Personalism in an Impersonalistic Society

An article in the Catholic Times on the Community Movement in Korea showed it to be an excellent tool for realizing synodality and suggesting that clericalism must be addressed simultaneously. The Church needs these small communities living the synodal theme —Communion, Participation, and Mission.

The Church worldwide has given synodality a great deal of time and effort with great expectations of what it can do for the world. One of the problems always present is how words are used and the meaning we give them. What is necessary is the need to define the words being used, but this is not always feasible.

One such word is personalism, which focuses on dignity and rights. This concept we hear throughout the Vatican document Gaudium et Spes. It was expressed theologically: "Man is the only creature on earth that God willed for its own sake, and he cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself."

For John Paul II, the "personalistic norm" states that a person should never be treated as a mere object to be used but rather as someone who deserves to be loved and treated with inherent dignity and worth, meaning the only proper attitude toward a person is love, which constitutes a mature and fully developed relationship with them. 

Often, issues we face become more important than the persons involved. Not difficult to do. There is always a need to connect synodality and personalism— communion and unity with open dialogue and listening to one another. 

Pope Francis has strongly promoted both synodality and personalism in his papacy, emphasizing the importance of a Church that "walks together" and truly values each person.

"Imago Dei" spirituality refers to a theological concept— Humans are created "in the image of God". We possess inherent dignity and value because we reflect certain qualities of God, such as rationality, creativity, moral capacity, and the ability to love and relate to others, setting us apart from the rest of creation; essentially, it emphasizes the unique worth and responsibility that comes with being human as a reflection of God's nature. 

What has to be overcome is the desire for efficiency and emotional support in an impersonal society and the willingness to continue with our ideals. We live with many impersonal structures, but nothing prevents us from relating according to personalistic norms and seeing other humans not as objects but as subjects. 

East and West's Prerequisite for Happiness

In the past, we heard the traditional Chinese New Year greeting: "May you and your family enjoy the five blessings."  These come from the Book of Documents in the Classics of Confucianism and are also called the "Five Happinesses" or "Five Good Fortunes." 

The five blessings are health, wealth, long life, love of virtue, and peaceful death— elements considered necessary for the good life. The one that may surprise the modern age is the love of virtue, but not for the pre-Christian East or West. Not only did Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism emphasize virtues, but the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and Roman Stoics all believed virtue was necessary for achieving happiness.

Our society is polarized for many reasons, depending on how we examine our reality. In ancient times, most would agree that certain values should guide our reasoning and behavior, understood as natural laws. 

Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that understands humans possess intrinsic values that should govern their reasoning and behavior. These values are inherent in people and are not created by society or court judges. In our society, conscience is the word used to describe and indicate this inner guide. 

In Confucianism, "natural law" is understood as an inherent order within the universe, which guides human behavior towards social harmony, acting as universal principles embedded in human nature, discoverable through reason, and expressed through social relationships and virtues such as benevolence and propriety.

Confucianism gives us Five Virtues: Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and  Trustworthiness. These virtues are the fundamental values needed to live a moral life. The five virtues were important in determining who was a ‘true gentleman’— the wise person. In the Analects, Confucius said: “By three methods we learn wisdom: First by reflection, which is the noblest; second by imitation, which is the easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” 

The fourth of the five blessings is 'Yuho-deok' (攸好德), which means enjoying virtue and doing it well. This is a good example showing that our ancestors considered doing good deeds for their neighbors a blessing. In particular, our ancestors believed everyone had to do some good deed from the first day of the new lunar month. 

The Chinese character for benevolence— "仁",  is composed of two parts: "人",  meaning "person", and "二", meaning "two." Benevolence is about the relationship between two people and the importance of empathy and understanding in human interactions within a social context; it represents caring for others and acting with kindness towards them. 

In his Description of a Gentleman, Saint John Henry Newman (1801-1890) presented the wise and cultivated person of the pre-Christian Philosophers of both East and West as the benevolent person. 

Happy Lunar New Year!

