Survey of Catholics

The Lay Catholic Apostolic Council recently reviewed in its white paper its last 40 years as an organization and, in a supplement to the paper, revealed the results of their survey of 35 parishes, with a total membership of 3100 Catholics. It was an attempt to determine the condition and problems of lay people in the Church.

A brief article in the Seoul Daily on the survey, which was taken among the more devout of the Catholics, was headlined: "95 percent of Catholics live with a consciousness that they are Catholic." Although Catholics have an idea that they are the Church and live with this idea, according to survey results, the article pointed out that the survey also showed that the average Catholic's understanding of moral issues and their willingness to do something about it is lacking.

The first question of the survey: Are you conscious of being a Catholic and living like one?  56 percent said they are always conscious of their Catholicism and live it. 39 percent said that they were partially conscious and living the life.  About half, 46 percent, thought that those who were in lay apostolate leadership positions were doing their work with  the right dispositions, while 35 percent thought they were very  authoritative in their dealings with the Christians. To the question, who are the first to be changed in the Church?  58 percent thought it would be the lay people; 25 percent, the clergy; 4 percent, the religious; and 13 percent didn't know.

Concerning the moral issue, the survey indicated that abortion was considered murder by 56 percent of the respondents but 25 percent thought it should be allowed when it involved rape or incest; 8 percent would allow it when the parents did not want another child. On euthanasia, 44 percent  would give limited permission when serious pain is involved; and 16 percent would  allow it when the financial situation is difficult. And only 31 percent would be definitely against any kind of euthanasia. It shows a big discrepancy from the teaching of the Church.  

40 percent of those who participated in the survey said they attend Mass weekly. 45 percent go to confession four or five times a year, 53 percent say prayers daily, and 48 percent said they read the Scriptures a little when the thought comes.

An editorial in the Catholic Times also commented on the white paper, pointing out the issue many consider the most serious: the poor no longer find the community welcoming.  Many surveys and studies have shown that most of the Catholics are middle class and unknowingly make the poor feel uncomfortable in community gatherings. What is required, the editorial stresses, is not only helping the poor with their material needs, but working together with them, encouraging them to participate in the decision-making process of the pastoral councils.
 

First Baptized Catholic of Korea: Yi (Peter) Seung-hoon

The first baptized Catholic of Korea was Yi (Peter) Seung-hoon. The Incheon Diocesan Bulletin profiles the martyr in the recent issue. He was born in Seoul in 1756, baptized in 1784, and died by decapitation in 1801; his grave is in Nam Dong Ku, Incheon. A Mass will be held at the grave site, which was recently restored, by Bishop Choi of Incheon, on Feb. 25th.

Yi Peter is considered one of the founders of Catholicism in Korea, and the reason he was given the baptismal name of Peter. After martyrdom his body was buried beside his two sons in Incheon. In 1981 the grave was opened, and parts of the remains were moved to Chon Jin Am, considered the birthplace of Catholicism in Korea.

Yi's father was a well-known scholar, and Yi Seung Hoon was  born the first son. He was  the brother-in-law of Dasan, Jeong Yak-yong an outstanding Korean philosopher and his mother was the older sister of Yi Gahwan, another scholar who died in prison.

Yi Peter began his studies to become a civil servant, passed the exams and soon met Yi  Byeok  from whom he learned about Catholicism. On Yi Byeok's advice, Yi Seung-hoon joined his father on the father's official  mission to Peking. During the 40 days in China, he went to the Catholic church in Beijing, continued his studies, and was baptized by Fr. Louis de Grammont, a Jesuit priest. 

When he returned to Korea, he brought with him religious books, crosses, rosaries and holy cards and remained absorbed in the study of Catholicism. Not long after, he baptized Yi Byeok, giving him the name John the Baptist, and together began to spread the faith among the middle class. By the year 1789, he had baptized as many as a 1,000 and notified the priests in China of what was happening in Korea. He became the leader of the first Christians here. 

This history of the Catholic Church of Korea is well known, and we can see how conducive family relationships were in the early spread of the faith. Yi Byeok, in his role of John the Baptist, helped bring others to Jesus despite the objections  of his father. 

