During
these months before the visit of the pope, the Catholic Church of Korea
is busy with its many preparations. Before the last visit of the pope
for the International Eucharistic Congress in 1989, the Desk Columnist
of the Catholic Times reminds us we had four years to prepare for the
visit of Pope John Paul II. Consequently, the Church is busy, not
concerned with only one event, but a number of events in
different dioceses. The desire to make the visit a help both
spiritually and devotionally will make the preparations more difficult.
There
are two questions that we need to ask, he says. Why is the pope coming
to Korea and what do we need to prepare? The ceremonies for
beatification are usually held in Rome, there is no reason for them to
be in Korea. The pope does not go to the different continents for their
group youth meetings so no need for his visit to the Asian Youth
Meeting. The political reason to encourage peace and unification is not a
sufficient reason and the visit to the Flower Village is not the reason
for the visit.
They
are all part of the reason for the visit. Each different diocese has
the responsibility for preparing for the visit, and each will work to
develop programs to deepen the spirituality and the devotional life of
the Catholics during the visit.
There
is a hope that it will bring change to the way we are Catholics. This
change should be a renewal in the way of the Second Vatican Council.The second change should be to follow the teaching of Pope Francis in
his exhortation to the Church in 'Joy of the Gospel'. The
exhortation has become a best seller and we should read, study and put
its teachings into practice.
The
third change is not only a change in the devotional life of the
Catholics but also in the lives of the pastoral workers in the Church
and the structures. It is very meaningful for us to remember that the
changes are taking place at the very center of the Church at the
Vatican. Individuals need to be the subjects of the changes that are
necessary. To just be teachers of the Christians is not all that is
necessary, the leaders need to show us the change. The person who has
done this is Pope Francis, an example to all of us.
The
bishops of Korea are granting indulgences in preparation for the visit
of Pope Francis for those who will make a pilgrimage to the shrines of
the martyrs. The occasion is present for all of us to learn from the
lives of our martyrs and learn from their spirituality in preparation
for the ceremonies on August 16.
Korea is the only country in the world where their own citizens brought Catholicism to the people. Shortly after, they did receive the help of two Chinese priests whose period of work was short because of persecution and death. When the Chinese priest arrived in 1795, there were already 4,000 Catholics. The first Chinese priest, Fr.Chu, died a martyr after a short period of missionary work and forty years later the Paris Foreign Mission Society entered in 1836 to begin work facing death daily. With the end of the persecution, other missionary groups entered Korea to help in the work of evangelization.
An
article in the Peace Weekly mentions the desire of the Korean Church to repay the work of the foreign missionaries in Korea by sending
out their own missionaries to other countries. They want the Church now
to be a community that shares in gratitude, helping other mission
countries.
At the end of 2013 there were 979 missioners in six continents and in 78 different countries. Of that numbers 181 are priests. This does not include the number of priests who are working within the Korean Catholic Communities spread throughout the world. The first statistics of missioners working over seas was made in 1995 with 295 listed. This has gradually increased. Within a few years, Korea will have over 1000 working in mission countries.
Diocesan priests working in mission territory for the last 10 years continued to increase until the year 2012 to reach 94. In 2013, it decreased to 82. These diocesan priests who are working in mission countries are called Fidei Donum priests. Fidei Donum is the encyclical of Pius XII promulgated on April 21 of 1957, which asked the world's bishops to share their priests with countries that need help. Last year there was an increase of those priests who attended programs for those who will be working in mission countries. There is a total of 3,995 diocesan priest. The number of priests on the missions is only two percent, so there is a desire on the part of many to see this number increased. There are many parts of the world where we have a great lack of priests.
One priest is quoted in the article as saying that the reason for the small number of diocesan priests on the missions is a lack of awareness of the need of missionary work and the satisfaction they receive in the work in the home country. If we want to see an increase, he says, the seminaries have to instill this in the formation of the seminarians. The bishops also have to become interested in the work of the Church in mission countries.
