The Sergeant Who Didn't Give A Damn

One of our Maryknollers who died in 2002, Fr. Roman Theisen, wrote a booklet titled People I Love. In the dedication he wrote: " The Good Lord has Blessed me with His Love and with the Love of many good Friends both in my homeland and in the "Field Afar". I will, at times, take from the booklet and paraphrase his vignettes for the blog.


Between the Parish and the Tribunal I was swamped with work, and already tired just thinking of it.

The Sister Secretary of our Seoul Archdiocesan Tribunal seemed frightened as she ushered a big U.S. Army Sergeant into my office. "Good morning, Father. Our Chaplain sent me to see about my marriage. I was married in the Church and divorced some years ago. Now I'm remarried out of the Church. The Chaplain said I should see you to get straightened out. I don't really give a damn about this religious stuff. But the Chaplain is a good Joe and I don't want to hurt his feelings. I thought I'd humor him."

I sighed, and thought of the hours of work it would take to process this man's case. And this for a belligerent bore who didn't "give a damn".

I felt anger rising within me, but I was too tired to throw him out. I took him through the questionnaires and obtained the other documents necessary. It turned out the Tribunal was able to grant him a declaration of nullity for the first marriage.

He returned to the Tribunal as belligerently as the first time, even refusing to sit down. I told him that the tribunal granted a declaration of nullity for his first marriage and he will be free to marry his present wife in the Church.

The big man looked at me; his face showed complete astonishment. He sat down. Tears flowed down his cheeks and he began to cry. When he regained control, he said quietly: "Father, this is going to be a very Happy Easter. My wife and I haven't been able to receive the sacraments for twelve years."

I wondered, "How many hurting people hide their hurt with a 'I don't give a damn?'"

Is the Latin Mass Necessary in Korea?

My colleague over in Western Confucian has a report on the "first Mass" in 40 years celebrated here in Korea. Check it out here.

I was surprised to read the report of a Traditional Latin Mass that was held in a church in Yongsan. It was commented that no Catholic media was present or any welcoming by a bishop, even though this was the first Latin Mass in Korea in 40 year. I can certainly see why and sympathize completely with the Church approach to this attempt to introduce the Latin Mass in the Country. It is not coming from the Korean Christians themselves.

In many parts of the Catholic world there is a legitimate desire for the Latin Mass but I believe that it is a mistake to think that the Catholics here in Korea have a desire for the Latin Mass. Most of our Christians are very recent and have no idea of what the Latin Mass is. We in Korea have not been polarized as many parts of the Catholic world have. We also have the Society of Saint Pius X in Korea with its strong desire to return to the pre-Vatican II days. I can see how the Church in Korea is not too happy to see a return to a time that most of our Christians do not miss or have any idea of what it was like.

It was reported about 200 attended the Mass. Those present, it was mentioned, were unfamiliar with the Latin Mass and the kneeling and receiving on the tongue was something they were not used to seeing, but commented on the reverence that was shown. There are many times when a person prefers to receive on the tongue and this is appreciated but you also have, very rarely, those that come to communion and want to receive kneeling. The Korean Church is probably one of the best organized and obedient Churches in the World. There is a problem when all is from above but the Korean Church is a young Church and the Christians are intelligent and zealous, the laypeople very active. We will be seeing a maturity and hopefully not with a loss of the unity, Church harmony and docility of our Korean Catholics.

Korean Catholics and the Environment

Everybody is talking about ecology these days and we as Maryknollers also have that as one of our concerns. What is involved and how we should go about it is not always easy to decide.

Our bishop. who is chairman of the Committee for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, in his recent message on World Environment Day : said that to have the government propose the “Green New Deal” and “the 4 river project” and to destroy our ecological system is a serious contradiction. To work to improve the financial situation of the country at the expense of the environment is meaningless.

The bishop feels as many others do that the “4 river project” is another way of trying to get the canal project from Seoul to Busan reinstated with a different name without the lock gates. This plan for the canal was shelved because of citizen opposition. It was to be waterway from Seoul to Busan. “We will resist the government’s actions to disguise the canal plan in the name of improving water quality“ is the cry of the opposition.

The government’s proposal sounds great: enough water supply, flood control, water quality improvement and ecosystem recovery, the creation of areas for cultural and leisure activities, regional development centering around rivers.

The problem with many of these great ideas is the price that has to be paid is not part of the reflection. The concern is with the economy and what it will do for the country.

The Korea Times reports that in December 2007, researchers claim they found the first bed bug sighted in Korea in 20 years. And they say it must have come from America, perhaps with a recent transplant from New Jersey.

This was sent to me by a Maryknoller . It was taken from a University of Mass. Amherst, Magazine.

Bed Bugs Are Back

Bed bugs, once nearly eradicated in the built envioronment, have made a big comeback,
especially in urban centers such as New York City. In the first study to explain the failure to control certain bed bug populations, John Clark, veterinary and animal sciences, with colleagues at Korea's Seoul National University, shows that some of these nocturnal blood suckers have developed resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, in particular deltamethrin, that attack their nervous systems. As these pests have evolved to outsmart the latest generation of chemicals used to control them since DDT was banned, the reserachers summarize that diagnostic tools to detect the relevant mutation in bed bug poplulations remain "urgently needed for effective control and resistance management."

The Catholic Saving Our Farm Movement

Yesterday we had some Catholics who came for some mountain climbing behind the church. They looked around the property and saw a lot of plant lice on the trees and plants and told me to do some spraying. I told them I was trying to make the area ecologically a garden of Eden. One man overheard the conversation joined and mentioned that tobacco put in water for a period of time makes a good herbicide and is organically permitted. I can see myself going around looking for cigarette butts to prepare the material to spray.

