Loss of Humanity

The Catholic Now/Here news site used an article translated by a German professor who is now retired but continues to reside in Korea, translating and teaching German. The article from an Israeli Daily was published on their website, and below is an English translation.

Gideon Levy, a reporter and co-editor of the Israeli daily Haaretz, has watched with horror the fundamental changes in morality and values ​​that the year-long Gaza war has brought about in Israeli society. On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other armed groups in Palestine attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people, and Israel responded with an unprecedented military operation in Gaza. The number of Palestinian deaths has now exceeded 40,000.

The massacres and targeted killings of civilians, as well as the unimaginable destruction on the part of Israel, are justified by three basic arguments: First, the October 7 massacre was a result of the bloodthirsty, innate brutality of the Palestinian people living in Gaza, without any specific context. Second, all Palestinians are complicit in the crimes committed by Hamas against Israelis, and therefore all Palestinians are collectively responsible. Third, these two arguments lead to the conclusion that Israel can do whatever it wants after this horrific massacre, and no one has the right to stop it. This right of self-defense applies only to Israel, not to Palestine.

In Levy’s view, this power granted to Israel to exercise unlimited violence and to ignore all norms of international law and human rights has resulted in the legitimization of barbarism both in the actions of the Israeli military and in Israeli socio-political discourse. He says that Israel has lost its humanity by glorifying the power of killing. Any expression of compassion or humanity for the suffering of Palestinians has been erased from public discourse, and such views are censored on social media, Levy says. Even Israelis are treated as criminals by the authorities in such cases. Yet the horrific and miserable inhumane conditions in Gaza are rarely reported in the Israeli media, which is instead full of hatred and racism against the Palestinian population. 

Levy sees the Israeli media’s response to the killing of the Hezbollah leader in Beirut as ethically abysmal. For example, a journalist on a popular TV channel handed out chocolates to passersby on the street during a live broadcast, while another journalist wrote on X: “the leader was crushed in his bunker and died like a lizard... a fitting end for him,” Levy said of the report. “The Nazis called Jews rats, but the Hezbollah leader  was a ‘lizard’ in the eyes of the Israelis.” A few days earlier, there was a similar euphoric reaction when hundreds of pagers and radios were detonated in Lebanon, killing dozens and injuring thousands. This act, which could be interpreted as state terrorism under international law, was instead praised as a stroke of genius by the Israeli Secret Service.

Shockingly inhumane statements can be found not only in the media but also in academia.  A professor of history at Tel Aviv University, is known as one of Israel’s most popular Middle East experts. He sees the starvation of civilians in northern Gaza, who were unable to follow Israeli military orders to move south, as a natural consequence. In a TV interview: “Anyone who stays in the area will be considered a terrorist by law and will be subject to starvation or extermination.” Another professor has called for the Israeli military to now occupy Gaza, and a prominent historian, has even openly advocated dropping a nuclear bomb on Iran. These individuals appear to be far more radical than the current leaders of the Israeli military and security services. 

In addition to their work defending potential war crimes and the Israeli occupation of Gaza, they are also engaged in a campaign to demonize Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. A  university lecturer said Israeli academics have been trying to rally public support for the Israeli military’s destructive actions in Gaza. To do this, they openly call for ignoring valid international law. For example, one scholar believes that the rules that work in the West do not apply to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying, “If you try to solve the Middle East on Western terms, you are doomed to failure.” People with this mindset believe that Israel should be proud that it is not a liberal Western democracy. “These scholars want Israel to follow the same path as other Middle Eastern countries,”  “That means Israel will also adopt an authoritarian order in the region. They believe that is the only way for Israel to survive in the region.” 

A prominent Palestinian human rights lawyer, expressed his fears in an interview with the Guardian that Gaza is in danger of becoming a “graveyard for international law.” 

Sourani founded the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in 1995 and was part of a team of South African legal experts who brought charges of genocide against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on December 29, 2013. He lived in Gaza until October 2023, when Israeli authorities detained him six times and charged him with terrorism. That month, a 900-kilogram bomb completely destroyed his home. 

This happened after he was interviewed by Amy Goodman, founder of the American left-wing television-radio-internet political magazine Democracy Now!. Fortunately, he escaped safely with his wife and son, but he is convinced that Israel targeted his home. He vowed never to leave Gaza, but the threat of being killed led him to seek asylum in Cairo. He was a sharp critic of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) inaction in response to Israeli abuses. 

