Interview with Korean Ambassador to the Vatican

Korea's new ambassador to the Vatican, Han Hong-soon, appointed last year, gave his guarded opinion on a few subjects dealing with the Korean Catholic Church in an interview with the Dong-A-Ilbo.                                                  
The ambassador was the head  of the Catholic Lay Apostolic Council of Korea and knows the Church well from his many years in positions of authority. He was one of five members selected in 2008 to the Vatican's International Council on Financial Matters. Previous ambassadors were career diplomats, but his background is in academia, receiving his doctorate in economics from the Roman Gregorian University; he taught  economics for over 30 years in a Korean university. He did not look for the job, he said, and when it came, he suddenly felt like the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusulem for the last time.

Asked about the future of the Korean Church with the retirement of Cardinal Chong: there will be changes. The Cardinal had submitted his resignation before his 75th birthday as is required. (Cardinal Kim's resignation was accepted when he reached 76.) Cardinal Chong is now 80 years old and his resignation has still not been accepted. He is highly respected in Rome, said the ambassador, and in canon law few are his peers.

To the question what  did the Pope say about Korea when he presented his credentials, he answered that the Pope said that Korea has gone from a receiving Church to a giving one, and  a great deal is expected from such a large group of educated Catholics.

He was asked about the possibility of another cardinal for Korea. (Japan, which has only 500,000 Catholics, had  two  cardinals in years past.)  The ambassador mentioned that Cardinal Kim, on his visits to Rome, had asked for another cardinal, and that he also will when the occasion presents itself. Korea, he said, is entitled to another cardinal. 

The interviewer asked about the priests in the Catholic Peace and Justice Committee ,who were asking for the Cardinal's resignation. A position criticized  by many lay people. When asked what the Vatican thought about this issue, he said they were pleased with the way the Cardinal handled the situation.

The ambassador also discussed, off the record, some of the possible candidates who are in a position to follow Cardinal Chong, and when asked about one possible candidate, who is not on good terms with the Government, he had nothing to say.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The Goal of Religious People-- Living in Harmony

"The basic norm for religious people to live in harmony is to respect and understand one another. We have to rid ourselves of self-righteousness and exclusiveness." These are the words, quoted in the Peace Weekly, of Archbishop Kim of Kwangju, the new president of the Korean Conference on Religion. He  is also the president of the Korean Bishops Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Inter-religious Dialogue.

The Archbishop said that Korea is a department store-like country when it comes to religions. He aims to try to work for an understanding among religions. Remembering the conflict recently between Protestants and Buddhists, he was moved to work for harmony among the different religions.

"Korean people have a respect for  different religions," he said. "It is part their religious nature." The beautiful coexistence we have had, and continues to exist, was broken by only a small  segment of Protestant fundamentalists and should not be seen as a Protestant problem. We have to make efforts, he said,this doesn't happen again; these conflicts are not easily understood by the majority of our citizens.

What I hold with great value, the archbishop said, I should see others holding with the same value. He reminds us of the Korean expression to put ourselves in the other person's shoes when we are tempted to speak or act in a critical manner.

During his two years as president, he said he would like the religious people of  Korea to help establish a bridge of communication with the religious groups in North Korea, in order to begin solving some of the smaller problems between us.

When religious people  get involved in  societal and political issues superficially, without great thought, it can be understood as demagoguery. We need more study and self-reflection on our problems,not only to point out the problems but to look at them from our religious outlook, to diagnose and offer directions for the future.

He hopes that the Korean academic worlds of philosophy and theology will show us ways to look on our long-standing problems from different vantage points, giving us hope and a vision for a better future.

Conversation With Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk

On March 18,  Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk will be celebrating his 50th year of priesthood. It is rare for an ordinary in office to be celebrating his golden jubilee. In a two-page spread in The Catholic Times, the managing director reports on a conversation he had with the Cardinal.

The cardinal recalled his years with thanks for the great love he has received despite what he called "his many failings." He was baptized in the cathedral parish of Myong Dong, served as an altar boy and said his first Mass in the Cathedral, and now lives in the Cathedral parish.

                                                      

As an only son, in the past he would not have been accepted for the priesthood because of the cultural expectations for an only son in  Korean society. He recalled mentioning to his mother his desire to be a priest, knowing the difficulties this would cause her and even expecting some opposition on her part; if so, he was prepared to give it up. However, she wasn't surprised, suspecting that was his intention from the time he was an altar boy. But to go to the seminary, he needed the permission of the bishop, Archbishop Ro Ki-nam, who had been assistant priest at the  Cathedral  for 12 years, during which time the lay head of the parish was the Cardinal's grandfather. Archbishop Ro often visited the family and knew it well. The mother, once she knew the desire of her son, went to see the bishop to get permission and persisted even though he was opposed. She finally got her way. The Cardinal remembers his mother as a person with the faith of Abraham.
 
