AIDS Work In Korea

A Columban Sister tells her readers in her Peace Weekly column how she got involved in the work with HIV/AIDS patients. She was approached by an HIV positive individual who crying: "Sister, I have no place to go, I have AIDS  you are the only one I can approach."

She listened to his story and was greatly moved. She had no funds so went to Cardinal Kim of Seoul and received help and that is the start of the first shelter for those with AIDS. She continued to receive help for her work.

She writes that more than having the disease the worst is being shunned and stigmatized which gives more pain than than the body affliction. We have to do all we can, she says, to alleviate this loneliness and alienation. They do not  have a positive view of the world. They are feared by many of the citizens which destroys the quality of life of those diagnosed as HIV positive. HIV is not spread by day-to-day contact with those with the virus-- a well know fact.

One of the patients: "Even those who I trusted and believed, have this feeling towards me  and because of me when I think of the pain of my family all I  want to do is hide and have nothing to do with the world."

In Korea when you have a disease make it known, is a proverb, not true with AIDS. All you can do is keep silence, you become a displaced person.The prejudice is still strong in Korea which makes the work of the Columban Sister difficult, and this can be seen by not wanting her picture accompanying her column, but only a blurred drawing.

On this blog in 2009, mention was made of an editorial in the Peace Weekly  which said ignorance and misunderstanding, causes a deep rooted prejudice in Korean society, making it impossible even for a person diagnosed as HIV (a person with the virus but not AIDS) to function in society. This means that it remains hidden and does not get the care that will prevent more cases. The facts are a person with the disease, with periodic check ups, and treatment can function in society; that is not the case today in Korea.

For ten years now the Church has with little publicity been involved in the care of AIDS patients. It started when there was a great deal of fear with anything to do with AIDS. There is still a great deal of misunderstanding about AIDS. This is the reason that the Church had difficulty publicizing the work with the sick. It is estimated that there are about 6000 people infected with the disease in Korea. Today it would be higher.

The Church will now take a more active part in trying to change the climate that surrounds the word AIDS. Someone has been put in charge of the Red Ribbon Movement which will incorporate the present works of the Church and look for government help in the future. 

Korea has a great deal to overcome for the proper understanding of what AIDS is all about but has made big changes in its approach. The Church also will be more involved in educational programs, publicity and helping those who have the virus, to function in society. The number of those committing suicide on knowledge of having the virus is extremely high and the reason is that they are treated like those with leprosy in the time of Jesus. There is a hope that the efforts of the Church will be successful.The above words were  written in 2009 and there has been some change but with the absence of the picture of the sister, shows she still has to be circumspect about her work within society.

Using the Language of Love

We express love with words. Knowing the language of love and expressing it in our relations makes for healthy communication. A priest who has been associated with the marriage encounter movement in Seoul for the past 20 years is interviewed by a journalist of the Peace Weekly, and gives us his thoughts in what he has learned during those years.

He introduces us to Gary Chapman a world respected counselor and his  five love languages.  How to  express love to your spouse in the way they will understand. He uses the words: affirm, spend quality time with the spouse, gifts, service, and  physical touch. 

The situation in society with the large number of divorces, suicides, abortions are  signs not all is well in the family. "God's love is manifested through us," he explains, "and when spouses do not feel love,and love is not given to the children we have  tragedy." 

Working with married couples over many years, despite the belief that God has joined them together, they do not feel any love and the relationship is insipid. Husband works, and sacrifices for his wife which is the way he expresses his love, and the wife  would like time  together in which she feels  love, and instead they continue to increase the enmity between them.

This is true in all kinds of relationships when  the language of love is not used; we have all kinds of misunderstandings. The priest with parishioners, and all of us with our interactions with others. The respect and concern for others is not shown or felt.

The Church will have two Synods on the family. Last year we had the Extraordinary Synod and this year we will have the  Ordinary Synod. This coming synod will deal with the ways family life can be strengthened and renewed. 

The factual information has been gathered and now the ways in which the Church can help support the families in a society that is not favorable. What our ME priest is doing is the  concern of many pastoral workers. Father has made a CD on his experiences, which is to help couples strengthen their bond. Pope John  Paul II said: “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” These words show the importance of the Synods  for families, and need for work to strengthen families.

Keeping our Eyes on the Road to Virtue

A Salesian priest in the Catholic Times' View from the Ark mentions the experience he had  recently attending a general meeting of the members at their Roman headquarters. What he knew from the news he heard directly from those who were involved. One superior from France  mentioned the closing of monasteries because of old age, and the lack of vocations. One superior of a community was in his 90s.

France called the eldest daughter of the Church is in a feeble state. France is not alone, we have Spain, a country once in the vanguard for mission, and Italy the headquarters of Catholicism are all in the same state of lethargy.