He recalls a conversation with Luis Moreno Ocampo, the first prosecutor of the ICC and the predecessor of the current prosecutor, Imran Khan, who said that Ocampo told him that he could not take action against Israel without the permission of the US government. Incumbent Imran Khan, who in May 2024 filed an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu and the recently dismissed then-Defense Minister Galland for allegedly starving civilians in Gaza for their war-mongering and targeted killings of civilians, believes Khan is also being overly cautious. Sourani believes that if the ICC had intervened sooner to protect Palestinians, the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, could have been prevented. Instead, Israel has been receiving a steady stream of signs from the US and Europe that “Israel is untouchable and will not be held accountable.” The Netanyahu government has now gone one step further in its mockery and disregard for international law, launching a direct military strike on UN agencies in Gaza this October.

A Transcending Love—

Copernicus overturned the conventional idea that the Earth is the center of the universe and argued that the Earth and the planets revolve around the Sun. A Catholic University priest's 'Preciousness of Faith' Column in the Catholic Peace Weekly reminds us of this transformation, which changed many people's vision.

Although this change in thinking was difficult to accept then, no one now thinks the Earth is the center.

The reason why Christian faith is difficult is because it requires a kind of 'Copernican revolution.' Pope Benedict XVI said, "If I were to summarize the entire Christian faith in one word, it would be love that has achieved a Copernican revolution." In other words, if until now the center of the world was 'me,' and everything revolved around me, for Christians, the center now becomes  God, and everything revolves around Him. He has bestowed overflowing love and grace through Jesus Christ upon us.

However, real life does not seem easy. It may seem impossible because we realize we are selfish and weak humans. The writer remembers a language school teacher who said he hated putting himself in someone else’s shoes while studying abroad in France. He meant that although he spoke from someone else’s perspective, he could only think, experience, and speak from his own perspective and could never understand someone else’s perspective.

One of the humans' greatest limitations is that we cannot completely make someone else’s situation our own. The writer's mother once said this when she was alive: “Oh, it’s so hard. What can I do? I can’t be sick for you.”

But if you think about it, we also know how to be sick for someone else. When a child gets sick, parents can’t sleep and stay up all night with their eyes wide open next to the child. What happens to a friend, acquaintance, loved one, or someone we love feels like our business. Can we really call ourselves human if we just pass by someone dying? Passing by someone who is mugged or assaulted on the street may be the best way to avoid harm, but people who listen to their conscience act immediately without concern for their safety. This is because they consider it their own business, not someone else’s.

When the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in the United States, a French seminarian friend of the writer said that he could not eat for several days. He said it was because of the shock of the terrorist attacks. Isn’t it true that someone who realizes the misery of those on another continent is related to me and sharing their pain is truly human?

 We believe that Jesus transcended the limitations of others. He experienced the pain, sorrow, and suffering that people experience. He made everything that humans experience, even death, his own. He sweated blood and suffered in agony before death and confessed that his heart was so troubled that he was ready to die. He suffered all kinds of insults and ridicule during his suffering and death on the cross; he became someone abandoned by everyone.

But that was actually a sign of God’s love for us. It is a love that goes beyond the boundaries and gives everything without leaving anything behind, a love that ‘gives’ even the last breath.  (See John 19:30.)

The Copernican shift of love is difficult, but it is definitely worthwhile. It fills this barren world with humanity, as Jesus did, and allows people to have hope for one another.

A Gaza Child's Will And Last Testament

 

In the Peace Column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, the columnist examines the tragedy of war, not the least of which is what it does to those who experience or hear about it and have to live with its effects on our ability to empathize— "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."

"I read the will of a young girl who died defenselessly in the ravages of war. My heart ached, and I was so angry that I cried all night." This article is titled "A Gaza Child's Will," published in Al Jazeera, a leading media outlet in the Arab world, on March 3. 

The protagonist is Rasha, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed on September 30 after being bombed by the Israeli army while staying at home. Why would a child who should be pampered by his parents and play with her toys write a will? The will contains the trauma and helplessness of war and the purity of family love.

The main character is Rasha, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl who died on September 30th from an Israeli bombing while at home. Why did a child who should have been with her parents and playing with toys write a will? The will is filled with the trauma of war, helplessness, and the purity of family love.

