The Word Dignity: Misapplied and Misused

The following article in the Current Diagnosis of the Times column of the Catholic Peace Weekly by a scholar in life issues shows how the word dignity is misapplied and misused.
 
"Human beings have dignity." A statement in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Every time she hears this statement, she feels elated. "Yes, I am a dignified being!" So, when did my dignity begin? The answer to this question is surprisingly simple. From the moment she became a human being, the moment she began her life journey,  none other than the moment of conception.
 
So when will my dignity end? The answer to this question is also simple. The moment that human life ends, it ends in death. So far there seems to be no problem. However, we humans are sometimes tempted to arbitrarily decide on what to do with this dignity. In particular, with the development of science and technology we can intervene at the beginning and at the end of life, the temptation continues to increase.
 
If you look into the discussion of bioethics, you can sometimes feel deep regret about what is discussed. "Why are you so anxious that you can’t kill them?" Whether it's the beginning stage of life or the end of life, there are certain standards which when not met we prevent life. At the center of this kind of talk is the disregard for the dignity that comes with life.
 
For example, the meaning of 'death with dignity, which is spreading through the media in our society, is being turned into an expression that glorifies 'euthanasia'. The word euthanasia is derived from the Greek words 'eu' (good) and 'thnatos' (death), meaning good death. Today, however, euthanasia has lost its traditional meaning. Rather, it refers to death intentionally caused by the administration of a toxic substance or the omission of essential treatment. However, 'death, being killed' is increasingly glorified as if it were a dignified death. Many people misunderstand that Korea's "Hospice, palliative care, and life-sustaining medical decisions laws" as partially legalizing euthanasia.

Life-sustaining treatment decisions when the patient has no hope with continued medical help can be suspended. The distinction between killing and allowing to die helps differentiate between deaths we are morally responsible for and those for which we are not.
 
However, it is regrettable that many people tend to focus only on the suspension of life-sustaining treatment. The Life-sustaining Treatment Decision Act aims to "protect dignity and value as a human being" by ensuring that dying patients can die in care for their last hours while minimizing pain and receiving basic medical practices, including nutrition and hydration, even if they stop life-sustaining treatment.
 
We can never call "being killed" a dignified death. Consequently, we can read our society as a culture that seeks to defend the "death of being killed". They say that neglect of the meaning of "concern" and "care" leads to neglect of life. Humans are beings who rely on each other to live "I can take care of someone or be cared for by someone." It is at the beginning and end of our lives that we need care the most. Therefore, requesting and guaranteeing care at a time when it is most necessary for us is to protect our dignity as humans, turning a blind eye to this care and defending killing is not respecting the dignity of life.

Desire for a Synodal Church

 

In November, face-to-face activities that for nearly two years were curtailed are now showing signs of recovery. Following the quarantine guidelines adjusted from the end of October, the number of people who can participate in Mass has increased, allowing them to go comfortably to Sunday Mass without worrying about restrictions. In the Eyes of the Believer column of the Catholic Times the director of a Theological Research Institute gives the readers her thoughts on Synodality.

Several times she arrived at church early on Sunday morning and was not able to attend Mass because the quota was filled so she began to attend the young people's Mass. Since few young people attended Mass the adults were helping liturgically and there were always vacant seats. In a church where thousands of believers belong, the 90 person limit at the youth Mass was filled with gray-haired believers, the young people were rapidly disappearing from the church in the pandemic.

Some young people are worried about participating in religious activities since they are not vaccinated and are concerned about infection. However, it is questionable whether all these young people have disappeared for that reason alone. Those she meets in the parish have expressed similar concerns. She is worried about the future of the church. Perhaps this is one of the urgent tasks for the church in the corona era.  

She thinks the 16th World Bishop's Synod, which opened not long ago, is an invitation to share these concerns. The two-year journey with the theme, "For a synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission" is the first phase of the synod process and has begun at the parish level.

However, it may be only her parish but the church is not providing any guidance or explanation to the believers other than handing out synod prayers and holding the closing prayer after Mass, so the opening or progress of the synod is not experienced by the parishioners. 

She didn't understand the meaning of the first words used for the synod 'walking along on the road to agreement' and when it was changed to the Latin word 'synodalitas' it seemed to her that it made the topic of synod more difficult for laypeople. 

The biggest characteristic of this synod is not delivering the results of discussions to the Holy See or the bishops, but on the contrary, to first fully listen to the voices of the faithful and the world and find the path of evangelization together by carefully identifying the tasks of the church. 

