in Assisi was a time to  reflect on the frequent violence in our society and on the meaning of religion and faith in these turbulent times.

The Pope invited the leaders of other religions and those of no belief who are in search of truth to reflect on the place of religion in our world, and what the leaders should be doing to enhance the effectiveness of religion in bringing about a better world. Throughout the world, there are many conflicts influencing our different cultures, which often develop into armed conflicts. What should we do, asks a recent editorial in the Catholic Times, to change the violent climate we live in?

Here in Korea we do not have to go to the Pope's words to know that we are also exposed to this violence in the name of religion. There are those religious groups which  use methods of spreading their beliefs with pressure, those who use force in their programs in their schools and organizations, use of  illegal ways of development and investment, pressuring people to donate and to give offerings, these are all premodern ways of using violence to achieve one's ends. These methods sometimes unbeknownst to those  perpetrating these acts can also be found in  the Catholic Church.
   
In a recent survey made by the Chongye  Buddhist Research Center in Korea dealing with culture and religion the results were not favorable to religion. Protestantism influences society the most with 53.2%, Buddhism with 23.7% and Catholicism with 17.6%.  When it came to determining which religion was considered the most trustworthy (5 being the highest rating) Catholicism received  4.11, Buddhism 4.5,  Protestantism 3.34, Won Buddhism 2.31, and Islam 1.20.
 
The trustworthiness of religion, in general, was lower than the trust given to the medical establishment, civilian society, the academic world, and  big business, all of which rated more than 3. Religion  received 2.89, which was slightly better than the banking community, mass media, the federal government, local government, the  National Assembly and the political parties.
 
This is a stigma religion has brought upon itself. Since society does not have much trust in religion, it is a good reason why it is necessary to have the different religions get together and try to act in a way that doesn't  give  a lie to what they are preaching. It's time for religion to be the instrument of peace to the world.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Difficulty in Forgiving

A high school student riding his motorcycle kills the fiance of the movie's main character in a hit-and-run  accident. This is the core plot of the movie Today. Is it possible to forgive such an act? This is the question the movie asks.
 
The director and screenwriter was asked why she  deals with such heavy material, and she answers that she wants to correct the commonly accepted understanding of forgiveness. The Peace Weekly journalist interviewed the director of the movie following its release in Seoul.

Our society expects the families of victims to be understanding and to forgive. She wants to examine what it means to forgive.
 
The heroine of the movie visits a church where she meets the priest and a religious sister, and is told to forgive the student for it is all God's will. She signs her name to a petition asking forgiveness for the student, but struggles with conflicting emotions and wonders if forgiving the student is the proper attitude. Why should she forgive? she asks herself.
 
The director says there are too many like the heroine of the movie in our society.  When a family loses someone because of some criminal act, there is no place to  complain about the injustice; everybody seems to believe that we should forgive. She recalls reading an article that said to forgive can at times be a sin, that we can't force forgiveness and shouldn't forgive indiscriminately.

It took her five years to write the scenario, and as time passed she became more convinced of what she wanted to say. She tried hard to  understand another way of seeing the issue but found it difficult. We tend to use, she says, the phrase, It's God's will, when bad things happen, making it easier for most of us to forgive and to convince others of the necessity to forgive. She explains that knowing that her religion wants her always to forgive, makes her uneasy. "I visited," she said, "with a priest who told me that 'forgiveness that does not have justice as a foundation is an evil'; this was a great consolation to me."

She intended the movie to ring an alarm to religions; before the scars are healed in the family of the victim, she believes that religions need to go slower in recommending forgiveness. The wrongdoer should have time to reflect on the result of his act, which will give time to the victim's family to start healing the  wounds.

That the director wanted to treat an important subject in a movie was laudable. Whether it can be dealt with dispassionately in this way is open to question. 'The will of God' is a phrase we throw around rather easily, but it is presumptuous to think we know God's will, and it should not be used to console another person. We as Catholics use the word providence, which skirts the question of God's will in any specific case. When it comes to forgiveness, more important than the forgiveness itself is to have the necessary disposition enabling one to be forgiven. In many cases, the forgiveness even if proffered can't be accepted because of a lack of sorrow and an unwillingness to change ones life.

Educating for Happiness

"When safety precedes happiness, maturity is hampered," according to an article in the Kyeongyang magazine. The writer, who is involved with Catholic cultural programs, considers most parents as being overly protective of their children, even though they don't want studies, among other things, to interfere with their children's happiness. However, they worry about their children being bullied at school, and also worry about the safety of young girls going and coming from school.
 
More knowledgeable parents know that this excessive concern for security limits the happiness of the child. What is happiness? he asks. We don't have to go back to the Romans or Greeks for an answer. Happiness, he says, is knowing who you are and conforming to this awareness in daily life.
 
Parents say they want their children to be happy even though knowing this emphasis on happiness may interfere with their education and lead to a difficult time getting a job later on. But being familiar with the many psychological and social scars that children routinely encounter growing up, they want to protect them. This is the dilemma with which they are faced.

This  happy life that we are talking about is relating with others--all kinds of others, which is the way we enlarge our vision and get to know ourselves. The time we  spend with ourselves, important as it is, we have to find time to spend with others. He goes on to talk about the boundaries between the world and religion, ourselves and others, money and meaning, desire and value. When we have the right balance between them, we will have happiness.
 
It is precisely in this area, however, that we have problems. For in desiring security for our children, we reduce the happiness they should be enjoying. In school and society, we keep the children away from that which is unknown and strange. In certain areas of a large city, those with similar lifestyles live together, which means the experiences will be similar. They become used to relating with others who have the same sensibilities and use the  same words.
 
To mature means that your world has become larger. And to adjust to this expanding world means that I am maturing, which is the foundation for my happiness. Consequently, without the child's desiring it, to overly protect the child from contact with the strange  is not wise. Better to encourage and instill in them a courage to meet the new.

Educating our children by expanding their experience of life with travel and on-the-spot programs, as important as they are, doesn't compare with allowing them to encounter the unexpected occurrences in daily life. When we make it difficult to be open to what's new and strange in life, our world becomes smaller, we become smaller, fixed in place by the old and familiar world of our past.