Human Rights Week

During the liturgical year, the Catholic Church of Korea has set aside three weeks for intensive reflection: the week beginning with the second Sunday of Advent (Human Rights Week), the week beginning with Holy Family Sunday (Sanctification of the Family Week), and the last week of the liturgical year (Bible Week). During this time the Church wants us to mull over and understand in more detail the Church's teachings on human rights, the family, and the Bible, making them an integral part of our daily life. The Church has acknowledged a deficiency in responding clearly to these areas of life and intends to remedy the situation.
 
Human rights, the first of the three special weeks, is a problem for many because of the tendency to separate the truths of religion from the often harsh realities of secular life. Many Catholics would prefer that religion concern itself only with prayer, good deeds and the spiritual life. When the Church talks economics or gets involved in social issues, Catholics tend to feel uncomfortable. It's helpful to remember that the society into which Jesus was born, a theocracy, was very different from the modern society. Jewish society was seen as both religious and secular, there was no separating the two. That is not our reality today. We do not separate our bodies from our souls, and neither do we want to compartmentalize or privatize our religious life, closing off our secular life. So during this week devoted to the dignity of our humanity, let us reflect on the declaration of human rights.

The Peace Weekly columnist writing on current events recommends that we spend some time reading the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, proclaimed  by the United Nations in 1948. He mentioned that although Korea at that time, after liberation, was trying to establish a new government amid the chaotic conditions prior to the Korean War, they were prepared and eager to support the declaration with ceremonies in the temporary capital of Pusan, despite being a divided country.

He mentions that there are few that remember the role of the Church in drawing up the articles of the declaration. Reading the U.N. document today, one can easily see the similarity in the wording of the articles and Catholic social teaching that found its way into the declaration, both directly and indirectly, Those that drew up the declaration, the columnist says, were familiar with Pope Leo 13's Rerum Novarum (1891) and Pius 11's  Quardragesimo Anno (1931).

The Church's influence on the declaration was more indirect than direct, according to the columnist. In 1947, the year prior to the passage of the declaration, the Catholic laity and  bishops of the United States issued a Declaration of Human Rights which was handed to the chairwoman of the human rights commission of the United Nations. Composed of 50 articles, in more detail than what was ultimately agreed upon by the U.N., the Church document, nonetheless, bore a striking resemblance to what was finally accepted. This should not be surprising, the columnist says, since one of the prominent drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the Thomistic philosopher Jacques Maritain.

The columnist goes on to say he doesn't want to give the impression that it was only Catholic social thinking that was considered, but that without Catholic teaching the U.N. document would not have been the same declaration. The balance between rights and duties, the individual and  society, corresponds well with Catholic social teaching. That the declaration was accepted by non-Christians  and non-Western countries shows that human aspirations are the same the world over. The Church in the work of protecting human dignity, says the columnist, using the words of Pope Francis, is to  serve as a field hospital. He wants us to reflect on these words during Human Rights Week.

Living the 'Year of Faith' Always

The value of faith in living the good life is not appreciated in today's world, says a seminary professor writing in a recent issue of the Kyeongyang magazine. The professor, also a pastor, shares his view of this important subject as he reflects on the end results of the recently completed Year of Faith.

Faith, he admits, is hard to come by in a world where distrust and skepticism is the norm, owing to the rapid accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few, without a significant improvement in the lives of the many, the political corruption, the lack of equal economic opportunities, dysfunctional family life, a market-driven educational system, even the religious world is not without criticism. The natural consequence is cynicism; the trust needed for a well-functioning society becomes infected with doubt and frustration.
 
The Catholic Church is not exempt from this same criticism, he makes clear.  Though we should be happy to have 5 million Catholics, it's sobering to know that less than one fourth are going to Sunday Mass. The Church works for further democratization of the society, for human rights, welfare reform, environmental concerns, the unification of the country, among other concerns, and encourages Christians to join in these efforts. But they are either too tired from the demands of living or too attracted to material comforts to become involved in works of the Church.

As a pastor, he has tried everything to nurture a mature Christian consciousness among his parishioners. As a professor he has the hands-on experience of what is required of a pastor and confesses that to transmit the vision of Catholicism  to his parishioners, encouraging them to be enthusiastic about their faith life, is not as easy as he once thought.

Having worked hard in educating his community during the Year of Faith, he has learned one thing for certain. With all the programs for spiritual renewal: lectures, retreats, community building, it has become obvious to him that in  the Church reform movements come not from below but from above.