Below is a letter by Fr. Jean Mathew de Ventavon, sent to his friends in Europe, that relates the story of the 1784 visit of Yi Peter to China: 

You will be gratified to learn of the conversion of a person whom God has perhaps raised up to spread the light of the Gospel in a kingdom where it is not known that any missionary has ever penetrated it is Korea, a peninsula located to the East of China. The king of this  country sends ambassadors to the emperor of China every year, for he regards himself as his vassal. He loses nothing by it, for if he goes to considerable expense in sending him presents; the emperor gives him much, or more in return. These Korean ambassadors came they and their suit, at the end of last year, to visit our church; we gave them some religious books, The son of one of these nobles, aged 27   and a very good scholar, read them eagerly. He saw the truth  in them, and grace working in his heart; he resolved to embrace the faith, as soon as he had received instructions. Before admitting him to Holy Baptism, we asked him many questions, all of which he answered satisfactorily... Finally, before his departure to return to Korea, with the consent of his father, he was admitted to Baptism, which Louis de Grammont administered to him, giving him the  name of Peter. His surname is Yi. He is said to be related to the royal family. He declared that on his return, he wished to retire from public life with his family, and devote himself to his salvation. He promises to send us news every year. The ambassador also promised to propose  to the king that he should summon  Europeans to his lands. From Beijing to the capital of Korea is a journey of about three months. For the rest, we can communicate with the Koreans only by writing. Their writing and that of the Chinese is the same, as regards appearance and meaning, but the pronunciation is quite different. The Koreans put in writing what they want to say; on seeing the characters, we understand the meaning, and they also understand the meaning of  what we write.

Internet Savvy Public

The Catholic Times Desk Columnist, returning from three and half years of study in the United States, recounts his difficulty in becoming comfortable with the smart phone culture of Korea. He experienced how the non-established media  plays a big part  in conveying  the news by way of the internet. The established media continues, of course, but the internet media is a serious threat to its dominant role in society. One motivation of the internet news programs is a distrust of the established news media, but its attempts to provide accurate reporting, although often immediate, is also often incomplete.  

News delivered by internet requires little equipment. It's revolutionizing the delivery of news and breaking down the boundaries between the  makers of news and the receivers.  Now everybody can be a maker of news. The receiver of the news can also become the purveyor of the news. Anyone can now set up a 'newspaper' and  'broadcasting station,' the established media no longer being the sole gatekeeper of the news.

This online communication  has also changed the discussion within the church concerning the news makers and the recipients of news. The content of the traditional teachings  was controlled by the  leaders and clergy  of the Church. This was to be expected since the content of the faith is something  received, but the new media has changed the way this  teaching is communicated.

In the modern age, the invention of printing had a great deal to do with the advancement of learning of  the general public. This  threatened the monopoly that the clergy had in the past. This is now happening again by the new flow of information.  Something to be noticed is that the automatic authority and  trust that accompanied what was reported in traditional media are not transferred to online reporting. Online authority is more dependent on the nature of what is being reported. 

The content of what the authorities of the Church present online is reinterpreted and evaluated by Christians online, who are not only the receptors of the news but also by their interpretations of what they have received become, when sending out their views of what has been received,  producers of news themselves.

This new way of communicating, the columnist says, presents the Church with a dilemma.The horizontal means of communication that the Second Vatican Council recommended is a good thing. But, at the same time, how can the Church teach what it has been given to a society that has accepted relativism as an important value?

Adding more applications to the smart phone, the columnist says, is not going to solve the problem. What is necessary is a fundamental reevaluation of this new media, discerning what has taken place in the thinking of an internet-savvy public, and finding ways to deal creatively with this new reality in order to keep our traditional values intact.                                                                                                 

Special Works have their Own Attraction

Catholicism in Korea has enough priests and religious to help solve some of the problems in our society, reports a columnist for the Peace Weekly. Many of them are in mass media, the maritime apostolate, working with the handicapped and migrants, providing assistance in overseas Korean communities, and in many other activities. The columnist, assigned to the worker's apostolate in his diocese after  returning from pastoral work with a Korean parish in Vietnam, reflects on what this has meant to him.

