New Archbishop of Seoul

On May 10, 2012,  Bishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung was appointed the new archbishop of Seoul. Bishop Yeom replaces Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk who resigned when he reached 75, but  not accepted at that time. Both Catholic Papers, of course, carried the news and had editorials on  the change of leadership in the Seoul Diocese. June 15th  will be the farewell Mass for Cardinal Cheong; the installation Mass for Archbishop Yeom will be on June 25, 2012.

Archbishop Yeom was born in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province in 1943 and ordained a priest in 1970. In 2002 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul. He has served as vicar general of the diocese for the last 10 years. Few would know the diocese as well.

On receiving the announcement  he said, "I am so overwhelmed that I will have this  tremendous responsibility succeeding Cardinal Cheong. I will always try to listen to the opinions of diocesan priests and the faithful with open mind. I will also pay more attention to work for the Pro-life and the  evangelization ministry, the pastoral aims of Cardinal Cheong."

The reason all have been concerned  on the new appointment was because of Seoul's position in the country. Seoul is the capital and  Catholicism has its roots in Seoul. 27 percent of the total number of  Catholics live in the archdiocese of Seoul. Many see the Catholicism of Korea through the eyes of Seoul.

The problems that the Catholic Church has to face are many. The large increase in the number of Catholics requires concern for the inner maturity of these new Christians. There is also the decrease in the numbers entering, the exodus of many of the young, many leaving behind the traditional spirituality of the past, and the importance of sacramental life is fading. Serious problems that the new archbishop will encounter.

The editorial goes on to mention the problems of the larger society that  will impinge on the Church: gap between the rich and poor, the economic recession, the pervasiveness of the culture of death, and environmental problems. The  Church can't only be  concerned  with  its own  internal Church problems, but has to go out into society to be the salt and light. 

We all congratulate the new ordinary and are happy but at the same time as the bishop said: "afraid and with a trembling heart" he begins his new work. We will remember him and the diocese in our prayers.

 

 

Interfaith Harmony

The United Nations in October of 2010,  proclaimed World Interfaith Harmony Week an  annual event to be observed the first week of February starting in 2011. The Korean religious communities have been coming closer together in inter-religious dialogue and a search for understanding,  but this year have  taken seriously the invitation to participate in the World Interfaith Harmony Week which they did during the month of May.

Editorials in the Catholic press have noted that there  are few countries in the world that have progressed as far as Korea has in inter-religious dialogue and  searching for understanding among the different religions in the country. Seven Religious Communities have come together seeking reconciliation and unity not brawling  and feuding  but respecting one another, sharing their common elements,  and working to be at peace with each other. Instead of looking for what divides them looking for what unites them.

There are many areas in which they work together  to  foster understanding, reconciliation and the welfare of the citizens. Rather than seeing what separates  seeing the oneness in the variety. This is not only a motto or theory; the editorial reminds us, but the present reality.

 We Catholics meet together as one in the Trinity, but  we also understand what St. Luke says  in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 10 verse 35: "anybody of any nationality  who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him." The editorial also quotes from the Pastoral Constitution: "It offers to mankind the honest assistance of the Church in fostering that brotherhood of all men which corresponds to this destiny of theirs. Inspired by no earthly ambition, the Church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ Himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to  be served" (#3).

Editorial in the Peace Weekly wonders in preparation for  the general elections at the end of the year how much disagreement and  division we will have to experience.  Selection connotes exclusion, and this allows for the seeds of disunion to grow. The Peace Weekly is celebrating its 24 year of foundation, and the director wonders how much they have contributed to unity.

Contemplative Life

Living an integrated life in harmony with  God's will is the topic for the spirituality column in the Catholic Times. The columnist starts with the words of Mencius telling us to develop  the original nature that we have been given by God. He calls this  the integrated life; the opposite would be a fragmented or broken life. It is impossible to have an integrated life, he says, if meeting others, talking,  and  our actions during the day are done without  meaning.  We have to be integrated  with all of God's creation. Most live a fragmented life: meeting with a few people and tied up with a few activities  and  lacking  confidence.

As babies, when hungry we cried; when we wanted a special toy, we pestered our parents; we were concerned only with ourselves. This is an example of the fragmented life. As grownups, even if hungry we knew how to take what we have and share with another. This is a life that has integrated God and others into our vision.