In Korea there are many who have taken up organic farming and the Church in many of the Dioceses have Save Our Farm Movement which is strong and doing well. The third week of July is Farming Sunday in Korea. After the Uruguay Round Agreement the Church thought it necessary to get involved with the farmers and tried to give them hope for the future. It has established its identity as a movement that protects agriculture, farmland and ecology, and its main thrust is organically grown food, normally devoid of pesticides and herbicides.

There are many parishes that have an outlet for food grown on organic farms, selling directly to the consumer. The products grown on these farms are more expensive and that is a big problem in having the movement grow but it is continuing slowly having spread to all the dioceses in Korea.

This movement within the Catholic Church started in 1994 and continues to grow with its blessing. It is also spreading to the livestock farmers who few, are trying to raise the animals entirly on organic feed without any antibiotics. In this present edition of the Catholic Paper there is the example of a sole farmer who is growing pigs completely on organic feed without any antibiotics It is an interesting endeavor and hopefully these farmers will get the necessary coperation of the consumers.

The Friends I met in North Korea

The following are a few vignettes from Fr. Gerard Hammond's recent trip to North Korea.

“The friends I met in North Korea” during a recent visit with humanitarian aid for T.B patients (I have changed the names of the friends I met in the North).

This spring, I met Park Jung Ok, at a Tuberculosis Center in North Korea where I helped deliver medicines. As I remember the joyous look on Park Jung Ok’s face as she hugged the box containing her first six-month supply of TB medication.The woman had a husband and a six-year-old waiting for her at home. I prayed that she would take her medicine faithfully, recover, and return to her family. Each visit brings hope. Providing good, long-term treatment to TB patients in the political context of the North-South divide is not easy. But each time I visit North Korea with my fellow medical missioners, I have hope. That’s because I witness first-hand how love and prayers are touching the hearts of patients who struggle each day against despair.

Kim Min Chul is 37. He had been treated for TB but relapsed and needed follow-up care. “I have made a quick recovery because the staff has treated me like family, and made sure that I took my medicine on time. I promise to continue this “forced march” for another year and make a complete recovery!” Thank God, Min Chul is doing well.

Ri Hyun Suk’s story is sad, but I pray for a good outcome. She developed a resistant form of TB that required special medications, which we were able to provide. Soon her appetite and color returned, but her spirits remain low. “Sometimes I wonder if I can make it,” Hyun Suk told me. “I have a 10–and a 12-year-old at home who are crying to see their mother. You have brought this medicine to help and I’m going to try. But this is such a vicious disease. Do you really think I can get well?”

Dr. Kim Pyong Ho had once complained about the severe cold that winter brought to his medical facility in the North. “We just installed the efficient coal briquette heaters that you brought us,” said Dr. Kim. “Now our patients will be warm and happy. We are thankful that you have solved a big problem for us!” Our generator project is another sign of hope. Because of sporadic electric power supplied to hospitals in the North, diagnostic equipment isn’t always usable, and caregivers can’t depend on continuous electricity, even for emergency surgery.
But conditions are starting to change. Our generator projects, deliver dependable electricity to a handful of hospitals with more to come. Doctors and other caregivers can do their jobs with much more assurance. And patients can return to normal lives.

Since beginning our medical missions. I have visited the people of North Korea many times. I fervently believe that if we can stand with them side-by-side against a terrible disease like TB, then one day we will bring reconciliation between the North and the South. With God’s grace, I hope to be the apostle of peace who did all he could to make this dream come true.

Korean Politics after Death of Roh

On the front page of today's daily paper we have a picture of President Obama walking hand in hand with Nancy Reagan the wife of past President Ronald Reagan. The caption on top: "Their Government and Our Government". This is something they would not ordinarily see in Korea: the present administration and the opposition hand in hand. Many of the Koreans do have a very idealized picture of the kind of government we have in the States.

The scenes they do see on Korean TV are fist fights, emotional outbursts, and the brawling during the sessions. After the death of past President Roh, the feeling of many is that the suicide of Roh was brought about by the unfair dealing with the opposition. This is fueling the antagonism that was there but taking it to another level.

There are many of the opposition who are coming out with statements against the present government's approach to our democracy. Many in the universities are coming together to oppose the way the government is dealing with many of the liberties that the citizens have gained over the years.

There are many in our Korean society who disagree strongly in the way he chose to end his life but sympathize greatly with what he tried to do.There are many Catholic in this number who have been very much for President Roh and felt that he was trying to do something to minimize the gap between the rich and the poor. Fr. Pak the executive officer of the Committee for Life in Seoul said ... "We should respect his desire to make a society that would respect the poor."

The difference between the "conservative" and "liberals" here in Korea on social issues would be very similar to those in the States. For many Roh was the American Obama.

Catholic Teaching on Dying

In a recent decision by the Supreme Court in Korea the doctors treating a comatose woman were told that the life support must be removed as her family requested. This is the first time the court has ruled in favor of a patient's right to die. This decision by the court can be interpreted in many different ways but it did not judge for euthanasia which is the way some are taking it.

The Church in a case where there is no hope of a person in a vegetative state trusts the decision of the medical team who are the specialist to make a conscientious judgment on the continuation of medical treatment.

According to an article in the Catholic paper this week the Church is now concerned with the different words that are being used with different meanings by many in our Korean society. The Catechism of the Church says:“Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted.”

The problem comes when the words that are used have different meanings. “Death with dignity” , “Prolonging life”, “Life with no meaning”,” Passive Euthanasia”, These are words that do not mean the same to everybody. We have a problem with terminology. The Church’s thinking in this area goes back 500 years it is surprising how even within the Church there is not always the same understanding of the terms.

"If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for its sake. (Catechism)

In Catholic Teaching it is very clear that no one is required to continue medical treatment that has no prospects of improving ones health.