Foreign Brides for our Korean Men.

My pastor mentioned the difficulty he has with a Vietnamese bride of one of his Catholics. She can't speak Korean and he has to prepare the necessary paper work for the marriage. This is not an uncommon occurrence in Korea these days. One of the newsletters mentioned a priest who went visiting one of his parishioners who is Vietnamese with a Vietnamese Religious. They seemed like a happily married couple, poor, the daughter in law faithfully studying her Korean. He left with a prayer that this happiness he saw would continue.

There are over 127,000 foreign wives in Korea.They come from ethnic Koreans in China (48,888), China (30,845), Vietnam (20,942), Philippines (7,601), Japan (5,949), Taiwan (2,043), Russia (877), the other countries (6,806). Taken from Ministry of Public Administration and Security for 2008.

Some of these are happy but many of them are limping along. There is often age difference, language, culture, the mother-in-law problem, poverty, the desire for the homeland. A priest who has the responsibility for social issues in his diocese was very upset by the part the brokers have in recruiting brides for the farmers. He maintains international marriage brokers are responsible for much of the unhappiness experienced by migrant wives. A considerable number of Korean men pay large sums of money to brokers: their foreign wives are considered possessions they have bought and demand obedience from them. Many of these brokers consider themselves saviors of the farm youth and the foreign girls who want a better life. The girls are sacrificing themselves for the family to get a dowry but most of the time it is a pittance. The brokers are in it for the money and many times our Christians are in this trade. There is not sufficient time to get acquainted; they want the money and rush matters which is not good for the union. The farmer has a debt to pay back and the young woman does not know what she is getting into. This does not foretell a happy life.

The priest's dream is that the farmers get a good price for their products, the Korean young girls stay on the farm to marry and the brokers find other work. Males outnumber the females in Korea: in 1998 for each 100 females at birth there was 110.2 males. This ratio has been reduced but the men will be dealing with these figures for some time to come. The government knows the problems that this is having on the country and family life and doesn't know what to do. They have taken some steps to regulate the brokers, and to educate the brides and even programs for the husbands but it will take a great deal more. The government has tried hard to help the farmers but it seems like a losing battle. The Korean farmers do not have the land under cultivation to be competitive and when free trade comes it will be an impossible situation.

Anyone Not Against Us Is With Us

A meditation by a priest in a recent newsletter on the words of Jesus in Mark 9:40 : "Anyone who is not against us is with us."

We live , are brought up and die in a society that considers our affiliations very important. The writer loves to travel with his backpack and visit the different villages. When he meets some one at the entrance of a village he spends some time in small talk and goes on his way. In conversation an older person will often ask for his surname. When he responds and the person who asks has the same name, often there is rapport that wasn't there before; when the name is not the same there is a distancing in the relationship that he can almost feel. (The most common Korean surnames are Kim, Lee and Park and these are the names of almost half of the ethic Koreans in South Korea. )

Why should that be? he asks. The same name, hometown, school, same military bind us together. If we do not have these common elements there is a wall that can intervene and separate us. They can also separate priests from one another. When we begin to separate into factions we are far from wise: if he belongs to my team I am interested if not, I am not.

When this becomes a way of life it doesn't matter what a person does but to what group he belongs. It doesn't just stop here but those who are on the side lines are made to join. Are you with me or against me? And even worse forced to either be on the team or get lost.

This is an ailment of our society. There is no effort to embrace the other: are you with the flow or against it? There is a polarization that makes the wall even higher and makes us less wise .

It is necessary to have a vision. With a vision we want to embrace, work for unity, move peoples' hearts, work for solidarity: we begin to walk in the same direction.

We as Catholics know well that Jesus wanted us to be one. It was his last words. We are Catholic, a very beautiful word, beginning with a small letter: magnanimous open, universal, broad, comprehensive, global. With the capital letter it should mean all of these and more. If we consider this our vision as Catholics then it will overflow into our relations to others who are not Catholic: a community that is open, understanding and loving even when we do not agree. This is possible.

Overcoming the Disabality of Deafness

In the latest Pastoral Newsletter Kim Ki Chang (Peter) was mentioned as a good example of one who was a mentor to many disabled people. At the age of seven, the result of Typhoid Fever he became deaf. He attended school but his deafness prevented him for learning, so he spent the time drawing in his notebook. The mother seeing the notebook introduced him to a famous artist for instruction. The mother a very devout Christian was a teacher in a girls' school. She instilled in her son the courage he would need to surmount his disability.