The goal is to restore the synod spirit of a 'going together church'. It is a 'church living the synod spirit' to accept that the operation and mission of the church is not only the responsibility of the clergy but the work of all of us who make up the church, to participate and practice it together. 

One of the important highlights of the Synod is the 'Sensus fidei' (a sense of the faith on the part of the faithful). This is explained by the Pontifical International Theological Commission, as the 'feel of faith', the instinct for the truth of the Gospel given to the faithful by the Holy Spirit at baptism, "a continuous discernment of how the members of the Church, as individuals and communities, live, act and speak in fidelity to the Lord." 

To this end, she thinks that the main task of this synod is to create a church structure that listens to the voices of the laypeople and to work together to develop a sense of faith for believers to discern and pursue the evangelical life. As Pope Francis said, he hopes that this synod will not end with being just an event but will be the beginning of a process of learning and experiencing the path of a church that walks together.

The Church And Poverty

 

In the list of the beatitudes, the first: "How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In today's world these words mean little but when you remember that Jesus spoke these words in the world of the Roman Empire they not only sounded crazy but were rebellious. The Catholic Times' Light of the World column gives us the reason this poverty is the way for the church.
 
Have you experienced poverty? How was it? In short, it was miserable. There is nothing more painful and sad than forced poverty. Happiness cannot be bought with money, but poverty also does not guarantee happiness. Rather, the insight that wealth brings happiness and poverty brings misfortune is more realistic. Camus even says that it is spiritual vanity to say that a poor person can be happy.

Recently, poverty experienced by presidential candidates has been used in their approach to the citizens. Does it mean that you know the situation of the socially disadvantaged well because one has experienced poverty? The writer hopes that happens! This is because poverty is a common problem that must be solved by working together. Poverty is passed down through generations endured with discrimination and oppression. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "hope belongs to the poor and humble of the Lord; be prepared and zealous to help the poor." The Catholic Church has traditionally expressed love for the poor (Option for the poor).
 
There are many statements about church and poverty. Among them, it is said that "the church must follow the path of poverty, obedience, service, and self-sacrifice that leads to death". But why should the Catholic Church go down the road of poverty? You need capital and financial resources to build,  for efforts to love your neighbor, and continue programs that help the marginalized.
 
However, there is something that takes precedence. It's "to remain in a lowly position." When you get rich, you stay away from the poor. Also, if the church fails to be poor it loses its prophetic vocation, the right to speak of justice and fairness. So poverty is the way of the church.
 
 It is certainly not easy for a community of faith to choose poverty while facing the temptation of prosperity and the misery of poverty at the same time. However, the long history of the Church has given us examples of poverty of those who gave up their wealth to serve God. The joy of the gospel does not lie in worldly prosperity. Rather, it springs from poverty and detachment. That joy flows down to the lowest places, like water flowing down, and becomes abundant grace for all.
 
Poverty and detachment are the paths through which grace flows and the path the church must follow. It is also the spiritual way chosen by those who want to make the Lord's way in the world. As we ponder social doctrine with our readers, we are increasingly convinced that Christian participation in society must be witnessed together with the joy of the Gospel. This is because only the joy of the gospel presents true love, faith, and hope, and leads to the right path of faith.

The writer reflects on what kind of poverty is hidden in this age of abundant affluence. Isn't that the life of knowing God and living as if not knowing Him? So is this not sad knowing the way to freedom and joy and still choosing to walk in the dark?

The poverty that is imposed and unjust the church must continue to eradicate with the help of society and work to show the beauty of the minimal life and the life of simplicity and the spirit of poverty. Pope Francis said that poverty is at the very heart of the Gospel such that "if we were to remove poverty from the Gospel, nothing would be understood of Jesus' message."

Corona Pandemic Survey Within Korean Catholic Church

 On the front page of the Catholic Times was an article on the recent survey made on the future of the Church after the Corona pandemic. The survey showed that it brought meaning and crisis to the lives of many Catholics and the church's need to know the direction in which the world is going. The survey was a joint effort of the Catholic Times and 'Our Theology Research Institute'.

The aim of the survey was to discover the changes in the daily life of the believers and their religious practices after dealing with two years of the pandemic. How will this change in the consciousness of the believers affect the life of the church in the future and what are the ways the church will face these changes in the pastoral life?