“If I become a martyr or die, please don’t cry for me. Your tears will make me suffer. Please give my clothes to those in need. Give the accessories to OOO, etc., and the bead box to OOO. 50 shekels a month’s allowance to OOO, storybooks and notebooks to OOO, toys to OOO, and please don’t scold my brother Ahmed. Please follow my wishes.” (Rasha’s will)

Rasha and her 11-year-old brother Ahmed’s house were first bombed on June 10. They barely survived that time and lived in fear of war and hunger, but three months later, on September 30, their house was bombed again, and the two siblings lost half of their faces and eventually died. No one in the family knew about Rasha’s will until she was buried in the same grave as her brother. The person who made the will known was Rasha’s uncle.

Since the surprise attack by the Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7 last year and the retaliatory attack by Israel, the number of innocent children has continued to increase over the past 13 months. 16,700 children were killed and 17,000 lost their parents. Al Jazeera reported that the apocalypse (end of the world) is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. The UN Secretary-General is appealing to “stop ethnic cleansing,” and an Israeli historian criticized, “What has Israel learned from the Holocaust?”

As Pope Francis warned: “War is a defeat for everyone, with no one winning.” In particular, the killing of children in war is a destruction and abandonment of the future. The Pope appeals for an end to war, asking what children and families, the first victims of war, have to do with war.

Parents who have lost their children in war are not alive. Can there really be a future for parents who cry while holding the bodies of their young children? There is only fear and dread. The Pope said: “There are words for those who have lost a spouse or a parent, but there are no words to comfort parents who have lost their children.” No matter how good the words are, they cannot comfort the pain of the bereaved (the loss of a child before their parents or grandparents)  can only make it worse. The Pope recommends we listen to their words, approach them with love, and take responsibility for their pain.

For whom is the war taking place around the world? It is a tragedy caused by the greed of a very small number of powerful people. Those who started the war are criminals. Countless children’s wills are still buried in the ashes of war, and children are writing their wills in fear of darkness.

Anyone can write a will. However, we must prevent countless children like Rasha from having to write their wills out of fear of war. The ones who should be writing wills are war criminals. Instead of writing wills, we must beat our hearts as sinners who will stand one day before the Lord. 

"It is regrettable that the anger and prayers of humanity, yearning for peace and calling for an end to war, go unheard. As adults coming to the end of the month of remembering the dead, instead of writing only a personal will for the distribution of inheritance, how about writing a will that reflects and shares our social responsibilities and roles in the face of the crisis of human extinction?"

What is a true Friend? Martini Martino (1614-1661)

We have often heard that the Catholic Church in Korea started within the country when some of the educated class read books from China by Jesuit missionaries. In his 'Sunday Talk Column' of the Catholic Times, a professor of Korean literature gives readers some background on an issue some scholars at that time found interesting. He has translated the works of these scholars with notes on the texts.

'What is a true friend'? The definition of a friend, the joy of fellowship, the proper way to socialize, and even distinguishing between real and fake friends are included.

The first line of Matteo Ricci's "On Friendship" begins with the phrase: "Friends are the second self." This short sentence hit East Asian intellectuals hard. The enthusiasm for this book by the so-called Yeonam Group was awe-inspiring. Traces of reading this book were unexpectedly widespread in the anthologies of that era.

The professor following this trail encountered "On Friendship" (逑友篇) by Martini Martino (1614-1661), known in China as Wei Guangguo (衛匡國). It was an expanded version of Western friendship theory about 60 years after Matteo Ricci's book was published in 1599. While reading the book, he was surprised to realize once again that the illustration included in Chapter 2, "Distinction between True and False Friends," was the source of our Korean folktales, well-known as "The Test of Friendship Between Father and Son" or "True Friendship."

The son boasted that he had many friends. The father, trying to test his son's friendship, asked for help after an accident. The story goes that when all of his sons friends refused to help him, he went to find his father's friends, and they offered to help him without a second thought. 

In March 2023, as his last semester of study began, he was in Boston, Mass,  for six months.  He searched earnestly for materials related to these two books at the library. A considerable amount of materials was found. He looked through Martini's various Latin works on China and his complete Italian collection and collection of essays. He also saw four other portraits that remained in the West. After returning home, he organized and translated the "Jiaouron" and "Guyoupian" that had sparked a craze for friendship in East Asia and published "Chinese Scholars Discuss Friendship" (Kim Youngsa).