Living Wisely

Philosophy of life is again the subject, taken from the column in the Catholic Peace Weekly. Philosophy literally means Love of Wisdom." Philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other.

The ancient Greeks called the highest activity of the human mind wisdom. To them, wisdom meant theoretical knowledge encompassing theory and practice and practical knowledge as practical virtues directly related to life, enabling true belief or knowledge.

Everyone thinks and acts based on their own beliefs. When these beliefs do not correspond to truth or facts, they become presumptions and falsehoods. Therefore, we must consider whether our beliefs are true or desirable before acting. The philosophy of loving wisdom is a journey of thought that finds the basis for true and desirable beliefs in life. Today, philosophical counseling as a philosophical practice is a new discipline that pursues wisdom of life, not stopping at theoretical knowledge, through ‘philosophizing’ (using verbs rather than nouns to emphasize action rather than speculation) in everyday life.

Philosophy begins by looking around us in the world. Humans are the only animals in nature who think.  As soon as they are born, humans look around and constantly try to understand the unfamiliar things they encounter for the first time. This is the unique cognitive act humans perform as thinking beings when born into the world.

Our cognition is based on conceptual thinking. Therefore, having no concepts means that we cannot perceive and understand and cannot grasp things around us. Human thinking goes beyond simple knowledge to understanding our surroundings, and our place in the world. Philosophy can be said to be a kind of ‘dwelling in the world’.

Dwelling is where customs and habits (habitus) are formed. All of this is based on our cognition, and the basic elements of this cognition are none other than concepts, ideas, and vision. These are based on perceptions such as forming relationships with objects in the world, their positions, and assigning values ​​and meanings. The worldview we usually have is a comprehensive framework of these things. Clearly, these elements are very important and make up our lives.

However, when we become accustomed to them without knowing it, ironically, we become distant from our inherent nature of philosophizing. A life without philosophizing will likely become fixed and lose its vitality. Due to the rigidity of thought, we become disconnected from our surroundings, relationships become distorted, and due to its exclusivity, we encounter various problems and suffer from limitations. And eventually fall into a routine. 

German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) warns that this routine is how most live. When we cannot escape from it, we not only fail to obtain our own originality but also fail to exist as ourselves. In today's rigid life, 'philosophizing' is required more than anything else for self-liberation and change.

Humiliation of the Last Century 'Eulsa Year'

In Asia, the Lunar New Year will be starting on Jan. 29th. The Korean Zodiac follows the Chinese, and this year, the 12-year lunar cycle will begin with the snake and the associated element— wood. We have  12 animals and five elements in the 60-year cycle, complicating the reading.

The Eulsa Year of the last century was a humiliation for our people. A journalist for the Catholic Peace Weekly reminds the readers of some memories that bring sadness to Korea.  In 1905, we lost our diplomatic rights through the Eulsa Treaty. In 1965, there was only a 500 million dollar grant and loan with no direct compensation for the victims through the Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement.

Resentment still remains. When the journalist was studying abroad, a Japanese friend told him over drinks that the compensation issue was “just a diplomatic relationship between Korea and Japan” and that “the distribution of compensation should have been the concern of the Korean government.” Seeing that even ordinary Japanese people accepted this was painful.

This year, the first Eulsa Year of the 21st century, there was no diplomatic humiliation, but the trauma from the short-lived martial law of last year is still a concern. The fear that democracy could almost be trampled by military boots does not easily go away. Economic shocks such as a stock market crash and a sharp rise in the exchange rate are lurking. Many are complaining of mental concerns, fearing chaos will strike again.

Nevertheless, people do not give up hope. The people who have risen without fail amid the pain of history have once again taken to the streets. Last month, we could feel the warmth and outstanding civic consciousness on the streets before the National Assembly in Seoul. Thousands of cups of coffee were given away for free, and hot packs were distributed everywhere. Even at the protest site, they maintained order and calm.

This year is a jubilee year. Pope Francis declared the jubilee on December 24, emphasizing that “even in a dark world, hope is not dead, but alive.” Our history also proves there is light at the end of dark times. The journalist prays that this year will be one in which we overcome despair, share hope, and care for one another.