One day coming home from school, in a dejected mood, the mother took his hand and wrote on it: "even though you can't hear don't lose your passion for life." Not long after his mother died from a heart attack. It was a big blow to Peter and he lived through a very difficult teenage period. He often reflected on what his mother wrote on his hand. In his reminisces of his younger years this is the way he expressed it. "I was made fun of by the village children and the object of their stone throwing. I made a decision to become a Judo 3-dan , started working out and began to practice not to cry."

He became a famous artist,the painting in Korean style at the beginning of this blog is a good example of his religious art. He received many awards, taught many disciples, helped many in society who were disabled like himself. He died in 2001 and at the Mass in Myong Dong Cathedral Cardinal Kim in the sermon mentioned the many difficulties he had to surmount and the help he gave to others in similar straits .

We have the recent history of the first deaf Korean who became a Catholic priest,the first in Asia, despite insurmountable odds against him-check this article. There are many in our society who have shown great strength of character, overcoming serious disabilities. The example of the first Korean deaf priest shows very vividly the trials that one has to face doing something for the first time. Those who follow will have an easier time thanks to the trailblazers.

Korean Catholics in Mission Overseas

The Catholic Church in Korea is young and ready to begin in earnest going out to others. Many young people in the future will give themselves to the mission effort of the Church. We mentioned in yesterday's blog the words of the archbishop of the Orthodox Church in the way he looked at evangelization. He mentioned a number of times that you can't force the faith on anyone. The Orthodox Church does not have the history that we have in this area. That is probably one of the reasons they are so adamant in not wanting the Catholic Church to proselytise in Russia. We say that we are not but that is not the way it appears to the Orthodox. We did follow the guns and swords of the conquistadors in South America and the results are there for anyone to see.

In Korea the faith came without that baggage but with the blood of the martyrs. It suffered which
made it a strong Church. The future of the Church in Asia will depend a great deal on the Korean Church.

The Catholic Korean Mission Society was established in 1975 and now has 56 priests and 34 seminarians. Two Maryknollers are helping them in their formation program. They have missioners in Cambodia, China, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Taiwan , Russia, and Mozambique.

Besides the men who are sent out by the Mission Society we have many other men and woman sent by the diocese , religious groups and societies of apostolic life. The Colomban Fathers have a lay missionary program working in the formation and sending of lay missioners overseas.

In this present issue of the Catholic Peace paper there is a brief sketch of Fr. Han Yeong-wan (John) who as a seminarian in 1985 for a diocese here in Korea offered his services to the diocese of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He was accepted and the following year left for Ecuador. He was ordained in 1988 worked for 5 years in a jungle area, two years on the Amazon River working among 5 native tribes and in 1995 became the first pastor of the Sacred Heart parish in which he worked for 15 years. It is about half the size of Chejudo Island with 40,000 Catholics and 60 mission stations. He returned to Korea this May for a heart operation and to recuperate and will return next year to Ecuador.


The work is very hard and despite 500 years of Christianity they are far from the status of Korea with a much shorter history. They all have their children baptized within a year but it is to ward off the punishment of God. It is like a charm against evil that the Koreans are familiar with. "Let alone knowing about prayer and sacramental life, not a small number even know how to make the sign of the cross," he says. They need the help of missionaries to educate them to what they have received. There are 120 Korean priests, religious and lay people working in Central and South America at present.

This sending of Korean Missioners is just beginning. The Protestants have many times the number of the Catholics but there is a noticeable difference in the approach of the Catholics and their efforts to follow our Lord's mandate to evangelize. A foreign missioner seeing this ferment in the Korean Church adds great joy to his last chapter of life.

Eastern and Western Ways of Evangelization in Korea

Today is Mission Sunday in Korea and a time to reflect on the last words of Jesus to the Church. We will be hearing many different talks during the Masses on Sunday but let us look at the mind of the Eastern Orthodox Archbishop in Korea. His words were the head piece of the Catholic Times this week.

The Orthodox Church with its Russian presence is the closest to Korea but it was the Western Catholic Church that came to Korea. The Easter Orthodox have never been strong in the kind of evangelization that the Western Catholic Church is known for and listening to the words of the archbishop one easily sees why. They were in walking distance to China but it was the Western Church's books on Catholicism that the Koreans brought back.

The archbishop in his words to the interviewer defined evangelization as a life of humility, a life of witness and of light. In asking the missioner and cleric what is the meaning of evangelization he answered, "Giving a good example, we can't force faith on anyone. Jesus said to his disciples follow me only if you want,that is all."