The Church in Korea has been blessed with vocations compared to the countries of Africa and Central and South America. In 1984, there were over a 1000 priests. In 1995, over 2,000, in 2004 over 3,000, and this year there are over 4,000. In the last 30 years, we have had almost a 4 fold increase. The number of parishes has increased 2.5 times. There are now 1,668 parishes in South Korea.
Living with ideals and trying to make them a reality is a big order and not something that we commonly see. The two Catholic papers give us a good example of those in the Seoul Diocese who are trying to do just that.
In First, Corinthians (6:1-11) St. Paul says: "How can anyone with a case against another dare bring it for judgment to the wicked and not to God's holy people?" The Seoul Diocese will begin a mediation board that will help in resolving the problems that Christians have with one another without going to the court of law.
This Catholic Reconciliation Mediation Board (Tentative title) will work by mediation to solve with dialogue and negotiation the problems between Catholics. The hope is that this will also spread to the larger society. Squabbles and conflicts that are brought to civil litigation are difficult both for the plaintiff and defendant because of the long drawn-out process of litigation. Especially the one who loses there is much mental and material grieving after the verdict. With arbitration and the hope of reconciliation, the expenses of the litigation and the mental stress is reduced greatly.
With mediation there is no winner or loser. The winner in the court of law reaps the fruit of his victory while the loser drinks from the cup of bitterness. Mediation enables both to win. There is negotiation, compromise, and reconciliation without this we do not have a win, win situation. There is a need for mutual consent and respect for each other, and a desire to understand.To mediate there is as need to remain neutral and refrain from judicial judgments and remain the mediator between the two parties.
In the present Church because of negligence in forgiving and reconciliation we have a crises in many areas. With mediation lay persons will have a way to solve their problems in a Christ-like way. One of the Justices said that our society as it becomes more complicated there will be more incidents and conflicts that will make for a litigious society unless we work to have other ways to solve our problems-- necessary for a mature and developed society.
There will be over fifty members on the mediation board from the world of law, education, the media and other suitable persons. These members will be registered with the government and receive legal approval. Besides the solving of problems between believers, they will offer their services for legal aid, and continue to study methods of arbitration and mediation to be of greater help to those that come. The Protestants have been giving these services to believers for some time. This attempt to follow the teachings of the Scriptures as an incentive to work to forgive and to work for reconciliation can only have good results, and hopefully we will be humble and Christ-like enough to take advantage of the opportunities.
Surveys and questionnaires continue to analyze our society. Within the Church, we have the recent survey on marriage and the family to prepare for the October 2014 meeting in Rome of the Synod of Bishops on the topic: Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the context of Evangelization. Some of the results that the mass media has presented to the public show that in many parts of the world, it is a minority of the Catholics who live and practice the faith.
One of the priests in the province of Chungcheongbukdo, in the central part of South Korea, had for his dissertation a survey of college students within the province on their position on life.The Catholic students on euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion and the like were higher on the side of life in their responses than the other groups.
Eleven Colleges and 703 students in the province were the recipients of the questionnaire. Catholics represented 13.7 percent, Protestants 17.1 percent, Buddhists 9.8 percent and non-believers 52.8 percent. These are the numbers that represent their place in society. The following are some of the questions that were asked.
"Parents have a situation where the sick person has been in a vegetative state for five years, the doctors recommend euthanasia, what would you do?" 34.9 percent of all the respondents said they would not follow the doctors' instructions. 55.8 percent, would have to be there to judge. 60.4 percent of the Catholics would not follow the doctors' suggestion. 32.5 percent of the Protestants, 21.7 percent of the Buddhists and 31 percent of the non-believers would not follow the doctors instructions. As a whole, 11.2 percent were against euthanasia while 83.2 percent would accept it in certain situations. 39.6 percent of the Catholics would not want it to be legally permitted, which was the highest; 10 percent of the Protestants, 1.4 percent of the Buddhists and 6.5 percent of non-believers would be against making it legal.