What You Know Is Not the Whole Story

 

The Catholic paper's Science and Faith column presented thoughts on our often narrow understanding of what we hear and see. We cannot keep the big picture in our minds for very long.

On July 20, 1969, 56 years ago, three astronauts reached the moon, 380,000 km away from Earth, four days after leaving Earth. Neil Armstrong, the commander of the lunar module, and Buzz Aldrin, the pilot, landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong was recorded as the first man to set foot on the moon. Is it because the world only remembers the first? 

When we think of the moon landing, we think of Neil Armstrong, but we don’t know much about Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the moon, and Michael Collins, who was waiting in the command module on the moon. However, the mission would not have been impossible without Buzz Aldrin, who piloted the lunar module to land on the moon, and Michael Collins, the only astronaut not to land on the moon.

In 1953, two young scientists, James Watson of the United States and Francis Crick of the United Kingdom, published a paper revealing the double helix structure of DNA, the greatest discovery of modern biology in the 20th century. For this achievement, Watson, Crick, and another scientist, Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962.

However, Watson and Crick would not have discovered the double helix structure of DNA if it had not been for the research achievements of Rosalind Franklin, a British female scientist who was Maurice Wilkins' fellow researcher. Franklin experimentally discovered a DNA structure using X-ray diffraction and accumulated a lot of data, which she made public. Based on her data, Watson and Crick built a molecular model of DNA and theoretically elucidated the reality of DNA.

Experiments using X-rays carry the risk of radiation exposure. Perhaps because of this, Franklin, who contributed more than anyone else to the discovery of DNA, unfortunately, died of ovarian cancer at the young age of 38 and did not receive the Nobel Prize due to the widespread sexism in the scientific community at the time and the custom of not awarding the Nobel Prize to deceased scientists. To commemorate Franklin, who was overshadowed by Watson and Crick, who were first-place winners, many biology books now include her photo and research achievement, “X-ray diffraction pattern No. 51.”

The phenomenon in which only the first place receives the spotlight, and the others do not is a product of competition. We often see this phenomenon in sports, school grades, college entrance exams, performance-based work, and political election results. However, we should not forget the efforts and value of the second and last-place winners overshadowed by the first-place winners.

The first-place winner is a value recognized only in a specific area and does not represent the whole. We should not forget that the values ​​humans recognize as first place according to secular logic may be last place according to another logic. Also, we must not forget that the first person who represented the community was not only by his own ability but also by the many second-class roles that were faithful to their roles for the community. Now, our gaze, and the gaze of the first class, must be directed to the many second-class and last-class roles hidden within the first class.

Research on Artificial Intelligence Needed

 

The Catholic Times, in its recent editorial, considered the future of artificial intelligence and our response.

This is the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Humankind has created the benefits of human civilization resulting from our era's science and technology. Whenever new technological tools and means such as steam engines, electricity, movies, radio, TV, the Internet, and PCs were invented, humans expressed concerns about the convenience and benefits they would bring, as well as the side effects and adverse effects. However, regardless of people’s expectations and concerns, science and technology have always continued to develop.

Today, the world is caught up in the topic of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence leads to unprecedented and groundbreaking developments in all areas of society. In our country, various concerns, identifications, and attempts regarding artificial intelligence are continuing. Companies and the government have invested a huge budget into developing artificial intelligence, and the legislature is enacting a basic law that will be implemented next year. Citizens are studying how to use it conveniently in their lives and work.

The Catholic Church, especially the Vatican, has long been deeply interested in this issue and has been contemplating theologically and pastorally on the ramifications. The ‘Appeal of Rome on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence,’ which many governments and companies have accepted as ethical guidelines, clearly demonstrates this interest of the Church.

We believe that at this great turning point in human civilization, the church should deepen theological and pastoral research on artificial intelligence, which is leading the change, and present its insights. Finding ways to utilize it as a useful tool in pastoral and religious life is important. Still, we also need to deeply consider how to properly utilize artificial intelligence in the journey of faith that truly seeks the truth. Special attention is required from theologians, philosophers, science and technology developers, and researchers.