The community of the Church also is infected with self-serving  selfishness: the "doing it my way" approach to everything. We realize the presence of God, but it is still my will. We should not say only that it's my fault but cry out in a louder voice you desire to do  God's will.

The columnist recommends that we examine our fractured life and look for the problems, committing oneself to working for a renewed integration and  formation.  He suggests that we go back to the past and give a new interpretation to what has happened,  and make it fit into the mental, spiritual and physical person that we are at present, related with others at home, school, and at work.  If our lives are fragmented, it is difficult to say that we lived in congruity and in harmony with God's will. When we live in harmony with God' will we can say it is a contemplative life, an integrated life.

Some see the contemplative life as concerned only with the head: intellectual and logical, involving the mental faculties. Many want to relate with God, intellectually.  People of faith have to take another step; we  have a  desire for God and want to receive his inspiration. We can't explain this with the head. One can go far with the head but for a person of faith, we know there is a limit to this and wait for the inspiration of God to renew us.

The mental and physical aspects of life can do much for us but without the spiritual dimension we can not have integration in life. This is the contemplative way of seeing life and it is this life that we are continually being  tempted to neglect by the worldly distractions surrounding us. The search for God's will is this integrated life. To do it by reason and with techniques is to do it my way.

Persons of faith should be in a higher dimension than those without faith because they are open to another aspect of life, which is the  reason for our life of gratitude.

Understanding Ceremony and Ritual in Confucianism

Ceremony and ritual are concepts in Confucianism that are at the center of any discussion of its moral code.  The columnist in the Cultural of Life column in the Peace Weekly introduces us to the Confucian view of life. The aspect of ritual or ceremony so  intimately connected with Confucianism has a relationship with society that we  may tend to disregard and see only ceremony and ritual. It is a relationship with others and with heaven.

The character for ritual in Chinese is 禮, which can be explained simply. On  the left is  the icon for heaven--the stars, moon and sun hanging from the heavens; on the right-side top, a dish filled with food, bottom right the stand on which it is placed.  

 All of life has a connection with natural life. Humans are dependent on other forms of life for existence. The columnist writes that human life is not satisfied with just life but wants to go out to other life in search of nobility. Human life shows us that societal life is an important dimension of our humanity. Accordingly, the individual finds meaning in life especially in ritual, that is, in relationship with others in ceremonial encounters.

Ritual is connected with sacrifice and with social life. When we are not engaging with others in society, we are thought not to be living an authentic life, and are barely escaping death. Society asks us to live authentically. When we don't know the meaning of life, we are just existing. The meaning of human life is concretely shown by our living in society. This understanding, the columnist says, is not easy to realize. Confucius said he didn't know the will of God until he was 50 years old.

Humans are questioning people. Questions about life and death are always with us.  Confucius received a question about death and answered: "If we don't understand life, how can we understand death?"Questions about death are all contained in life. When we are dead to others, life is not worth living. There is no meaning to life and, according to Confucianism, we are a 'dead person' in society.

Confucius wanted his disciples to move into the life of society and not to remain in an individual life. To live with others he considered the just way to act. We can only understand the meaning of our own life when that life is lived among others. Individual life is given its generative meaning by life in society. The columnist concludes that the Confucian traditional societal vision of life is that our lives are given meaning by our life in society. And that this vision, because it is in harmony with  justice, will teach us what an ideal society should look like.

What One Individual Can Do

A Korean bishop has consistently shown the readers of his column in the Catholic Times how to select the moral and Christian values that will ultimately change the world into a more beautiful and healthier place.

We have, the bishop said, seen persons who have given their life savings to help the poor, those who take care of their health by a new way of living, those who are helping the marginalized of  society, those who are more interested in being of service to others than in making money. This attitude, he says, is spreading in society.

It is easy to think there is little that can be done by a single individual in our consumerist society, he said. Yet there are many who are living the resurrected life of Jesus in our world. The bishop tells us about a woman in her late 60s who went to the home office of Goldman Sachs, one of the most powerful investment banks in the world, to offer some advice.  Three of the officials greeted her politely. She had three requests: executive salaries should be controlled; there should be transparency in the running of the company; and the poor should be remembered. This woman is Sister Nora Nash, a religious sister belonging to the Franciscan order.

Sister has been watch-dogging  the corporate world since 1974, when she became interested in the by-products of world investment: polluting of the environment, and the low salary of workers. Deciding to do something about the situation, she took some of the money from the sisters' severance pay plan to buy shares in different companies, so she would  have  the right to speak at the meeting of the shareholders.  By doing this, she wielded an extraordinary amount of power. When the companies realized who she represented they had to be concerned.

