Catholic Response to Corona in Korea

On the Catholic website Now/Here was an article on the Catholic response to the pandemic by Korean Catholics. It was first published in the Human Rights Research Center of the Jesuit Society. This is a brief summary of the contents.

A professor of Sogang University presented his thoughts under the title: Awareness and Response of the Korean Catholic Church during the Corona Era. He explained that the thorough compliance with the
governments' guidelines were the results of a combination of factors: organizational characteristics of Catholicism, historical experience, understanding of the world, and response to social expectations.

Organizational characteristics come from the parish-centered life where all must follow the orders of the bishop. This made for a seamless response, helped also by the response of the Vatican.
 
Secondly, the historical experience refers to the process of dealing with various infectious diseases from ancient times to the Middle Ages and early modern times. In addition, dedicated care for patients by parish priests, religious and laity, and caring for charities voluntarily organized by believers, funerals, and protection of orphans is the historical experience for Catholics.
 
Catholicism understands the realization of the common good in the world on a doctrinal level, so it is acceptable to restrict some religious life, such as community Mass, for quarantine purposes.
 
The social credibility and social expectations of Korean Catholics are also important factors. In other words, Korean Catholicism gained social credibility in the 1970s and 1980s by dedicating itself to the democratic movement against the military dictatorship. Based on this, there is a sense that social responsibility must be fulfilled at the base of Korean Catholicism. Therefore, the consciousness to meet the social expectations with active cooperation with the government's efforts in the prevention of corona.
 
The professor admits that the negative aspects of the past 25 years have been amplified in the corona situation, including a continued slowdown in the growth rate of Korean Catholics and a significant decline in the participation in the Sunday Masses. However, he also pointed out the believers also realized that it was not only on parish grounds they were to live with their consciousness of religious life. Therefore, he argued that the corona situation forced people to live their faith in their everyday lives outside the parish which served as an opportunity to reform Catholicism. Furthermore, Catholicism's efforts to fulfill its social responsibility for taking care of the poor and underprivileged, such as the homeless and migrant workers, are still ongoing amid the corona crisis.

The writer of the article made some suggestions regarding the professor's talk.

Of course, there is no objection to the diagnosis that Catholic organizational principles have enabled a uniform response to the corona crisis. However, doesn't the decision-making structure, which culminates in the bishop help to make the ordinary believers passive? The situation in which community Mass was suspended and confessions and the other sacraments difficult to approach should have brought a considerable sense of crisis to enthusiastic believers. However, what role did believers and parish organizations, and parish councils, play in the process of finding ways to resolve the problems?
 
In the long run, the religious vitality of Catholicism in Korea could continue to decline. Perhaps the individual believer will tend to pursue an inner religiosity more than the liturgical or sacramental life of the parish. How will the Catholic Church, which values ​​the liturgy and the sacraments, deal with this situation? It could be a more serious crisis than Corona.  
 
If you accept at face value the claim that social doctrine and the pursuit of common good played a positive role in the prevention of corona, you will think that Korean Catholicism is practicing the social doctrine with a consensus. But is that so? In this regard, the question is whether it would be appropriate to understand the quarantine cooperation of Korean Catholics under the framework of the pursuit of the common good based on the social doctrine. Bishops' conferences, bishops' associations, or dioceses can use the expression "cooperation in quarantine" in the statement to realize the common good. However, it is an excessive interpretation to say that social doctrines and pursuit of common causes are the work of the whole church for it is equating church authorities with the whole church.

The professor in conclusion gave his answers to the above rebuttal of the writer.

As for the organizational characteristics of Catholicism, its vertical hierarchy indeed tends to make believers passive. It is the result of a disease called clerical centralism or clericalism in the church. It was not only a problem for the Korean Catholic Church, but it was also taken for granted in the past. However, since the Second Vatican Council, which closed in 1965, clericalism has been understood to be a problem to be solved. It is not that there were no complaints from believers in the process of quarantine measures with decisions about  community Mass. According to a survey, believers were evaluating the suspension of community Mass as a good thing but pointed out that the decision had to be with the believers.

Meanwhile, many priests who saw the empty churches seemed surprised. So it is often found that clerics try to listen better to the believers. Some of the Dioceses were led by the Council of lay believers, to support the creation and distribution of guidelines for the life of believers during the covid-19 period. As such, Covid-19 has led to a tendency to weaken clericalism and strengthen the leadership of believers. It remains to be seen whether this trend will spread throughout the Korean church or return to its former state.