As soon as the vacation began at the end of June 2024, he went to Hangzhou to visit Martini's tomb near Hangzhou University. Martini, who was tall and had a spiritual appearance, after death his body did not decompose for decades, causing a stir among the local believers, who worshipped him as a god.

The tomb was preserved with only the remains of the one destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The words "Wei Guangguo Missionary Memorial Hall" were engraved on the marble gate tower on a Gothic column at the entrance. The inner pavilion had "Tomb of the Cultivators of the Holy Teachings of the Lord" written on the front and "Resurrection of the Body of the Believers of the Faith" engraved on the back. In a communist country, the tomb of a Western missionary with an inscription that said he believed in the resurrection of the body was being managed and preserved as a cultural relic. 

Standing in front of the tomb, which was in disarray due to rain and construction work for a new renovation, he had many thoughts. He was lost in thinking about the path that led these Chinese Jesuit missionary efforts, whose scholarship reached Joseon (Korea) before the clergy or church was present, helped change minds, and became a providential hand to change the world.

Ecological Progress in Korea

The editorial of the  Catholic Times newspaper congratulated the efforts of a parish in the  Diocese of Daejeon as the 19th Catholic Environment Award winner.

A new Catholic ecological committee held its first symposium in early December to find ways to activate environmental awareness in Korean parishes and develop an ecological liturgy.

They met to discuss and implement the Pope's encyclical Laudato Si, in which Pope Francis critiqued environmental degradation and climate change. Many have seen the need and moved differently to bring about change.

"Until now, the Catholic ecological movement was led by priests. Now it is time for all the faithful in Korea to show their voice as the 'green church,'" was the voice of one religious sister.

A  liturgy professor at the Major Seminary said they can change parishioners' consciousness by inserting ecological themes in general prayer intercessions, adding ecology-related scripture readings, and composing hymns about preserving the environment.

This year's theme is 'Carbon Neutrality through Renewable Energy Conversion'. The selected Parish was recognized for its efforts to overcome the climate crisis and preserve the order of creation by building a solar power plant and supplying renewable energy in accordance with the spirit of 'Laudato Si'.

The climate crisis refers to a crisis common to all of humanity caused by greenhouse gases generated by humans' indiscriminate use of fossil fuels. These gases increase the Earth's temperature and damage the ecosystem and natural environment. 

What is serious is that our country is going against the global trend of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Korea is taking the opposite path of responding properly to the climate crisis, such as indiscriminately developing new airports, building new coal-fired power plants, and promoting nuclear power.

In the midst of this, the winner of this year's Catholic Environment Award shows an example of responding to the climate crisis at the parish level. The parish has significantly reduced carbon emissions by installing solar power plants and improving energy efficiency. In addition, all parishioners have actively participated in ecological and environmental pastoral activities and have built solidarity with neighboring parishes and local communities beyond the parish. 

Korea is not alone in slowing down the change process. Most of the world now accepts the issues involved with the climate crisis. However, misinformation and myths are still being spread, harming environmental progress in many areas.

We believe that Cheonan Parish's ecological repentance and activities can and should be spread to all parishes nationwide. If all parishes in the Korean Church actively take on this effort to protect our common home, we are confident that Korea would be an exemplary response to the climate crisis.

The Church Is Not A Museum

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The recent issue of the Catholic Times had an article on a professor emeritus and the need for inculturation as an essential future of the Church; otherwise, as Pope Francis said, the Church would become a "museum."

Father Stephen Bevans (Professor Emeritus, Catholic Divinity School of Chicago) visited Korea from October 16 to 25. He expressed concern that "inculturation has 'cooled down' throughout the (universal) Church". He said, "In the motu proprio Ad Theologiam Promovendam, Pope Francis urges theologians and the Church to engage more with local cultures and contemporary thought."

Father Bevans has been a professor at the Catholic Divinity School of Chicago for over 30 years and has served as president of the American Missionary Society, member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and member of the World Mission Commission of the World Council of Churches. He is a world-renowned scholar of inculturation theology.

"Repeating traditional phrases or words, even if they are orthodox, is not enough. Our faith must be expressed in a way that modern people can understand in their language, culture, and experience."