He sees the traditional way of being a pastor as no longer appropriate: Having sheep pastured separately from the pastor who would direct the sheep according to his ways, receiving the protection of the pastor who would guard the gate so the sheep would not be injured, needing only to listen and follow his instructions. Though they would have, the pastor points out, the correct faith life, at the present time this is no longer the way pastoral work can be done. It is not the way Christians will see the beauty of what they  received from the Church. The Second Vatican Council wants both the pastor and "his flock" to leave the pasture and work together for a greater faith life.

They are invited to go out and face the dangers together, strengthening immunity by building community togetherness, experiencing the universal love of God and his universal call to salvation. There is a need for Catholics to be more responsive to creating a life of faith. To do this they will need to read the sign of the times, discerning and interpreting them with the light of the Gospel. And as they become involved in the suffering of the times, they will be able to see and participate in the love and mercy of God with those they encounter.

In short, what the Church needs today is to rest in Jesus. Without this time of rest--only possible with more trust and faith--we will not know why we live, where we are heading. If we want to know what will keep us going in the right direction, we need to devote more time to this crucial aspect of life. By doing so, by reflecting on what it's all about, guided by faith, we will be extending the Year of Faith into the future.

Education Of the Whole Person

Education as a spiritual goal was the topic of a lecture given at the Catholic University. The speaker, a priest responsible for the ongoing education of priests in the diocese of Seoul, began by saying that the majority of parents see the object of education merely as a means for getting into a good school, instead of fulfilling the promise of the English word 'education.'

The word comes, he explains, from the Latin word "to draw out." Originally, the intent of education was to nourish in each person the potential that is within, to give birth to their vocation and to develop their talents. Parents that counsel their children to go to law school, become a doctor, or to choose some other financially rewarding profession, in order to have a comfortable life, are not using education as it was meant to be used, and he wonders how many have that understanding.

Education should help us to realize our potential. When a person develops his or her talents, they will be on fire and better prepared to find satisfaction in whatever they decide to do in life. That is the reason, he points out, we talk about educating the whole person. It is to find oneself, to discover who we are, and what we want to devote ourselves to in life, and to see it flower.

Health is also a goal of education. If a person becomes depressed because of an educational program and needs therapy, something is surely wrong in that program. Education is meant to draw out the whole person, and in the process developing a mature personality.

The writer feels that the lack of proper education is one of the biggest problems society needs to address. While there are few societies with the  zeal for educating its young like Korea, the priest says it is excessive. Parents are concerned not only with entrance into college, but with their children's choice of subject matter. The main point of education for the whole person, he says, is autonomy, the freedom to  choose and to find his or her own way in life.

Instead, what students often hear are: "Don't get involved in sports, study. Don't give thought to anything besides study." This tends to center a person's attention on oneself, concerned only with their own position and unable to compromise. Parents also find it difficult to accept failure in their children; they are always there and involved, often remaining involved even after their children have a position in society.

A person has to have the freedom to make their own decisions, even if it leads to failure, the priest says. They should have the freedom to go their own way, keeping the portals of conversation with the parents always open. When parents decide everything for their children, there is no way of knowing what the child wants.  Education for the whole person focuses on the growth of an autonomous, self-regulating  individual. Practice is needed on how to accept failure, on falling and still getting up and moving on. Trials in life are good tools to help in the maturation process, to grow the personality and to discover the self.                                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Mental Viruses and Health

A religious sister, writing in the Kyeongyang magazine, recalls meeting an acquaintance who had returned to Korea from the States and asking if she found the country any different than it was before she left. "There are many things that have improved, she said, but some of the thinking is not to my liking." Asked to explain, she said the classmates she hadn't seen for quite a few years mostly spent their time together bad-mouthing others. There are so many interesting daily events that we could have talked about; it was upsetting, she lamented.

The sister wondered when we began getting involved in gossip, suggesting that the current fascination with the scandals of the rich and famous might have provoked this recurring menu for our conversations, with even our spouses becoming objects of gossip. But she had to admit that the habit has always been with us, with the social networking service (SNS) increasing the tendency to disparage others. What is the reason for this? What joy is gained from alienating another, pointing out faults, expressing ill feeling? Does it make one feel more united with one's group? Make one's strong points stand out? Does one feel better because of it? All questions she is still pondering.

In cyberspace, we can hide behind whatever personal and social mask that suits our purposes, she points out, and be more hurtful than a person standing in Seoul City Square with a microphone. Hurtful comments come to mind, she says, from the image we have of ourselves, and can be so poisonous they can affect our physical and mental health, just as viruses do, even in some cases bringing about death.

