September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day and a religious sister, who is the chairperson in suicide prevention in the Seoul Diocese writes her thoughts in View from the Ark in the Catholic Times.
The World Health Organization and the International Association for Suicide Prevention to emphasize the preciousness of life met in Stockholm Sweden in 2003 and together established the Suicide Prevention Day. Korea since 2007, each year remembers the day with academic meetings and programs for the prevention of suicide.
For the last 12 years according to the OECD, Korea continues to be the leader in the number of yearly suicides. In 2015 Korea had 13,513 suicides. Considering that the average family is 4 we have over 50,000 who are affected by the death.
According to studies made, compared to others, depression is 7 times more frequent and the danger of suicide is over 8 times more frequent in the families of suicides. Not only the deep sorrow but for those that remain, a feeling of guilt and helplessness for failure to prevent the death. The contrary feelings of anger and resentment towards the dead person are also often present. The living have to take responsibility for the debts that were incurred.
Consequently, we need to work for the prevention of suicides, work with those who have attempted suicide, and show concern for the families of those who have died by suicide. Society and the church need to be involved.
Since suicide in the church is taboo, those who contemplate or the families of the suicide, instead of receiving help, they feel alienated and afraid to be hurt again, many leave the church. Often the families try to hide the death because of the stigma associated with suicide in the understanding of many and the need, she emphasizes, for the church to be concerned.
In the 1917 canon law, those who died by suicide were forbidden a church funeral but this was changed in the revision of 1983. We pray for those who take their life and the families that they can get over their sorrow and despair.
The 'One Heart and One Body Movement' of the Seoul Archdiocese has a retreat and meetings of those who have suffered this loss.Those who have left the church are enabled to return and begin life anew. Many were able to exist a dark tunnel and return to a normal life.
She concludes with the hope that we will always be sensitive to the hurting of others and be quick with a smile of recognition and our outstretched hands, ready to listen to them and participate in their sorrow to give strength.
The recent edition of the Catholic Peace Weekly had a one page
interview with Fr. Gerard E. Hammond, the Maryknoll Fathers' local superior. He recently received the highest honor given by the Knights of Columbus,
"The Gaudium et Spes Award for his work with the Eugene Bell Foundation
an ecumenical movement which brings medicines to tuberculosis patients
in North Korea.
The award was given in the United
States in recognition of the work of Fr. Hammond with the sick of North
Korea. The first recipient of the award was Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
He is the 13th person to receive the award and the first priest. He will
receive an honorarium of $100,000 which Father plans to use in building
homes for the sick.
Father
Hammond who came to Korea in 1960 and is now only three years away from his sixtieth year of priesthood, began his trips to North Korea in 1995. He has now made 56
trips to North Korea as a trustee of the Eugene Bell Foundation. They
have helped over 250,000 sick and are now taking care of about 2000
patients.
In response to a question on his feelings in
receiving the reward, Father responds that what he did and hopes to
continue doing is what any missioner would do and he receives the award
for all missioners.Korea is a country that has suffered much.
Jesus is with the suffering of those in the North and the missioner
needs to go. He quotes Pope Francis in showing solidarity with those who
are sick.
They are taking care of about 2000 patients
and taking the medicines they have 80% who are returned to health, 20%
die from the disease. Every six months they return to the North to give
the medicines. Plans are in progress to build about 20 convalescent
homes on the outskirts of Pyongyang which will cost about 70,000 dollars
each and he plans to use the honorarium money to help build these
buildings. Each one will accommodate about 50 patients.
To
the question whether he has made any friends in the North he answers
that he has only been concerned about the work. They are all Koreans
just like the ones in the South. When he was younger they called him
comrade but now he asks them to call him grandfather and he calls them
his grandchildren.
He tells the interviewer that in his
opinion they are not starving. They also like all other societies have
some poor but they seem to have a leisurely life all with their hand
phones.
Why does he continue his work in the North? Fr. Hammond
replies that Maryknoll began work in South Pyongyang Province in 1923
and the diocese was established in 1927. When unification comes he wants
to be one of the first to be with those in the North.
The
division of the peninsular engenders a great deal of anger what does he
have to say to the Catholic Church of Korea? It's a dangerous time in
Korea right now. If a war breaks out we are all destroyed. Three things
should be remembered: we need to maintain peace, without conditions we
work for peace. Secondly we work towards reconciliation with the North and thirdly, we continue to work for dialogue between the North and
South. Prayer for peace on the peninsular and for the suffering church
in the North not only this month of the martyrs but continually.
Fr. Hammond's interview continues with his growing up years and personal reminisces of life in Korea. He concludes that he would like to
continue what he is doing: working with the Eugene Bell Foundation with TB patients of the North. It's a bridge with the North and he hopes that
in November they will be able to return to the North and asks for
prayers.