The columnist mentioned that all the superiors of communities of the different countries were     grabbing him by the arm, asking for missioners to come to their country. Europe is in serious trouble. Overcome with secularism, materialism and a small birth rate has changed the environment, and the Korean Church is following them. The future of Korean Catholicism and religious life is not bright.

We need to have a check up on the health of  Catholicism. We are suffering from the hardening of the arteries. We need a lively conversation between the  pastoral worker and the laity, a bonding  between the rich and poor, communication between the young and old, the connection  between the city and country, they are far from healthy.  We do not see the problems in society, and are in search of only the sweet and a religion which is cheap, which darkens the future. We want to cut out the part of the Gospel with the passion; only interested in earthly blessings and what is good for the family. A very immature spirituality.

In the history of the Church we had many false prophets. They pretty much concentrated on some  common elements: reasonableness of absolute moderation, examination of oneself according to religious teachings, and not seeing the absurdities and cruelty in the world. With flowery words they  have confused many people. Today we have those who sing out the 'no disease and long life' mantra. Everything will turn out as we want, we are guaranteed heaven.

Who is the true shepherd and who is the hireling,  requires discernment on our part. The real prophet is only interested in transmitting God's message to the people. The true prophet was not afraid to use the rod,and warned against sin and debauchery.

What is the traditional teaching of the Church? A good pastor will tell us we are full of faults. In our lives we will be met with pain, failure, wanderings, twists and turns, but all the crosses have meaning.  We are invited to move with the cross one step at a time on the road to virtue. Even if we are sinners, he concludes, we trust in God's mercy and take courage, and keep on moving forward.

Sunday for Life

Pope John Paul II in his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life) used the words 'culture of life' which has become popular in describing the movement for life: values that respects life from  conception to natural death.  

In the  first line of the encyclical the pope writes: "The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as 'good news' to the people of every age and culture." The second paragraph continues:  "Man is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God. The loftiness of this supernatural vocation reveals the greatness and the inestimable value of human life even in its temporal phase."

Today in Korea the first Sunday of May we celebrate 'Sunday for Life': Korean Church's way of promoting the culture of life. Both Catholic papers had  editorials on the Sunday for Life, and articles on the  subject. This year is the 20th year of promulgation of the encyclical.

One of the  editorials sadly admits that we have not seen any change in the life of the Catholics from 20 years ago.The teaching of the Church has not influenced the life of Christians. According to surveys made, only half of the Catholics accept completely the teaching of the Church. In the lives of many there is an estrangement between life and the teaching of the Church. What is being  taught is for happiness in life and this aspect probably needs to be emphasized. When values of life are disregarded like the tower of Babel, society is destroyed.

The bishop's committee for life has a  message for  Catholics on this Sunday: mentioned are many things Catholics can do to advance the culture of life and fight the culture of death. The Church has problems when one separates life from the act of love. It is not difficult for us to numerate the many ways we can do this in our scientific sophisticated society.

The bishop stresses with our scientific technology there is the danger birth and death  are for us to  control and manage; they are simply our possession, and we can choose to do what we please.

Sad is the reality that a  great number of Christians do not see  this as influencing who we are, determining the way we look upon life, and preparing the society in which we will live.

Catholicism from Cradle to Grave

Institutions have a bad press, and the multinationals probably more so. The Catholic Church seen only historically is the oldest and largest institution and multinational in the world. Depending on your viewpoint, one  can see it as corrupt, the whore of Babylon, reason for our problems; the world would   be better off without it. However, you have a  smaller number who see the Church as a messenger of good news, at service to the world, presenting us with an ideal of beauty,goodness, truth and oneness for earthly life.

Since it is made up of humans and not angels it will have the faults that we all have: as humans have evolved so does the Church. To return to a time in history, and see the failings and shadows and not see it in context, and prefer to remain there instead of seeing the growth in the Church, and the wisdom gained from the failures is not altogether honest.

Even those who have great dislike for Catholicism in their moments of objectivity have to say that many of the things they consider precious have come from the Church. It has influenced much of what we now live and breathe, and we need not see it as anything other than a human institution. Of course, Catholics see it more than a human institution.

A Peace Weekly columnist reminds us of the  English Labor Party's motto after the Second World  War:  to  guarantee from  cradle  to death  a minimum standard of living for all the citizens. They wanted to rid the citizens of their anxieties. Many other countries of the world had the same ideal, but we have still not seen the reality; it is a  ideal that  many harbor, whether facilitated by government or by society.

In a little different direction, the Church has a program from cradle to grave in helping one to open themselves to graces to live life fully in the here and now. We have the actions of Jesus in the Sacraments that accompany us from the cradle to the grave with many other helps to live a life full of meaning and joy. Excluding the material well being there is nothing like what the Catholic Church offers members of the community. Sadly, not even acknowledged by many who belong to the community.