Social doctrine and the pursuit of the common good had a real impact on the prevention of the coronavirus. The official position of the Catholic Church comes from the bishops. Therefore, the official position should be interpreted primarily from the position of the bishops. However, different opinions may arise from within the church. In particular, opinions may differ on social doctrine. Because the social situation is different.

An Unlikely Teacher In Accident Prevention

In a Catholic Digest article, a doctor introduces the readers to a  young man who prepared a  firework for America's Independence day some years ago,and lost the use of his right hand. Because he was wearing a corona 19 mask the doctor did not quickly recognize the man. He waved his right hand before the doctor: "You are the one that gave me this crayfish-like hand."

Mr. P was the man who some years before, on July 4th bought some fireworks in the market wanting to show off to his girlfriend. He was not really interested in finding a job and was living a life of leisure, the life of what we would call problem youth.

He took the firework and added more explosive powder making for a powerful firework. This of course was all against the law of the country.
 

He visualized the happiness on the girlfriend's face when he lit the fuse, unfortunately for him instead of going up to the sky it exploded in his hand. He lost his right hand and his body and face were injured. He had the wrist intact and with this, the doctor was able with the fragments to make a hand with the ability to grasp—thumb and forefinger.

The young man seeing the life ahead as bleak, fell into a deep depression. His girlfriend did return to him a few times but left him which made the depression more severe.

When one has the thumb and forefinger he has 70% of the use of his hand he reminded the young man, trying to give him hope for the future. The young man with a wry smile: "I didn't have a job when I had the use of two hands what kind of work can I find with only one hand?"

The doctor did pray for the young man and for a while he came to mind but soon forgot. Four years later he appeared with a smile on his face and appeared happy. He recounted what had transpired over the years.

For several years he was beset with depression and not able to find any work. He was no longer able to watch firework displays.

In the news, he saw how an elementary school student had injured himself in a firework accident. An idea flashed in his head. If he went to the schools and talked about his experience and showed the students what happened to him would this not reduce the number of accidents?

He went to see the principals of the elementary schools and they were quick to give permission. He talked to the students in the upper grades telling them of the dangers of fireworks and showing them his hand and letting them touch it. He felt like a celebrity in a public performance. News spread from one school to another and was busy as a teacher in preventing accidents.  

With two hands he had difficulty finding work  but now is busy talking about what he has learned about safety. He met a nurse in one of his talks and has begun dating, which gave him something to boast about. 

He demonstrated to the doctor his ability to pick up sheets of paper. He also grabs the arms of the students and shows the strength that he has. He even showed his strength to the doctor.

The doctor was glad to see the great change in the young man and expressed this in clapping for the new man that he had become.

Understanding ESG ( Environment, Society, Governance)

A lawyer writes in the Catholic Peace Weekly of his experience working in the international human rights field. His law foundation is a non-profit human rights group working for the common good. When he was still a student he dreamed of working for the people who were deprived of their rights and soon realized that it is not only a matter of good people doing good things that brings change but structures of society need to be changed.

The article begins with human rights violations of local residents in the gas development projects in Myanmar with funds provided by the military. They met with executives of Korean companies involved in the project and shared some complaints of the local people. Companies saw no problem and presented documents related to their ethical management. He asked were they following the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? There was no one to answer.  The meeting, expecting sincerity, turned into a comedy.

When the steelworks construction project in India was being carried out despite the opposition of local residents, the representative of a Korean company announced that it would feed 20,000 local underprivileged children in corporate social responsibility. A while later he met a Korean company employee who said they couldn't find 20,000 starving children, so it was impossible. When discussing corporate responsibility, it can be a comedy if the meaning is not known and they act, but it can be a tragedy if a responsible person thinks he knows but doesn't.

ESG is presently a hot topic. ESG is an acronym for Environment, Society, and Governance, which means that non-financial factors should be used as indicators when evaluating companies. There have been various discussions and implementations at home and abroad over the past decade, but they have not become well known. However, it has become a popular term in the economic and political world.

The temporal, spatial, political, economic, social, and cultural connections of ESG need to be known. Even the president said that 2021 in Korea should be the 'first year of the spread of the ESG movement and that ESG is a symbol of a 'warm capitalist era'.