21.9 percent of the respondents were against capital punishment while the Catholics numbered 55.2 percent against. Protestants 33.3 percent, non-believers 12.9 and Buddhists 7.2 were against capital punishment.
If you had prenatal life, and you knew it was deformed or a case of cerebral palsy what would you do? The total number of respondents who said they would give birth was 39.5 percent. Catholics: 69.8 percent, Protestants: 51.7 percent, Buddhists: 31.9 percent and non-believers 29.6 percent. To the question what to do if one is pregnant before marriage: 32.1 percent of the total would not have an abortion. 60.4 of the Catholics would not have an abortion. 35.8 of the Protestants, 29 percent of the Buddhists, and 24.8 percent of the non-believers would not have an abortion.
The results show that the teaching of the Church has made an impression on many of the Catholic students, and yet there is much more that needs to be done. The priest sees a need for more programs on life issues, networks to spread the teaching and to reach the families with the teaching.
Do I know who I am?
Are we the person others see us to be? Our identity is the person who we
think we are, not who others think we are. The columnist in the 'View
from the Ark' in the Catholic Times, a member of the bishops' committee
on women's issues, wants us to reflect on these ideas. This also, she
says, can be said not only of ourselves but of the identity of the
group to which we belong, or the nation. Important it is to determine
the personal relationship we have with the nation and the society in
which we live.
How
do we look upon ourselves as Koreans? For an answer, she says, it is
necessary to look at the history that has formed us. When we examine
the last hundred years, we see how we were the victims of imperialism.
For 36 years, we were a colony of Japan. We were influenced by foreign
powers in modernization. After colonization, we worked to overcome the
remnants of the colonial period, and before achieving success, we
experienced the Korean War and a divided country; the military take-over
of the government, and the May 18th Democratic Uprising. All this made
us sensitive to which way the wind was blowing, and for survival to join
the strong in the society.
Males, fathers, superiors, seniors
have been given excessive authority and obedience, which was extended to
the larger society, enabling the blind obedience and dependency on the
powerful in society. Power that came from wealth, and strength gave
birth to anxiety and fear which in turn, unknowingly, began to become an
habitual cultural pattern in the lower strata of society. She wonders
if the fear that comes from the strong in society, and the failure in
the resistance is not a cause for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. The arrogance that comes from strength she feels, is a reason for many of
the problems in society.
Physical, mental and verbal violence that some women experience in the home is endured because of the greater fear of leaving.
Suffering cruel treatment for a long period of time lowers the respect
that they have for themselves. She does not have the confidence to
support the children on her own, and if she leaves she feels she will
lose her children and find the conditions for living difficult. There
are those that believe that in time, things will get better. However, in
many cases, the abuse becomes even greater even though the hope for a
change remains.
Many in society are like the battered women who can't
solve the crisis in which they find themselves. She is hoping a
person with greater strength will come to the rescue and will lead her
out of the situation. This is the state of mind of many in society. She
concludes her column by asking: "Who am I and how do I want to live?" Questions we need to give a great deal of thought.
Youth in Korea are faced with many questions that an older generation
did not have. Jobs are not easy to come by; competition is fierce; the
families are stressed, and living is not easy. The diocesan bulletin
recounts the story of a young man who was placed in a home for
rehabilitation by the court. A Salesian priest recounts the problems he
faced and the results of his stay at the home.
He was a
good-looking young man with an attractive personality. He was
well-liked by all who knew him. His family did not give him the love
he needed, which was the cause of his trouble; he ran away from home, associating with his friends. The love he received was compensation for what he
didn't have in the home, but he was all mixed up. He was looking for
what he didn't have. This distorted kind of love that he received did
not prevent him from getting into trouble, ending up coming to
the home of the Salesians.