Richard Brodie, in his Virus of the Mind, makes the connection, the sister says, between the disease potential of physical viruses and mental viruses.  We pick up a cold not because it is cold, she says, but because of a virus and a weak immune system. Mental viruses act in very much the same way, entering our mental faculties and affecting the way we think and act, if we are not conscientious in watching and filtering what enters the mind. If not, we rarely realize that we have been infected with a mind virus, says Brodie. And, especially troublesome at time when much of our news comes from media sources, we can never be sure that what they are reporting is accurately presented, which means that we should cease from belittling others; we have all been infected by the mass media. The sister reminds us that it doesn't matter whether we use the internet or not, all of us are being influenced by the mental viruses that are always around us.

Because so much of how we see others depends on how we see ourselves, sister would like us to pay attention to the image we have of ourselves, changing that image if necessary. The as-long-as-I-don't-get-hooked-into-this-all-is-well thinking, she says, has to be put aside, replaced by seeing ourselves as having a common destiny and being responsible for all our words and actions. We have to fight against examples of evil, foster the common good, and work for the evangelization of the culture of cyberspace, which is currently filled with spam and hurtful comments. Should we not take upon ourselves the task of ridding cyberspace not only from the viruses that infect its smooth operation but from the mental viruses that keep us from functioning in a manner that will assure us a fulfilled and meaningful life?

Catholic Social Teaching

" Reading the Scriptures makes it clear that the Gospel is not merely about our personal relationship with God. Nor should our loving response to God be seen simply as an accumulation of small personal gestures of individuals in need, a kind of “charity à la carte," a series of acts aimed solely at easing our conscience. The Gospel is about the kingdom of God (cf. Lk 4:43); it is about loving God who reigns in our world" (Pope Francis: Apostolic Exhortation #180).
 
The Church in Korea is trying to make amends for what was not made clear to our Catholics; for many, the blame must rest with the Church, and on the way its teaching was passed on to the parishioners. The Pope's message in the exhortation gives us an idea of what is being proclaimed, loud and strong.
 
Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent, is Human Rights Day, and the bishops want each parish to devote a whole week to bringing our Christians to a better understanding of the Social Gospel. An article and the editorial in the Catholic Times recently discussed the Social Gospel and its role in the  life of the Church. The article stressed that because many of our Catholics have a personal appreciation of their call as disciples, forgetting its social dimensions, they are separating their faith life from their daily life.

In order to correct this lack, the Seoul diocese began a school, in 1995, for teaching the Social  Gospel, and yet there are many Catholics, who have never heard of the Social  Gospel. The  head of the justice and peace committee of the diocese mentioned that many have privatized the Gospel message, made it subjective and separated from the world, a part of their leisure time search for emotional and psychological satisfactions.

With this thinking, it is easy to understand why learning about the Social Gospel has no appeal for many Catholics, for it makes one feel uncomfortable. The Second Vatican Council made our social responsibility clear with the teaching on the common good in society, but those who understand  the teaching are few. This has been true from the beginning: the internal renewal of the self and the evangelization of the society. This second mission has not been well understood.
 
A member of a research institute lists a number of  the reasons  for this failure: fear that comes with  being a minority in  society,  avoiding the call by works of charity, dualism of the holy and the world, and seeing  them in opposition to each other. Responsibility for this is with the Church, he says.
 

Many dioceses, like the Seoul diocese, have begun schools for teaching the Social Gospel, and, ongoing for some time, educational materials have been distributed, lectures given, and discussions held.  There is, however, a lack of teachers and meeting places to continue the  programs and increase the number of those attending.
 
The lack of understanding in this  area of the Gospel  becomes  evident when, as happened recently, there is a conflict between priests and the Government on some issues of justice. No matter what one thinks of the wisdom of what was said by a priest or how the problem was handled, it doesn't take away from the mission the Church has in the world.  "If indeed the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics, the Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice”(Apostolic Exhortation #183).

Difficulty Working for the Unification of Korea

A university professor, in the Peace Weekly column Diagnosis of Current Events, recalls the  Cuban exodus of 1980. Hector Sanyustiz, with three other Cubans, made a forced entrance to Peru's embassy, asking for asylum, which was granted. The Cuban government demanded they be returned but the embassy refused. Soon after, as the word spread, 750 more Cubans rushed to the embassy, asking for asylum, and after Easter of that year an estimated 10,000 Cubans went to the embassy, asking for asylum. Fidel Castro sent more soldiers to the embassy, but it was too late to change the situation.