ESG is anything but new. Management of human rights, morality, social responsibility, sustainable management, and human rights violation relief systems have all talked about solving problems that are not focused on economic benefits. Communication and participation with civil society, interested parties, victims, etc. have continued, why have we not seen the results we hoped to achieve? Without proper awareness of ESG's faults and errors and serious reflection and planning to move forward, we will not be moving forward, and be a silent accomplice to corporate human rights violations.

Difference Between Dementia and Senility

 

In the Catholic Peace Weekly a medical doctor in his article on Dementia and Senility gives the readers something to think about. The term that many doctors use now instead of these two terms is 'neurocognitive disorder' which may be minor or major.

It has been four years since the 'National Responsibility System for Dementia' of Korea was implemented. This policy was also the first pledge of the president's administration, and it was also a policy that he himself emphasized greatly. Perhaps it was based on the judgment that the number of people suffering from dementia is increasing due to aging. Therefore, as it is a policy that the current government and our society consider important, it is now necessary to illuminate and evaluate the extent to which the policy has been effective. However, there are still few such evaluations and prospects.

One of the reasons it is difficult to assess is that the objectives of this policy are mixed. In fact, the pain caused by dementia is more to the family and people around the patient than the patient. Like most cognitive disorders, daily life needs to be supported by those around them, and the need to be prepared to  suffer from delusions, aggression, and suspicion of the patient. Care is essential due to this problem, and in Korea, dementia care is often costly or someone in the family sacrifices because they cannot find the right person.

In other words, the reason for the emergence of the dementia national responsibility system stems from the absence of social care services rather than the problem of treating and medically managing a disease called "dementia." The absence of public care services is actually a problem that is revealed in Korea that  needs a solution: neglect of the disabled, and establishment of facilities for the mentally disabled. Therefore, it is not only a matter to discuss specific disease groups, but a need to present alternatives to how to systematize and make known the care needed in our society.  

However, the proper solution began to be distorted when only "dementia" was removed and the problem of care was raised. First of all, special calculations for lowering the burden of health insurance in case of diagnosis of dementia have been expanded. The benefits of the expansion are limited to medical services that are fully covered by health insurance. Therefore, hospitalization and medical diagnosis of dementia patients were encouraged. In addition, 'dementia' has become a subject of medical treatment, not aging. With the exception of some  Alzheimer's, most are senile dementia.

In addition, a huge amount of money was invested in research and development for the fundamental treatment and prevention of dementia, which is mostly caused by aging. With the amount invested in dementia research, three or more public hospitals could be built and operated in medically vulnerable areas, but the government spent this money on research  and development expenses for pharmaceutical companies. Of course, the results are very weak. Above all, it is because the fundamental treatment for dementia is equivalent to an attempt to prevent aging. Humans can and should conduct various studies to prevent and slow down aging, but this is not an area that can be pioneered by research on aging considered as a disease. Also, if you look at it more broadly, our society's perspective on aging also shows an aspect of trying to commercialize even aging.

Therefore, it is no different from "medicalization" ( process where human conditions come to be defined and treated as medical conditions —aging considered a medical problem) unless it is a non-specific cognitive disorder in some young patients that requires neurocognitive testing and MRI for dementia diagnosis. Moreover, perhaps due to this view, the system of strengthening local communities and providing public care services for dementia patients has not been properly planned or budgeted. As it is classified as dementia, patients who are subject to treatment, are directed to dementia centers, nursing hospitals, and homes. There is little  public facilities, and only private care and care providers are still prevalent.

So, at this time, the doctor can't help but question what is happening. Maybe the reason for changing the uncomfortable word ‘senility’ to 'dementia' was not an evasive measure to turn away from care of the senile aged.  Maybe it was a meant to give consolation  by the diagnosis of dementia  and not to disparage those with senility in old age. Therefore, shamefully in OECD countries  where the poverty rate for the elderly is still close to 50%, what is really important is not the commercialization of specific diseases caused by aging, but public care services and income security that can sustain basic life. He hopes that 'aging' will not continue to be commercialized and politicized.

 

 

 

 

You Don't Eat Dog Meat! Are you a Catholic?

The Catholic Times in one of its columns written by a journalist emeritus gives us some background on eating dog meat in Korea. China is the biggest consumer, but Vietnam is also a well-known dog-eating country. Many are the countries that have no difficulty with the menu and they include some countries of the West. The journalist gives us his own experience as a Catholic who does not eat dog meat.
 