While at the home he was
shown love by the religious brothers and little my little he began to
feel comfortable and adapted well to the life at the home. He realized
that he was given another chance and took advantage of the opportunities
at the home. One day he went to the brother in charge of the home and
asked if he could be baptized. He wanted to start living a new life he
said, and began studying. Since he was only going to be at the home for 6
months and then be released, he did promise to do all that would be
necessary before baptism. After release he would return for the lessons
and the retreat that was required. And with great joy received baptism.
The
young man enjoyed riding his motorcycle, and he promised to blow his
horn three times consecutively any time he passed the home; which he did
as a greeting to the brother who believed and trusted him. The brother
responded in prayer for the young man. For all those who knew him this
was a great joy.
When educating the young, and even
more so when they are on a journey of faith, there is a need for them to
discontinue one way of life and to make a leap to another. One needs to
move from the person he was yesterday to the new meaning and values
that he has today. Changing is what is meant by the word repenting. The
development that is taking place is a change from the way one lived to
another way of living. It is opening oneself to a new horizon of
meaning and values.
The story of the rich young man in
Matthew 19:21 is an example where the young man was not able to make the
change and the leap to another way of life.
It is
good to remember, says the priest, that the time of youth is when they
want to grow in character. They want to grow internally and spiritually
and put aside the various ways in which they feel oppressed. What will help
them make this leap are not long lectures or interference but
acceptance, trust and love.
The Kyunghyang magazine has an article by a professor emeritus on the
need to make ourselves the owners of our lives. He begins with a list
of suicides that took place during one month. The suicide death of a mother and
her two children because of poverty, a mother with her two children
jumping off an apartment building, one died with the mother, and the
other in a serious condition. A taxi driver suffering from cancer of
the liver, together with his wife, killed themselves; a mother in her
thirties with her son jumped off a high-rise apartment building, all of these shocking many in society.
Korea has one of the
highest rates of suicide in the world. It has increased in the last 20
years 3 fold, especially among the young and old. In recent years, we
have had family suicides. Statistics from 2012 have 28.2 suicides for
every 100 thousand.
Emile Durkheim the French sociologist divided
suicides into three types: the altruistic, the selfish and the anomic
suicides. Anomie refers to a lack of connection with others and a lack
of regulation of behavior. Durkheim saw the reason for suicide less to
do with the feeling and motivations of the individual and more from
the societal environment in which the person finds themselves: social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values.
Korean
society is no longer what it used to be.
Competition is one of the most
intense in the world. Those that win in the competition do well but
those that don't, which are the majority, feel a sense of deprivation
and a loss of meaning. The professor lists a number of existentialist
philosophers and their thought. Sartre: we are condemned to be free.
Camus: we must face the absurdity of life with absurdity but this is not
without meaning in life, and he does not look on the absurdity negatively. "It is because I am in opposition to this absurdity that I
exist." This is Camus' way in being in solidarity with others.
The
professor goes on to mention the economic strength of Korea, that has
grown in 50 years from poverty to one of the strongest economies in the
world. However, now we have many of the young, who can't find a meaning
for life and are lost. They are faced with a choice for freedom or uncertainty: two sides of the same coin.
Existence has a special meaning for humanity. We are the only part of creation that can determine its own goals. All other created existences are determined. Humanity has wide-open potentiality: the possibility of determining our existence and the meaning we want to give it. We have to determine what we want our existence to mean. Each one of us, says the professor, has to engage his conscience to determine how they are to live their existence.
In
conclusion, the professor mentions that the young people do not have
the freedom to develop their potentiality. Their education is uniform
that makes them into puppets. Society is only interested in the pursuit
of wealth. The two possibilities are the pursuit of wealth or its
opposition.
Society should be giving these
young people a variety of possibilities to pursue. First of all, we have
to determine the gifts that they have received from their early years:
their disposition, talents, tastes and allow them to grow in an
educational system in which they are able to communicate these gifts.