The work with laborers in Korea has a high priority and his assignment, coming  unexpectedly, left him dazed. He had spent two years as an assistant priest before going overseas for work in the Korean parish in Vietnam. Parish work is varied and challenging, and he envied his classmates when they talked about their parishes.

As an assistant he was busy with a very tight schedule: preparing the liturgy and sermons, visiting with parishioners, lecturing, interviewing; he  felt he was not always in control of his time.  

His special pastoral work has many different aspects: going to an office, having to follow a work-shift--all this going and coming were strange experiences for him. Sitting at a  desk was awkward, and the number of Masses and meetings were few. He was physically comfortable, but there were many restraints in  the work which bothered him. He was not busy like  a parish priest, and though he could go mountain climbing, if he wanted, on Saturdays, being creative in his work did not come easy.

Unlike working in a parish, he would interact not only with Catholics but with activists from the  different segments of society, which was often awkward. They did not always see the  problems facing the workers in the same way he did. His values, justice and love, were not always their values, but when he could meet the workers in their place of work and talk with them, all changed. This gave him great satisfaction in being able to bring the concern of the Church to these poor and alienated workers.

When he saw the acute difficulties that some of the workers were facing, he felt helpless and wanted to run.  However, in these painful circumstances of injustice the laborers had to face, he knew he was not only representing the Church but could act in a pastoral way as a priest.

Looking over his new assignment, quite different from a parish in which he was always busy and pressed for time, this opportunity to be in control of his time, while being of service, had its own attraction.

'Aha' Moments in Life

Human noise is a part of our daily living. We experience it in our homes, in society and confront it in our interaction with others. On the spirituality page of the Catholic Times, the columnist wonders how this noise can be toned down. He believes it can be done with respect and awe.

How do we become more of what we are meant to be, the person God wants us to be? The answer again is respect and awe. Respect includes love, and awe goes to a higher level, to a respect that includes awe, somewhat like what can be experienced when in contact with the beauties of nature.

Only humanity has the possibility for this respect and awe; it's not found in the animal world. This ability makes us who we are, and we should practice and develop these qualities. They come into play, especially when we come in contact with our brothers and sisters. All of life is filled with the possibilities for awe, looking up at the sky, or down on the earth;  not only in  nature, but seeing a car pass on the street and gazing at a  building can trigger this awe.

There are many who do not have this respect and awe for others. They have not developed this virtue. They think only of themselves: proud, righteous and centered on themselves and  family. Their  world and  numbers are small, but sometimes they are in powerful places in our society.  The columnist tells us that we develop these traits of respect and awe with an attitude of contemplation.

We all have a radiance, he says. It may come from our eyes and mouth when we look or talk compassionately with another, or when looking on creation with thanksgiving. Even when we use the most expensive tooth paste, this aroma will not be present on our lips. It is only when we utter praise and thanks that the aroma will be present.

Christians  know that God made us by infusing into us his breath. This is part of who we are. When we give off this radiance and realize what is happening,  we are contemplating. When radiance does not emanate from us, this is not contemplation but rather, he says, indulging in personal satisfaction or pseudo-contemplation.  True contemplation can also see the radiance that is given off by creation, helping to strengthen our own, and giving rise to respect  and awe within us.

The columnist ends by reminiscing  on the studies he has made in theology and the many books he has read and studied on contemplation. They were, he now knows, just partial presentations, theoretical, word-based understandings that stayed in his head. The 'Aha' moment came when he went down on his knees and experienced true contemplation, respect and awe resonating within him from a life lived in harmony with God's will.

Learning to Live with Diversity

In the Salt Jar section   of the Bible & Life magazine, the writer reminds us of the mystery of community life. In religious life, members do not choose who they will live with; their companions are selected for them. What joins them together is their commitment to imitate the life of Christ and, following his teachings, to grow spiritually into a vibrant community with all its diversity. They follow the evangelical counsels and become enraptured with the desire for unity in the Lord.