Seeing that nothing could be done, Castro responded with a bombshell declaration: "All who want to leave Cuban may do so; the Mariel Harbor will be open." Over 12,500 left Cuba in 1700 boats for asylum in the United States. A movie, Scarface, was made in 1983, depicting the  refugees' search for the American Dream.

The columnist, recalling the incident, does not see it as someone else's problem. North Korea continues to  suffer from economic difficulties and forecasting the political future of the country  is impossible. There is no ocean teeming with sharks that separate us, he said, nor do we have a language problem.  But if there is a sudden change in the current stalemate between the North and South, will we be prepared for it?

The exodus is not something that will begin in the future; it has already begun, he said. There are now 25,000 refugees from the North living in the South. In China, there are over 50,000.  In the South, many refugees find it difficult to adapt not so much because of the democratic politics or  the capitalistic system but because of the unseen  prejudice and coldness of the South Koreans.

We are not prepared to help these refugees, says the columnist, because we do not want to prepare for unification. The unfriendly attitude of South Koreans can probably be deduced, he suggests, from the declining number of North Koreans who have come to the South since 2009. The columnist wonders whether the materialistic way of the so-called good life in the South and the coldness the refugees experienced here had spread among the Northerners back home. 

More than the North Korean refugees' idea of the "Korean Dream" has disappeared; the desire for unification has also cooled. In a recent survey, it was found that the younger the citizens are in the South, the more they do not see a need for unification. Of those in their 20s, one of three would have this same viewpoint. They also do not remember any songs that support the unification of the country or have they heard any discussion on unification.
 
 A greater problem, says the columnist, is the lack of the government's commitment to pursue unification. Those who show an interest are labeled as followers of the North, an additional roadblock to unification. In conclusion, the columnist compares us--those who desire unification--to those in King David's time who were looking forward to the Messiah. We also are looking forward to the day when we will live together in peace, one Korean people on one peninsula, in one country. Are we, he asks, working together for that to happen?

Freedom of the Press?

Not long ago, after the assassination of Park Chung-hee, martial law was established and all media was censored. Martial law came to an end in 1981 but censorship of the media continued. Only with the advent of democracy in 1987 was there freedom of the press, which was unanimously cheered. A Peace Weekly columnist, who has worked in media since the Chung-hee assassination, comments on the present condition of the media.
 
With democratic rule, the direct involvement of the government over the content of media ceased. Newspapers flourished, pages increased, color was introduced, Chinese characters decreased, and morning and evening editions became commonplace.

However, within the mass media and the world of scholars, there were reservations voiced:  "We can't rejoice unconditionally  to the freedom of the press," some were saying.  "We have freed ourselves from the shackles of the government only to be shackled by the world of finance; freed from the fox's den to end up in the lion's den."

The columnist agrees that this is a correct assessment of the situation. We have freedom of the press, but its independent existence is at stake, and the situation is more serious, he  believes, than it was in the 80s. The newspapers in Korea, as in other parts of the world, are dependent on advertising to exist. In addition, there are often promotional articles (puff pieces) published that recommend goods and services, companies, organizations, groups, and so forth that serve the same purpose as paid advertising, but under the guise of journalistic objectivity. A service often provided to a a paper's most frequent advertisers.  


Though regulations require that  advertising  has to be specified as such, puff articles written by a journalist promoting some product with his name attached is generally overlooked. This is the way it began, but then sections were added to newspapers, and the journalists fought to keep their names from being reported.  And so journalists, unwittingly, became  involved in the world of business. This is against the code of newspaper journalism, which mandates accurate, objective, and fair reporting. Unacknowledged advertising that masquerades as journalism goes against the freedom, responsibility and independence of the press. It also goes against, says the columnist, the teaching of  Catholicism that encourages everyone to contribute to the common good. But so engrained is the practice, the columnist laments, that there appears to be little that can be done to end it.

In the days of censorship, freedom was more obviously suppressed. Today, freedom of the press is being challenged with more subtlety, as newspapers have to bow before the advertisers  in order to exist. The power and influence on the press in Korea resides in the hands of 10 large commercial companies. We all witnessed, said the columnist, what  happened when one of the big companies stopped advertising in one of the newspapers: it was  a mortal blow for the paper.

The article ends with a desire to have the government do something similar to what is done in Europe, where the mass media, in order to free itself somewhat from its dependence on advertisers, gets a subsidy from the government to help defray operating expenses. Until the time comes when the press can be said to be truly free of outside influences, so that it can keep the news free, objective and fair, readers will have to be  more critical of what they see and read in the mass media.