Interest in the 'minimal life' style exists in Korea. A philosophy professor at a Catholic University gives us his ideas on the simple life in an article of Bible
and Life.
In Korea we have extreme competition and indiscriminate consumer desires, little interest in society or ecology, lethargy and depression; concerned individuals see and are worried. Without a change in our life style we will not be happy.
Consequently we have more people using the word 'minimal life', attracted to its meaning. A healthy situation, for efforts are made to rid ourselves of the obstacle to happiness. A life not based on riches, honors or power but ridding ourselves of these obstacles, hindering us from enjoying life.
Simple life is a positive approach to life but there are reasons for concern. You have advertising for Nordic and Kinfolk style furniture which is very simple, well made and called the minimal life style furniture but this is not what the writer is talking about. He is talking about a mind set that eschews this materialism. The simple life is a philosophical and spiritual way of looking at life, a positive mode of living.
He introduces us to the book by the French writer Dominque Loreau who has written a bestseller on how to simplify, where less is more. He also wants us to familiarize ourselves with the Danes and Finnish people to learn about the simple life style .
According to our philosophy professor the minimal life is a way of finding happiness. In ancient Hellenism especially in Stoic understanding and Epicurus, strange with all his talk of pleasure, he stressed the simple life. They considered serenity and self sufficiency, philosophy's area of competency. This can be compared to the Asian ideal. Even the present day philosophers and thinkers help us to understand this simple life.
Philosophy makes known that the simple life is the key to happiness. Expressed differently, the formula implementing this way of life requires practicing virtues. The most important is the virtue of temperance. Minimal life begins here. Happiness is the result of a minimal life, and begins with temperance.
The natural moral virtue of temperance is not what we talk about in spirituality but is the ground from which we go to the spiritual. Temperance is one of the cardinal virtues: prudence, courage, justice and temperance which preceded the coming of Jesus by hundreds of years. We have added the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. They are the basis of our study of humanity and morality. The German philosopher Josef Pieper was one who explained this teaching in his many books.
The spirituality of the minimal life knows temperance and contentment. Our eyes are opened to creation and see it differently, becoming more humble, developing a more contemplative joyous enjoyment of creation. Living in the love of our creator we receive consolation, hope, and with the purity of heart participate in worship and the journey of faith, the paradigm of our religious life.
Why do we need to help North Korea? In the column on Unification and Reconciliation of the Catholic Times the writer gives us his reasons which sadly are not easily accepted by the South Koreans. Why help when they are not acting in harmony with the rest of the world community? If our desire for unification and reconciliation is more than a romantic dream we have to face this difficulty.
The issue is a complicated one, entangled in politics, a controversial topic. Recently North Korea tested a ballistic missile that could reach the United States. Whether that is a fact or not is not important, they are threatening. This is of course upsetting South Korea, the Untied States and the rest of the world. This can't be denied.
Coming this far we have another question. Why help the North to become independent and better their quality of life? In a word from the Chinese we find an answer in the 'livelihood of the people'. Punishment is important but not hurting the people is also important. The UN Security Council also makes clear that no matter the primacy of punishment, in certain cases, relationships with the North, trade and needs of the people are allowed. Using diplomatic language, we need to distinguish between the North Korean government and the North Korean people.
For Catholics what words can we use to bring about understanding? He quotes from a priest who was the head of a committee for the reconciliation of the nation. "Government oppression of the North makes life of the citizens all the more difficult. To ignore North Korean people is not right for us as Catholics. The first responsibility is that of the government, but it's not easy to say this. When the conditions are of this type we need to calmly go on helping the Korean people. Helping them to make a better choice."
We need to love the Korean people more than we hate the Korean government is what the writer understands the priest to be saying.
"Our attention should me on the North Korean people who want to live a normal life. When the Church meets up against ideology, philosophy, politics, we should not forget the people and the life they want to live. We need to begin with the thought they are one with us in God. This is the way our society will change and and our hearts will change. This is not easy but we need to begin."
A specialist on conflict resolution has an article in the Catholic Peace Weekly on the subject. He writes about the problems faced: regional conflict, gender, left/right. The government with plans to raise taxes, decrease our dependence on nuclear power, policies on real estate etc. will all come up against public opinion.
Korea is known to have a high level of conflict in society and few provision for their resolution. We have no mechanisms working to resolve conflicts. Parties involved in the conflict need to find satisfaction in the resolution, without a great outlay of money and time. We need a way that the two parties will be satisfied with the outcome. We usually call this mediation and arbitration.
Conflict between North and South Korea presently is the biggest. Here we have to move with the changing circumstances and continually make proposals for resolution. The writer feels the present government has many such proposals ready. When negotiations don't go well we look for another proposal and with the North/South conflict he wonders whether this is not the way to go.