"Are you a Catholic?" All the eyes at the table turned their heads and looked at the writer with the question. He ordered another meat dish and said: "I don't eat dog meat". The group around the table looked at him with surprise... When he first encountered this situation after baptism, he almost felt as if sin had been revealed.

He mentions a time when lunch was being served at the end of an event, attended by more than 200 believers. The host grabbed the microphone and announced: "Everyone, please be happy, 'Boshintang' (Korean word for dog meat)  will be served. Even before the end of the sentence, cheers burst out. The host went on to ask the brothers to raise their hands if they didn't eat 'bosintang'. The people who raised their hands were only four and he was one of them; this was a great surprise to him.

"What made Catholics especially enjoy 'boshintang' in Korea?" He looked for data and asked around, and it was roughly summarized as follows.

Boshintang was a summer health food that was enjoyed not only by ordinary people but also by aristocrats during the Joseon Dynasty. In particular, people ate a lot of dog meat that was relatively easy to get during the Japanese Invasion of Korea, the Japanese colonial era, and the Korean War. For the same reason, dog meat served as a major source of protein when Catholics were persecuted and hiding in the mountains during the Joseon Dynasty.

Catholics are no longer persecuted, and there is plenty of good protein nutrition in society. Nevertheless, they still look for 'boshintang'. This is because dog meat is a symbolic food that gave them energy during hard times. It is also in line with the identity of Korean Catholics, with their spirit of martyrdom. This symbolism has hardened into a practice that is hard to change. For this reason, those who do not eat 'boshintang' are either not Catholics or are still less Catholic according to our writer.

The summer season for 'bosintang' is here again. However, the atmosphere of visiting 'boshintang' eating places has decreased significantly in the past decade. Even in downtown Seoul, many 'bosintang' restaurants got rid of their signs. In the past, ahead of the "86 Asian Games" and the "88 Seoul Olympics," the government drove out the 'bosintang' restaurants from downtown city streets in consideration of overseas public opinion. Controversy over 'boshintang's food culture' also intensified.

There is no need for that now. The 'boshintang food culture', which has caused so much controversy, has subsided. Generational change seems to be the most important cause. Today's young people in their 20s and 30s are far from the 'boshintang' food culture. Rather, they are much more familiar with pets such as dogs and cats as family members. Sooner or later, when they play a role as a social backbone, the signboards of the 'bosintang' restaurants will disappear altogether.
 
In summer, people who used to visit 'bosintang' restaurants like some kind of ceremony are now rare. Even if 'boshintang' has a place in the history of Korean Catholicism, it is only a custom after all not the truth: "Everything that is not the truth is impermanent and will continue to change." As such, the 'bosintang food culture', with its connection with Korean Catholics, is also changing.
 
When we look at the decline of 'bosintang', we think of various phenomena in the church. Fundamentalism embraces and doesn't want to change any of the customs of the past, that have nothing to do with truth, and rejects those who think differently on the subject with hostility. This attitude, and way of thinking with blind zeal, is turning away from the "signs of the times" the church has set for itself and is not acting wisely.

Conscientious Objection In the Medical World

In the Catholic Peace Weekly Diagnosis of Current Events Column, an Ethicist gives her thoughts on respect for Conscience in the medical world.

She recently read an article that the World Medical Association is revising the International Code of Ethics to limit the scope of what can be medically rejected in conscience. Doctors who refuse to participate in acts of abortion and euthanasia are obliged to give these cases to doctors who do not have problems with the issue. Doctors can refuse to perform procedures if they violate their conscience, but they are pushing for a code of ethics to cooperate in misdeeds by making it mandatory to request (medical treatment) from other doctors. One professor fears that "requesting conscientious objectors to proceed with procedures they oppose is a direct attack on individual conscience and moral integrity.

A conscientious objection in the medical field is a refusal to perform procedures or cooperate in cases that violate the conscience of medical professionals. Abortion has been legalized in many countries over the past few decades, and recently euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide have caused ethical conflicts for many medical professionals. "The doctor's conscience has little place in providing modern medical services," is the thinking of many— "If a doctor is not ready to give a patient what is legal, medically valid, and beneficial because it conflicts with his or her values they should not be doctors."
 
Although it did not go to this extreme, what the world's society is currently pursuing is obviously a very seriously problematic clause that threatens the consciences of medical professionals.
 