It was a random selection of 4879 laypeople, 175 priests, 384 women religious, 44 men religious, for a total of 5482. A survey was made in May of 2020 by the 'Our Theology Research Institute' this is the second one on the pandemic situation in the church. The first survey was made when we had no Mass for over two months. This survey was made after 1 year with certain restrictions, but Masses continued, and comparisons were made.

This present survey has clearly shown that the crisis feeling of the believers has weakened. In the first survey, the religious life of the believers was the biggest change with 90.7 % response, but in the second survey, it decreased to 34.1%. Also, awareness of the importance of faith and the church community decreased from 89% to 76% in the second survey.

While the sense of crisis was blunted, there was a high awareness that the role of the church for the Christian life has to change. Respondents answered for the most part that the most important pastoral activities after the pandemic was to seek a new role for the parish, to shift from the liturgy being the center to faithfulness in the daily life of the believers.

The ordinary understanding of our religious life: liturgy, devotional activities, requires we re-examine the meaning of faith and the religious life centered on the liturgy and pious activities, which were previously considered to be the religious life, they are experiencing a crisis and are demanding new answers.

The church's common concern is interest in the world and our neighbors and agreed to by almost all. The respondents wanted to learn how to live in the world with this priority. Not only the individual believer but also the community has to learn how to face the world.

 Many of the respondents hope that Synodality (all the members of the church walking together) which has begun will bring a change in the pastoral life of the church.  Most of the respondents thought that the church is managed for the most part by the clergy. One-third of the laity said the ideas of the believers don't reach the clergy and hope this will change with Synodality.

Aging In Place

Amid the recent aging phenomenon, there is growing interest in ending one's life in a dignified old age. The term 'Aging In Place' (AIP) emerged from such interest: 'to age continuing to live in the family home or community. In the Catholic Weekly, a member of a North East Research Institute gives us some thoughts on the subject.

  

This concept is suggested to overcome the shortcomings of leaving the home or community where they lived and going to facilities such as nursing homes when faced with long-term care. This has become the common way for many families.

The writer whose mother has died but before her death, the situation in the family required that she go to a nursing home. The mother did not want it and was heart-rending for the son. He also thought that focusing only on these facilities might become like the modern version of Goryeojang. (In ancient Korea the taking of an old person out to the mountains to die)

Hearing of AIP, he thought of the separated families. In general, separated families can be divided into those who broke up after liberation, those who broke up after the Korean War, and those who broke up for other reasons.  

Where is the 'home or community for these elderly separated families? Of course, there is a saying, 'hometown is the place you love', but for many of these elders, they can't for a moment forget the land where they were born reappearing even in their dreams. As the Ministry of Unification continues to show interest in the 'Hometown Photo Exhibition of Dispersed Families', which is currently being held at the Unification Observatory to comfort separated families and displaced people. He thinks the answer might be 'hometown'. 

 

In the recent political season, each party is electing a presidential candidate, and various pledges for unification, diplomacy and security are presented. He hopes that some of the candidates' promises will be the AIPs of separated families. He wonders what it would be like to reunite on the same day near Gaeseong, close to the metropolitan area, let the separated families visit hometowns, exchange pictures of their hometowns, create a burial place in their hometown for the deceased, and create a joint memorial between the two Koreas in the DMZ.

 

Of course, this will require a response from the North. On the other hand, there seems to be an objection to whether forcing a connection with your hometown even though the place where one is currently living fits the concept of AIP. However, because the current separation of separated families is not 'voluntary but forced', it does not seem appropriate to judge from our own point of view. 

 

To this end, the continuing efforts and great determination of the leaders of the South and the North are required. He is concerned that North and South Korea may be perceived by the international community as a pathetic nation that cannot solve the problem of separated families. Living in old age with dignity is a human rights issue that applies to all.

Empathy

The head of a counseling center gives the readers of the Catholic Times some thoughts in his column on what is meant by empathy.
 

How to win people's hearts without spending money? The answer is empathy. Empathy is reading the heart, understanding feelings, and being with the other person. Empathy is the best way to win people's hearts.
 
As psychologist Carl Rogers once said, "People are moved when they receive full empathy." It is the same as being in a home or church. Most of the people who ask for counseling because of marital problems, instead of listening to the other's story and trying to understand, in many cases they fight by pouring their own grievances onto the other.
 
It is no exaggeration to say that most marital quarrels begin with a lack of empathy. Housewives, when their husbands yell at them, "What do women do in the home all day long?" who will say, "Oh, your right." Most of them will shout: "Oh, then I’ll make the money, you can do the housework!" And when the wife disparages the husband: "The men in other households make good money. Why are you like this?" Where is the husband who will say, "Oh, you’re right~ I am not a very capable husband? I am sorry."
 