This ideal is not always achieved, the writer reminds us. There is the stress of dealing with each other's failings. And the failure to sublimate our differences brings immature behavior. In minor manners this can be overcome; in serious matters this will work against the attainment of the goals of the spiritual life that the members want to achieve.

A Korean religious sister mentioned an incident she found instructive while living with a community of nuns in Switzerland. Sister A of the community returned from a walk and  put a flower in front of the statue of the Blessed Mother.  Admiring the flower the Korean sister standing  before the statue was approached by sister A  and asked: "Beautiful is it not?" She tells the Korean sister she was so impressed with the flower, she regretted that she was the only one  to see it and  took one of the  flowers from the field and placed it before the statue for all to see.

Shortly after, sister B came by and reprimanded sister A for cutting the flower and preventing others from seeing the beauty of the flower in  its original environment. This brought other sisters to the statue and they began quibbling over what had been done. The Korean sister, half laughing and embarrassed, left and began to reflect on our differences.

Because of these differences, we often have conflict and misunderstandings. She reminds us that differences are not always errors or mistakes. There are different ways to climb a mountain, and notes that though in the Korea of the past there was only one brand of coffee, today there are many different types to choose from. We also have the Synoptic Gospels which present the same Jesus seen by three different sets of eyes, which enable us to get closer to him.

In many of our big meetings and chapters of  religious organizations, it is not rare to have a facilitator, a member not of the community, invited to help the organization or group to work more effectively. They do not take sides but work to help the group accomplish what they want to do.They are servants to the community to help the group work through some of the areas of conflict, resolving the differences by coming to a mutual understanding that will enable the group to reach their goal.

With the many different personalities and theologies, the cultural influences, and our personal failings, to come  to some understanding of what we are to be as Church is far from easy. The facilitator is just one way to help us work within the Church to be more open to Jesus and his call to mission.

Laity of the Korean Catholic Church

The Catholic Lay Apostolate Council of Korea has recently made known its white paper after 40 years of growth. The sleeping giant within the Church has reflected on its work over the past years and sees where it stands today within the Church. Both Catholic papers had articles and editorials mentioning that the Lay Apostolate Council is not content with the results they have achieved  and will continue to work for a greater  role within the Church.

They will build on the foundations laid down during the past 40 years. They acknowledged that at times  they have acted in a similar way to  clericalism, and  fallen away from a legitimate role of the laity into what could be called 'laity-ism,' which has brought them into an unnecessary conflict with the teaching authority of the Church.

The Apostolate Council has also not been relating well with the different lay groups within the Church.Mentioned was the lack of a systematic pattern of programs, instead of  attention being directed to taking care of emergencies. Evangelization has not been concerned with the direction of society or following the lead of the president of the Lay Council. They have been weak in both welfare programs and evangelization and, because of a lack of capability, have been slow to work in the international arena and in reconciliation with the North.

Listed are a number of areas on which they intend to expend more effort in the years ahead.

First: They will  become familiar with the social teaching of the Church and work for justice--an important point of departure. In  the political field,  finances, society,  life issues, environment, and so forth, they will work for the common good, and sound a warning bell when necessary.

Second: They will endeavor to strengthen the educational programs for lay people in order to generate more expertise and capability.

Third: They will be more selective in assigning work to the laity. In the past, it was difficult to differentiate between the work of priests, religious and laity. They will work to understand subsidiarity and solidarity in the work of the Church. And the laity are not only to serve the clergy and religious but to have their own area of expertise and activity. Stressed throughout the white paper was the importance of evangelization.

Fourth: the place of the laity in work for the weak and poor in society: in coop programs,  helping the unemployed, and  in  welfare programs etc..

Fifth: Work for the reunification of the country,  help in programs of relief  for the North and  prepare for the day when they are  able to help in the evangelization in the North.

Lastly: To make the infrastructure of the Lay Apostolate Council able to take upon itself this work in the future, it  will be necessary to strengthen the bonds with the different diocesan pastoral groups, and setting up a  'think tank' to help guide the work of the Council.