During World War II, the Nuremberg trial (1946–1947), judged crimes committed by Nazi doctors against prisoners of war. The whole world was shocked when it was revealed that Nazi doctors performed medicine to kill, not to treat while serving political power. Therefore, various codes and declarations were written in reflection on doctors' duties to prevent similar incidents from happening again. So the right to conscientious objection is based on obligations that are fundamental to medical ethics. For example, a doctor's oath adopted by the General Assembly of the World Medical Association in Geneva in 1948 declares, "I will carry out my profession with conscience and dignity." Paragraph 2 of the Korean Medical Association's "Doctor Ethics Code" states that "Doctors provide medical treatment based on medically recognized knowledge and skills, and maintain dignity and honor."

Conscientious objection is also a right to be protected by legal grounds in recognition of freedom of conscience. Articles 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights and 18 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights specify that freedom of conscience should be respected. Article 19 of the Constitution of Korea also clearly states, "Every citizen has freedom of conscience."

Denying or severely restricting the right to conscientious objection leads to ethical poverty in the medical community and spreads the idea that ethics is not important. For this reason, the conscience and moral integrity of individuals are bound to be further diminished. Conscientious rejection of abortion, euthanasia, human embryo research, and other behaviors that claim human life is based on the basic principles of both medicine and law. Currently, the global society's push to revise the medical ethics code violates these principles, and it is a very worrisome situation considering the impact it will have in the future.

A Church's Online Journey

 

In the Eyes of the Believer Column of the Catholic Times, a director of a religious research center gives the reader the results of her journey online.

Recently, she has been busy conducting various online religious educational programs and meetings. After the pandemic, many have suggested using online as an alternative to most of the church's face-to-face religious education and gatherings. This possibility is being studied, planned, and conducted with programs prepared elsewhere.

 

Since the pandemic, many academic presentations and meetings have been converted to online, and more and more parishes have experienced Legion of Mary meetings and Bible studies online. Some religious communities and organizations run YouTube channels and tried online lectures, prayer meetings, and recently the institute conducted online confirmation training for the first time in a six-week program for a parish.

 

Korea is an Internet powerhouse, believers of all ages from teenagers to those in their 70s watch online lecture videos, solve quizzes, and submitted assignments without any difficulty. When she saw the assignments submitted by the students, participation was serious and most of the evaluation reports were positive. The participants were comfortable and were able to review the things they didn't understand by returning to the topic online. The disappointment of not being face-to-face can be remedied by meeting once or twice during the online programs. 

 

Personally, she has lead a reading group organized by a religious community and also participated in an ecumenical reading group invited by an acquaintance. The great advantage of such small groups is they can meet and share with a variety of people beyond physical distance. As many people's faces and facial expressions are shown on one screen, they can concentrate more and listen to people's stories without thinking about anything else for a while. Listening to someone deeply and sharing their lives, thoughts, and beliefs, makes one feel very close, like a friend known for a long time.

Online seminars and classes held at the institute are also conducted in this small group manner, with short presentations and long sharing. In the past the instructor's presentation was long and the question session was short but online, the sharing time with the participants is longer. Perhaps because the people who find, and apply to participate in topics of interest, find it difficult to speak at first, but they soon listen to each other's stories by sharing their thoughts and opinions without hesitation.

Above all, the best thing about online education and gatherings is a horizontal conversation and sharing are possible. Recently, priests, religious, and laypeople, participated in the online lecture held by the institute, and it was a new experience: priests, religious, and believers talking comfortably about a topic as friends who all studied together, and not in a parish setting where often the laity are listening passively to an admonition. Sometimes the director is faced with hearing ideas foreign to her way of thinking but it was a lot of fun meeting with believers who tried to empathize by listening to each other without trying to judge or persuade the other.

In the fall of this year, we will have the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The theme for the journey: "For a synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission," This path toward the celebration of the Synod comprises three phases, between October 2021 and October 2023 and finally a conclusive phase at the level of the Universal Church. 

 

 Every time the director of the institute talks about the Church Together, the priests say that the believers are not interested in the church and do not feel a need to participate. Many of the believers on the other hand often say that the priests do not listen to the believers. Our church is not used to having horizontal relationships among its members, and I hope that the online method can be a useful tool for creating new possibilities in learning as "joint agreement" a journey together.