In 1981, when she attended the general meeting of the  General Electric Company, the president of the company at that time was so impressed by Sister Nora that he went by helicopter to meet her at her convent.  There are CEOs that continue to consult with Sister on her ideas. Sister's movement, in 1979, joined the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), whose principles are based on the teachings of Christianity.

The bishop concludes the column by telling us that it is not only in the United States, but other countries are also spreading the values of Christianity; changing how these enterprises operate will help change the world, he said. The sisters' severance pay was a way of being salt and light to the world.  This is a good example, the bishop reminds us, of an answer to the challenges the world is giving us, and how answers to similar problems in the future should be discovered and implemented by first discerning the underlying moral values of Christianity as they apply to any troubling situation. 

Catholic Church of Asia

This past month was a busy time for discussions on  evangelization. Both Catholic papers devoted space to the meetings on this issue. The Missionary Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life (MISAL)  met in Korea to discuss common issues. They meet every two years, and this year the Korean Foreign Mission Society were the sponsors. This is the second time the meeting was held in Asia. In the past it was only the MISAL societies of Europe and the States that would meet, but since 1998 it has included all the societies in the Catholic world. Every other year, the missionary societies of the three continents of Europe, America and Asia meet to exchange information on mission.

Another meeting was under the sponsorship of the Federation of the Asian Bishops Conference. It was a workshop of the Institute of Theological Animation (BITA IV), held in Thailand. The topic was, "Youth in Asia: Challenges of Fundamentalism and Relativism."

The Peace Weekly and Catholic Times both commented on the workshop, stressing  that fundamentalism is not only a problem in Islam but also within Christianity.  Atheists are also pushing scientific fundamentalism, which has reached a level that can't be ignored. Both of these position need to have a pastoral response.

This type of workshop is conducted every 5 years in Asia, with a special topic selected and researched for the meeting. This year 30 bishops from 8 countries and 50 theologians attended.

Fr. Park, a theologian from Korea, spelled out in his talk the negative effect scientific fundamentalism and relativism is having on  youth. He said, "My happiness, my fulfillment is what the young are searching for; the absolutes of  religion no longer interest the young. To follow the teaching of Catholicism and endure  uncomfortableness and sacrifice is no longer of concern. The conflict that scientific fundamentalism is having with religion is causing the young to have an aversion to religion."

Religious fundamentalism with it it confrontational, narrow and cliquish understanding of what truth is and the fundamentalism of the  scientists such as Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking are very similar. This attack on  religious fundamentalism has great attraction, says Fr. Park,  for the young.

He emphasized that the "Apologetics of the past no longer serves its purpose; the Church is going to have to be a living example of authenticity. "The solution will require, he said, the faith of the martyrs and convincing arguments showing that theology and science need not be incompatible but can be companions in the search for truth.

My Brothers and Sisters in Prison

A journalist of the Catholic Times recalls Jean Valjean of Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables and the many other ex-convicts in our society. After 19 years at hard labor, he was returned to society with a criminal record and a yellow passport that recorded his past prison life. This made  life difficult, eating places and inns  would refuse  entrance. It was a bishop who went out to Valjean, "I am already familiar with your name you are my brother."

The journalist  reminds us that the United States is an example of a politically mature society. However, when we study the right to vote given to women and the blacks, we uncover something different.

It was only in 1920 that women received the right to vote, and the blacks did not receive the full right to vote until 1965. It was much later than our own country, which gave the right to vote to all in 1948. In the States, the  prevalent thinking was it was not  proper to give the vote to women and blacks. At this time, in history, it is  hard for us to believe.

Last month, the Catholic Committee for human rights petitioned a change to the voting  law which they say is in violation of the constitution in disfranchising those who are in prison, given a  suspended sentence or on parole. The committee showed from the constitution itself that  present voting laws were in violation of the constitution.

More than finding reasons to change the law from the law itself, we forget that the prisoners are our brothers and sisters, and the present law is a relic from the past.  Pope John 23rd in his encyclical  of  1963 ' Peace on Earth' said that the right to vote is one of our basic rights, and related to  loving our neighbor. The columnist ends the article  reflecting that one day in the future  we will look back on the present and be surprised in  the way we saw those in prison.