In Korea only  20 percent are attending Mass on Sundays. Only 30 percent frequent the Sacraments. A lack of interest, busy in making a living, the attraction of material life and pleasure militates against wanting to be spiritually mature-- expense of church attendance can't be discounted. Temptations that  keep one from living life more fully and opening ourselves to the graces that God wants to give to all.              

With Courage Moving Ahead

A Salesian priest in the Catholic Times' View from the Ark mentions the  experience he had  recently in attending  a general meeting  of the  members  at their  Roman headquarters. What he knew from the news,  he heard directly from those who were involved. One superior from France  mentioned the closing of  monasteries because of  old age and the lack of vocations. One superior of a community was in his 90s. 

France called the eldest daughter of the Church is in a feeble state bringing much sadness to many. But France is not alone we have Spain, a country once the van guard of mission, and Italy its headquarters, are all in the same state of lethargy.


Superiors of communities of the different countries were grabbing the columnist by the arm asking for missioners to come to their country. Europe is in serious trouble. Overcome with secularism, materialism and a small birth rate  has changed the environment and the Korean Church is following  them. The future of Korean Catholicism and the religious life is not bright. 

We need a check-up on the health of our Catholicism. We are suffering from the hardening of the arteries.  We need a lively conversation between pastoral workers and laity, a bonding  between rich and poor, communication between the young and old, and a  connection between city and country. We do not see the problems in society, and are in search of what makes us feel good, a religion that doesn't cost,  darkens the future. We want to cut out the part of the Gospel with the passion. We are only interested in earthly blessings and what is good for family-- a very immature spirituality. 

In the history of the Church we have had many false prophets. They have pretty much concentrated on some  common elements: reasonableness of absolute moderation, examination of oneself according to religious teachings and preferring not to see the absurdities and cruelty in the world, confuse many with flowery language. Today we have those who sing out the 'no disease and long life' mantra, everything will turn out as we want; we are guaranteed heaven. 

Who is true shepherd and who is the  hireling  requires discernment on our part. The real prophet is only interested in transmitting God's message to the people. The true prophet was not afraid to use the rod to warn against sin and debauchery.

What is the traditional teaching of the Church? We  are full of faults. We will be met with pain, failure, wanderings, twists and turns, but all crosses have meaning.  We are invited to move with the cross one step at a time. We don't give up, trust in God's mercy, take courage and move ahead.

Failure to Understand the Gospel

'Catholics Protecting the Republic of Korea'  made known at a press conference, the list of 100 priests who they considered friendly to North Korea, against the United States and the Korean Government. The Catholics protecting the country made it clear they were not condemning the priests but only wanted them to repent and be converted. They are sick and tired of activist priests, and think they represent the ordinary believers.

Similar protests are seen in many other countries where those who see the social aspects of the Gospel as important as the spiritual. We are made up of body and soul and Jesus made it clear that the commandment to love includes God and our brothers and sisters. This  holistic understanding of the Christian message is understood by most, but here in Korea as in other parts of the world, many have difficulty when the Church speaks about social issues.

A large number of  Korean Priests  have been vocal on the side of the social Gospel from the time of the  democratization in Korea. Catholic Priests' Association for Justice played a big part in moving to democracy when they began in 1974. Sad, when we have Catholics fighting over what should be understood by all as integral to our message but  in the minds of many, it is not having problems with the way it is done, where a difference of opinion would be expected, but the confrontation seems to be religion has no place in the public square.They want the priests to stay with the spiritual.        

In the Pastoral Bulletin one of the priests whose name was on the list of one hundred writes about his feelings on seeing the list. He admits that in every group or organization you have a difference of opinion. If we are not to go contrary to our beliefs, we are free to express our opinions frankly.

However, there are limitations on what we  say,  especially when names are made known. Even in society to say something false about another is libel, and there are  criminal  penalties-- no small matter. In the list was the name of his bishop. Seeing the name of his  bishop he was astounded, and the names  of two other bishops were also on the list.

Looking over the 'Catholics Protecting the Republic of Korea', he gives us his thoughts on the subject. They want the priest to repent and be converted and he can't figure out what they have done wrong. He is willing to even put his priesthood on the line to defend his bishop. He has not heard one word, seen any action that was contrary to his  calling as a priest. How can one without hesitation show this kind of disrespect. 

What have these Catholics done for their fellow human beings who are on the periphery of society? His bishop, in a general meeting of the priests, has requested when he visits a parish every thing be done simply.  He asked the priests to put no burden on the parishioners when they are assigned to a parish or on their feast days. They are also giving 10%  of the income from  Mass stipends to help the poor. Does it make any sense to criticize this bishop. He's surprised to see how many Catholics have allowed this to continue. The language they use is far from what we would expect from those attending the same Mass. To the credit of the priests' association they have kept relatively quiet in the face of the criticism.