I became acquainted  with the  Cardinal's mother  from the time in my  first parish in Incheon, where she was a parishioner for a few years. She was, a very happy, devoted and outgoing person.

The Church in Korea when he was ordained, the Cardinal recalls, had few members. While in Rome for studies he was often asked where he came from; he would  ask them to guess. Usually the response  would be Japan or China, in that order; Korea would come in about 10th. Korea at that time was largely unknown to the Europeans and even more so when it came to the Korean Church. 

The Cardinal remembers the time after being appointed bishop of the Cheongju Diocese, when there were only six Korean priests and 20 Maryknoll priests in 22 parishes. When he left to become the ordinary of Seoul, the 100th Korean priest was ordained for the diocese.
 
Asked about problems encountered during his 50 years as a priest, he said that not all has been peaceful but does not remember any really serious issues. There was always someone there to help him, he said, and his habit of writing a book each year of his priestly life also helped him overcome any difficulties; he devotes at least one hour a day to writing. 

His hope for the Church is to have us more concerned with evangelizing ourselves and the Church. We are always being called, he said, to change and to be renewed, which was also the subject of his pastoral message this year. With this way of thinking, the Cardinal feels the new evangelization will take hold and spread.

 May the Cardinal continue to be blessed with  good health and happiness, and continue to write a  new book each year for the rest of his life.                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Distractions in Prayer

The Koreans have a great respect for ritual and rites, partly because of the Confucianism that has influenced the culture. As a result, our Catholics find it easy to adapt quickly to the liturgies and rites of the Mass, which are performed with a great deal of devotion and attention, also evident when performing other spiritual exercises. 

In a recent article in the Catholic Times, the columnist refers to some questions he has received on what to do before the Blessed Sacrament when in prayer. How long should one spend in meditation? Should we use the Scriptures? What should we do with our hands? What is the best posture?

Although they have tried, when before the Blessed Sacrament, to leave the body by closing their eyes, the mind goes from one thought to another in an endless stream; trying to keep the mind centered is difficult. As the Koreans say, 50,000 thoughts come to us in a day, and during our prayers is the time most of them seem to appear.

"Today is not my day to meditate!" may be the distracting thought that may come during our time before the Blessed Sacrament. The word for distractions in Korean is a 'mind that is divided'. Whether we want them or not, distracting thoughts are always with us. To be completely free from them would mean not to be among the living, and, the columnist laments, some do in fact  rid themselves of distractions by taking their own life.
 
When it comes to how much time should be devoted to meditation, he recommends doing away with the idea of obligation by making every moment a sacred moment, like our breathing. The less attention we give the distractions, the better; without our attention keeping them in mind, they will come briefly to life and just as quickly exhaust themselves.

Today, the first Sunday of Lent we meditated on temptations. The distractions we often experience when praying are like little temptations. The meditation for today, in the Magnificat Magazine--from Fr. Walter Hilton, who died in 1396 -may be helpful in dealing  with distractions: "... temptations no more defile the soul than the barking of a dog or the bite of a flea. They torment the soul but they do it no harm if they are despised and set at naught. It is not wise to fight directly against them and to seek to be rid of them by force, for the more one fights against such thoughts, the more they return."

Flower Day Morning Art School

The Peace Weekly editorial reported that about 100,000 students stop their schooling each year. To help solve the problem, the Catholic Church has for some time set up alternative schools, both sanctioned and not sanctioned by the government, for those who find it difficult to attend the government schools. Some of the alternative schools follow the basic curriculum of the government schools. Of the 170,000 students eligible to attend these schools, only about 5000 are taking advantage of the opportunity. The alternative type of schooling would also help prevent the many North Korean children now living here who cannot attend the regular schools from losing out on their basic education. 

This month, the  Flower Day Morning Art School began its program for students.  For those who dream of working in the field of art but because of family poverty are not able to pursue the dream, this school will make the dream possible. There are dormitories and a beautiful campus, it will begin with nine students. The efforts of many were required to bring the dream into reality. The school, the project of the Seoul Young People's Group, is free for those with artistic gifts and too poor to follow their dreams.