The same is true in the parish. If you look at the cases in which believers follow a parish priest and when he leaves will remember him, it will be because he was able to empathize with the parishioners. When one of the faithful comes late for Mass, and the pastor during the sermon looks at the believer and says: "You have had a hard time coming. Sit down and take a deep breath", all the believers are moved.
 
However, if you shout: "How can believers be late for Mass?" or shut the church doors, the parishioners are left with scars, difficult to heal.
 
Most of the priests who scold and glare at believers do so because most of them have a personality disorder. At the same time, they take pride in acting like a pastor, but in reality, they lack empathy. The same goes for the assistant priests.
 
Children will not approach priests who punish children for chattering throughout Mass. Really wise priests read the minds of children. A certain priest saw the children talking during Mass and pointed out the child who was the loudest. Then he said, "Hey man! You look like so and so ( a well-known actor) so why are you talking so much?" Suddenly, the child shouted: 'Wow'! And from that day on, the child who heard that he looked like a famous movie actor changed.

We have affective empathy, emotional understanding; somatic empathy when even the body is moved; and cognitive empathy is understanding the other's mental state. Compassion and sympathy usually involve more of a passive attitude while empathy is a much more active attempt to understand the other person. As they say, it's walking in the other person's shoes for a while.

Fertility Rate and the Church

 

All of us look at the world from different mountain tops which we have built up over the years. Our experience, knowledge, family, environment, religious beliefs or lack of them, and many other elements make up who we are and what we hear and see. In the Catholic Peace Weekly, an article on the declining birthrate is a serious concern for the country and the church.

Developing countries usually have a higher fertility rate for many varied reasons, developed countries' fertility rates are usually much lower. Birth control methods are easier to obtain and women often choose a career before becoming mothers.

According to the '2020 Birth Statistics' released by the National Statistical Office at the end of August, the number of births last year was 272,300. Compared to the previous year, 2019, the number decreased by 10%, or 30,300. Compared to the 1.10 million births in 1970, at the height of the second baby boom, the annual number of births decreased to less than a quarter (-73.1%) in the past 50 years.  

The total fertility rate was 0.84, down 0.08 from the previous year, the lowest since the birth statistics were compiled in 1970. Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world. Among the 30 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, Korea is the only country to have a fertility rate of 0%. Israel had the highest total fertility rate of 3.1, followed by France at 1.83, the US at 1.71, and Japan at 1.36, with most countries accounting for more than the mid-1%.

To increase the proportion of infants and toddlers, it was suggested that the church should actively open the church as a space for child-rearing and more active religious education for infants and young children.  

With the birth rate falling sharply, the church has a bleak future. According to the ratio of believers by age in 2020 announced by the Conference of Bishops, there were 37,358 believers aged 0-4, and the ratio of believers to the population of the same age group was only 0.6%. 

In 2010, the number of 0-4-year-olds was 68,139, 1.3% of believers. According to the Bishops Conference, as of 2020, 83.8% of 1,767 parishes nationwide, or 1481 parishes, are operating Sunday schools. The number of Sunday School students in 2020 decreased from 2019 by 24.2%. or 21,643.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the current plummeting fertility rate and the sharp drop in the ratio of young people are combined, it is expected that more parishes will face great difficulties in operating Sunday schools within a few years.

A priest in Seoul said: "I think this low fertility rate is perhaps a warning signal for the future of our country. The church needs to play a bigger role so that we can raise the fertility rate." The church can take interest in infants, material support for single mothers and pregnant women, the spread of prenatal meetings and infant education, and the expansion of daycare facilities in parishes. Running a nursery class, where young couples can bring their children to the church to reduce the burden of childcare.

Another priest has suggested that the church should open the parish grounds to the neighbors. "If the reason young people are not getting married now is because of the burden of childcare, it would be good to use the church space as a kindergarten, etc., and use it as a space where young people can have and raise children with confidence. Let's open up the church's space to society and share it with all.

It is difficult to find Catholic parishes that link childbirth, care, and education issues to encourage childbirth. Some Protestant churches are much more active than Catholics.

The competition in Korea is fierce and the young see the prospects of a family and children as a great burden. Certain areas have understood the situation and have become very family concerned with free kindergartens and trying to change the economic situation and atmosphere of the neighborhood to family-orientated needs.