 "Rome Call for AI Ethics" is a document initiated by the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, promoting ethical principles to guide the development and use of artificial intelligence at a national and international level.

 1. Transparency: in principle, AI systems must be explainable. 

2. Inclusion: the needs of all human beings must be considered so that everyone can benefit and all individuals can be offered the best possible conditions to express themselves and develop. 

3. Responsibility: those who design and deploy the use of AI must proceed with responsibility and transparency. 

4. Impartiality: do not create or act according to bias, thus safeguarding fairness and human dignity. 

5. Reliability: AI systems must be able to work reliably. 

6. Security and privacy: AI systems must work securely and respect users' privacy. 

Aging Society in Korea

An editorial and article in the Catholic Times brings the readers up to date on a serious issue that many countries are beginning to face—an aging society.

December 23, 2024, Korea entered a ‘super-aged society’ according to the UN standards, with the elderly population exceeding 20% ​​of the total. The number of registered residents aged 65 or older is 10,244,550, more than 20% of the total registered residents 51,221,286. It has been 7 years since Korea entered an aging society in 2017 when the elderly population was 14%.

According to the “Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2023”, published by the Episcopal Conference in April 2024, the percentage of believers aged 65 or older in the Korean Church was already super-aged, at 26.1%. However, now that the entire Korean society has become a super-aged society, there is a need to properly present the Church’s teachings on society. 

Problems facing the Church in a super-aging society include the spread of euthanasia, alienation of the elderly, and low birth rates. What does the Church teach about these issues? 

Euthanasia, whose meaning is now being distorted by calling it “death with dignity”, is currently permitted in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and other countries. According to a survey conducted by Korea Research’s “Public Opinion" in 2024 with 1,000 adults, 84% of respondents said that “the introduction of an assisted death system with dignity is necessary.”

However, the Church completely prohibits euthanasia. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Vatican stated in its April 2024 Declaration: “Infinite Dignity,” “Assisting someone about to commit suicide is an objective crime against the dignity of the person who requested it.”

In addition, the number of older adults living alone is increasing, and issues such as elderly marginalization and people dying alone are emerging. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety released statistics on January 3, 29. 6% of single-person households were over 65 years of age. According to the “2024 Survey on the Status of Deaths from Loneliness” by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 50.3% of those dying alone in 2023 were among those over 60. [ A person dying with minimal or no social contact and often dying alone and not discovered for some time]   

The Church has established the “World Grandparents and Senior Citizens Day” to focus on pastoral care for the elderly. The theme of the 2024 “4th World Grandparents and Senior Citizens Day” was “Do not abandon me in my old age” (cf. Psalm 71 [70]:9). In addition, Pope Francis emphasized at the end of the Angelus on the same day: "We should not get used to leaving the elderly alone."

One of the causes of a super-aging society is the low birth rate. In 2024, Korea’s total fertility rate will be 0.74, the lowest in the world. According to a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Korea Research in 2024, only half of those in their 30s or younger thought they “should have children.” The reasons were the economic difficulties of raising children (61%) and the difficulty of finding happiness in our complex society  (56%).

Pope Francis attended the low birth rate countermeasure conference in Rome in May 2024. He said: “Newborns are the first indicator of hope for people,” and added, “We must seriously consider and come up with family-friendly policies, and especially women should not be put in a situation where they have to choose between raising children and working.”

The priest in charge of the Seoul Archdiocese’s Elderly Ministry Team pointed out: “The speed of aging in our country is accelerating very quickly, coupled with the low birth rate. Since social systems and citizens’ awareness are not keeping up with the pace, it is expected that the problems of generational conflict and alienation of the elderly will become more prominent in the future. In line with Pope Francis’s special interest in the elderly, the Church should develop and operate integrated programs that organically connect all generations, from infants to the elderly, with the pastoral goal of ‘intergenerational connection’.”