6000 sponsor-contributors have made the dream possible; 28 have volunteered their talents and 3 have been hired as teachers. This is a work in progress and an attempt to give hope to many who have talent in the arts but because of family conditions can't avail themselves of the chance to study.

Eligible students will have graduated from middle school or have the equivalent of a middle school education. Those who graduate from the three-year course at the school and have  talent, will be given scholarships to go  to college.

Courses will include computer graphics, metal arts, pottery the plastic arts, creative use of natural dyes, and much more. Classes will be small to provide more personal attention. The Flower Day school is a wonderful dream come true. Hopefully, the sponsors will help keep the dream alive for many of our young who because of family circumstance would not have been able to realize their dream of what could be. For those who can read Korean the web site: http://www.flowerdaymorning.com

Overcoming the Obstacle of Stuttering

On the  spirituality page of the Catholic Times, the columnist discusses how a young  religious overcame an inferiority complex and now sees that affliction as a blessing.

The columnist recalls the long talk he had with the religious, who had doubts about his vocation right up to the day he was ordained; the reason was his stuttering. He wondered whether he could be a  good  priest while having feelings of hopelessness. This showed up repeatedly when he was in the choir, and it was his turn to lead the prayers, which would then bring back stress and despair into his life; the negative feelings about himself resulted in a dislike for his brothers, who he believed were laughing at him, making his despair even worse. 

When he considered what his life would be like after ordination, with his stuttering before the Christians, he became more irritated with himself and embarrassed. Thinking of leaving, it happened that he was visited by an older priest who came to  see how he was doing. He told the priest of his feelings of helplessness because of his stuttering. The priest told him that during the litany of the Mass of ordination,  he should ask God for what he  dearly wanted, and it would be given to him.  He wondered whether it was right in such a public situation to ask for something so personal. The older priest told him you will not know whether God will take it as a personal request for a healing or use your stuttering for something else.

"God," the priest said, chuckling as he left the room, "can use your stuttering for the good of others." His words stayed with him, and during the ceremony the next day he was at peace. When he lay prostrate on the floor during the litany he prayed, "Lord, please at least when I am speaking your words to others let it be without stuttering." From that moment on whenever he said Mass, gave a sermon or spiritual talks, he has never had any difficulty. At times in conversations with others, he will stutter a little,  but not in his work as a priest. 

Looking back on his life as a religious he's grateful for the inferiority feelings he once had. Even now, when he gives his sermons and feels the signs of stuttering coming back,  he reminds himself of the priest's advice, sees that he is rushing things, and tells himself to stay calm and  composed. He takes a deep breath, and when he reflects on what he is doing, the stuttering signals disappear. The inferiority feelings have turned into feelings of being blessed; he has found tranquility and a restful spirit.

'Time Does Not Flow'

A diocesan priest writing the lead article in the Kyeongyang Magazine reflects on a book, read many years ago, "Time Does Not Flow,"that argues that the problems we face today have the same origin as the problems faced in the past. Do we spend enough time, he asks, reflecting on the conditions of our society and on the values we treasure most?

He cites a number of issues our society is currently facing: the Four River Project, the North-South standoff, military deployment overseas,  disagreements on welfare, judicial independence and political pressures, balancing environmental concerns with economic development, inequality of educational opportunities, among many other controversial issues. Each segment of society has a different understanding of how these issues should be resolved, each segment, having its own value judgments, often find themselves  in conflict with other groups in society.

Many have heard about "Don't Cry, Tonj," a documentary film honoring one who sacrificed himself for others; this is a value that transcends time and does not change. The film presents the life that Fr. Lee Tae-seok lived fully right to the end; our hearts go out to him, and with tears, says the priest, we agree with the choices he made and the life he lived.  

When we see what is happening in society among some of the privileged we have doubts, whether the leaders have a consistent moral value system. We routinely see the evasion of the law and breeches of ethics that the ordinary citizen has difficulty imagining. Our congressional public hearings evoke anger   rather than pride and trust in our representatives, our children give up their citizenship, rampant investment in real estate by politicians, widespread tax evasion, false resident registration, and falsifying educational records ,testifies to how pragmatic our values have become. And for each infraction there is some excuse.
 
This year we remembered the second year anniversary of the death of Cardinal Kim. A writer in the daily press said of him, "With the passage of time we cherish his memory all the more."  We respect his values and what he stood for.

The writer urges us to  bring to life the kind of society most of us want to see. It will require, he says, a firm commitment on our part, starting with some basic values and courageously working to see them implemented.