The Orthodox have been in Korea for over a hundred years and have 14 parishes with 3,000 Christians. Their way of looking at evangelization is certainly not the same as the our Western approach. However there is some very attractive elements in this passive attitude. One of the sermons for this Sunday a priest mentioned the martyr Hwang Il Kwang's words: "I was born in the lowest segment of society and up to now have never received the respect given a human being. In becoming a Catholic it was not any teaching or human wisdom but the Catholics' way of life that taught me the truth of Catholicism. For me there are two heavens. One of these I have yet to reach... the other is this present life. The yangbans (higher class of society) treated me, who was considered no better than an animal, as a brother, a member of their family, when we recited the rosary to God our Father and the Blessed Mother, we did it together and we suffered together. If I die now I have no regrets"

There probably should be a lot more of the eastern approach to Evangelization in our western methods. Jesus certainly wanted us to speak and to go out to others when the occasion warrants but it would be affecting change in a deeper way if evangelization began with ourselves and was the motivating focus of our communities.

Korea Against Sexual Abuse of Minors

The Catholic Press is mostly concerned with internal Catholic matters be they local or worldwide. They leave for the most part the concerns of our larger society to its press. In recent weeks in cyperspace a great uproar, crying out to heaven for redress: sexual crimes against our young people. The Catholic Times has an article with the heading: "Our embarrassing self portrait 'our insensitivity to sexual violence against minors'."

Last December there was a horrible incident in which a 57 year old drunk, recidivist, raped an 8 year old girl in such a way that the girl will be an invalid for life. When the Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison and the electronic anklet for 7 years and this became public, the uproar was great.

This incident circulating in cyberspace and the petitions, have been making the rounds asking for a harsher punishment. In one day on one of the portals, there were more than 200,000 who signed.

The United States has been enlightened to the price these young people and their families have to pay when these crimes are committed. It is not a one act and all is over incident, in the lives of these victims. The Catholic Church unwittingly and unwillingly was center stage in the unfolding of this part of our recent State-side history. Hopefully the clerical abuse was so upsetting that it gave all a new awareness of what sexual abuse entails.

Korean Society is beginning to realize this is an area that has not been allowed to see the light of day. Most of the society does not know what is involved in these crimes or how frequent they are committed. The number of such crimes against children has also increased over the years. Men seem to be more callous. The articles mentioned that many men do not commit sexual crimes against minors but when they buy sex are committing a sexual crime. This is tolerated in Korean Society although illegal.

The gist of the article is that there has to be a change of thinking before any thing will happen. The clamor that we have been hearing will subside and every thing go back to normal unless an effort is made for change. One has to know what is involved in sex crimes and change our thinking on what is to be done. There is no safe area or safe person when it comes to these crimes. The Koreans are a very understanding people when it comes to sexual offenses and this is often a plus but not in this area of minors.

This is an area that has to be probed . Children are taught to be obedient to their elders, part of the culture, but as the article stated when persons start to touch the bodies of the children they should be taught to say stop I don't want you to touch me. This will take time and a long period of reeducation and change.

At present many of the crimes are settled with the mutual consent of the parties with parole, or fine, only about 27% go to jail. This will undoubtedly change but the area of sex in our society has to be examined beginning in the home, church and society and grasp what is happening in this important area of life.

The Humble Will be Exalted

The words of Matt. 23: 12-13-"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles himself shall be exalted," we hear often and many are the ways we explain it. Here is a Korean's understanding of what is meant and not meant.

1) A life of unconditional declining.

2) No matter where one goes to take the last place.

3) Always refuse to be praised.

4) To walk with heads down, backs bent and eyes to the ground.

5) None of the above.

The author of the above says it is surprising how many would subscribe to the 4 above.
He goes on to explain that we have to see another dimension to what is being said. To use spiritual language it is not to inflate ourselves. It is not to lie or see ourselves as more than we are.

How does one know he is inflating himself ? He then lists some of the characteristics one would be showing . He uses the persons opposed to Jesus in the Gospel as the foil to explain what is meant.

One who has an authoritarian attitude. and does not allow for disagreement.


Those who are fastidious about their dress.

Those who try to raise themselves at the expense of others. Those who see the world ending any day now with God ready to punish. They are passing themselves off as the the just ones, the exalted.


This is a different way of looking at the words of Jesus but with good reasons for their understanding.