In Korea we have the separation of the three powers of government: administrative, legislature and the judiciary. Considering this the citizens need to support the legislative branch of the government with their authority. Public opinion committees that are formed and when the citizens are actively involved this is a great help to the legislative branch of government. Committees formed to make agreements should be supported.
In Europe public opinion meetings are important. In the United States in the past they used the help of foundations and universities. Korea has to find a way to easily access pubic opinion.
How does Korea arrive at a smooth method of solving conflicts? To this question he responds a trust in society. He praises highly the movement of candle light processions that were present recently. In contrast to this the culture does not find it easy to discuss and go deeply into social problems. We need occasions to devote time to these discussions. Here we have the possibility of solving our conflicts. Each of our conflicts needs this type of mechanism to allow for discussion as a means of finding a resolution.
In the Social Gospel Academy column of the Catholic times a priest in charge of the Justice and Peace committee of a diocese helps us to meditate on a serious problem in society. He begins telling us of a trip in the subway where he was scrutinizing the faces of his fellow passengers. Most of them were intent on the smartphones they were holding. In the small world of the subway car in which they were in, all seemed lonely islands.
Many older people who gave their youth to the world are dying without care. 'It's okay if it's not me'. Many young people do not show the passion and excitement of youth, dejected and head-down, 'it's okay, it's not me'. Thousands are fighting illegal layoffs on the streets, some are deprived of living due to excessive government projects, families live a life like death, we have the women who were sexual slaves of soldiers, now grandmothers-- as long as it's not me it's okay.
These islands are scattered here and there and make one beautiful spot in a archipelago in the southern dream land. As long it's not me no problem. Is this not the line we continue to recite as in a poem, while the world like these islands continues to float?
It's said the world has become dreary. In order to survive competition has become part of life. "Why do we live?" "What's life?" "What is true life?" We have abandoned these questions. I am alive because I breathe and I die when I stop breathing. There is no tomorrow. Life is difficult but we don't ask why, we don't even have the energy to ask why. I don't look at you because it's too difficult. Why do I have to live this way? I don't even ask because it will retard my 'progress'. Why don't we get rid of the word "Why"? Is this not a pathetic way to save ourselves?
We are all walking different paths. However, we can make two big divisions in life. The writer has done this with Cain from the Old Testament (Gen. 4: 1-6) and the Samaritan from the New Testament (Lk.10:29-37).
The Good Samaritan helped the dying victim of a robbery, interrupting what he was doing to be with the hurting person. Cain on the other hand, for selfish reasons, killed his gentle brother. The contrast between the two is simple and clearly made: 'together' and 'alone', 'sympathy' and 'contempt', 'coexistence' and 'competition', 'sharing' and 'monopoly', 'serving' and 'oppression', 'life' and 'death'.
Our consciences tell us clearly what path we should take. However, knowing and walking the way are two different actions. What path, he asks, are we taking now? We have the 'Good Samaritan Way' and the 'Cain Way'. Even though the Cain way is always present in our world have we taken the way of the Samaritan, the way of peace and joy? Or could it be that we have deceived ourselves in thinking we walk the way of the Samaritan but in reality the way of Cain? Let's us walk courageously the way we know is correct.
For some time the phrase in English, 'well-being' was popular in Korea.
Even commercial products received the name. Followed shortly after with
'healing' to a point where it became sickening to hear. We all desire
to live well and receive healing but with the over use of these words, a
university professor writing for the Peace Weekly, wonders if it will
not have a contrary result.
'Well being' and 'healing'
both have for their goals happiness and good health. For the professor,
she wonders where does death fit into the picture. In life we have many
situations where the beginning is important but the end is more so.
Birth is important but not less important is death.
In
sports and studies there is nothing like repeated practice to achieve
proficiency, true also in life. To live well we need to learn
about life and since death is a part of life we need to naturally learn
about death. Where is the place of death in our lives?
Since 'well being' is a part of life we can't separate it from death:
'well-dying' should be a part of 'well living'. Talk goes on about the need to
extend the life of the incurable and the palliative care of the sick in
hospices and related policies.
She
feels that we are falling behind in education for death. We have some
small groups doing it with difficulty. Education to be
successful needs to be consistent, systematic, and adapted to the person's age. We need to learn how to live well and learning about death is part of the course and makes the end of life a beautiful chapter.
Visiting a hospital recently
she remembers overhearing the talk of two interns in front of the
emergency room. Apparently one of them was to
determine the time of death of one of the sick persons and was finding the
situation unnerving for it was his first time. If we have those who
are specialists in the field with difficulties, easy to imagine how others would feel in a similar
situation.
It is urgent that we make efforts to
learn about death. It is all very natural to have a fear of
death. Well
being and healing, important as they are, needs some of that passion turned towards death.
If the new government is to raise the
quality of our lives we have to begin education in death a need in order to live well.