In particular, the 'contextual theology' established and systematized by Father Bevans was dealt with significantly in the motu proprio "For the Advancement of Theology." Contextual theology is a theological method that interprets the traditional wisdom of the Church while considering the experience of each believer or faith community in the cultural and historical situation that can be called the current' situation.' In the motu proprio, the Pope emphasized that "contextual theology must be prioritized" while discussing theology consistent with the synodal and missionary Church.

Father Bevans said: "Contextualization goes beyond the concept of inculturation and also includes the realities of modern secularity, technology, and the struggle for human social and ecological justice." He added, "As Pope Francis puts it, only by doing contextual theology can we' advance theology' in today's world."

"I think Korean theology is a treasure little known to the universal Church. There have been many writings and theological conferences held regularly. Still, they have not been translated into other languages, such as Western European or Asian. Hence, they are not easily accessible to other Christians."

Father Bevans, who visited Korea at the invitation of the Institute for Korean Christian Thought, gave various lectures for believers and held symposiums with Korean theologians during his visit. He hoped that the excellence of Korean theology he experienced would be widely known worldwide.

Father Bevans especially praised Monsignor Sim Sang-tae's theology (John the Baptist, Suwon Diocese ).  "I hope Monsignor Sim's collection of essays will be translated so that more Christians worldwide can access his profound thoughts and scholarship."

Father Bevans plans to continue interacting with Korean believers through his writings. "Contextual Theology" and "Mission of Prophetic Dialogue" have been introduced in Korea, and his new book, "Community of Missionary Discipleship," is about to be published in Korea.

"One of my great hopes is that my book will help the Korean church practice synodality. The synod is under suspicion in many countries, especially among the clergy. I hope my book, which emphasizes missionary ecclesiology, will help Korean believers and other Christians trust each other more deeply within and among churches."

The 'Compassionate Heart

The distance Jesus keeps in the Gospels allows us to understand what kind of love he has. The priest columnist in the 'Preciousness of Faith' gives us a meditation on this issue...

From the beginning of his public ministry, large crowds came to Jesus. So many people even tried to touch him that Jesus told them to prepare a boat for him to board (cf. Mark 3:7-10). This was to keep his distance from the crowds. 

Early in the morning, Jesus left the crowds and went to a solitary place to pray (cf. Mark 1:35). He even withdrew to the mountains alone to escape the crowds who wanted to make him king (cf. John 6:15). In Caesarea Philippi, following the confession of faith by the Apostle Peter, Jesus foretold his future suffering, death, and resurrection. When Peter strongly resisted, Jesus rebuked him harshly: “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mark 8:33)

All of this was a necessary distance because the salvation that the crowd expected was so different from the salvation he planned.

But that distance was ultimately to become one with us. The best expression of this is ‘compassion.’ Compassion is an expression that often appears in the parables. 

Jesus felt compassion when he saw the crowds, who were like sheep without a shepherd, and he taught them many things (see Mark 6:34). He felt compassion when he saw a leper who desperately begged for healing. He healed him (see Mark 1:41). He felt ‘compassion’ when he saw a widow who had lost her only son and was holding a funeral. He restored her son to life (see Luke 7:13). Jesus’ compassionate heart was a heart that sympathized so much with the plight of others that it made him feel their suffering as if it were his own.

Jesus made not only the painful lives of humans but also their fates of death his own. On the eve of his Passion, when he was overcome with agony before death, he felt such extreme pain that he shed blood and sweat. On the cross, Jesus became one with all the abandoned of the world by crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34), and by breathing his last on the cross, he became one with all the dying of the world (cf. Jn 19:30).

All of this stemmed from Jesus’ mercy and love for humanity. Only in mercy and love did Jesus overcome all distances to become one with us. This is the way Jesus loves. Jesus distanced himself from our thoughts, and at the same time, he went beyond that distance to become one with us. By distancing himself, Jesus allowed us to seek, ponder, and find his will. 

Sometimes, his thoughts are so different from ours that they seem too unrealistic, so we turn away from him. However, in life, trials and crises come, and in painful moments, there comes a moment when we realize that he is already within us. When I was sick, tired, exhausted, and lonely, he was already in pain with me.

When we look back on our lives and realize that He has always been with us in every twist and turn, we open our hearts wide, face Him, and find that our hearts are transformed like unto His. In this way, we become like Him and become one with Him in love.