2027 World Youth Day (WYD)

The 2027 World Youth Day (WYD) in Seoul—a grand festival of faith for young people worldwide—is now just about 500 days away.

In step with this milestone, the pace of preparations within the Korean Church has also accelerated significantly.

"Please send your young people to Seoul."

From the 3rd through the 6th of this month, the Organizing Committee for the 2027 Seoul WYD visited the Holy See to officially extend an invitation to young people across the universal Church.

A dedicated website for the "Diocesan Days" is also being launched.

The Diocesan Days—an opportunity to fully experience the culture and hospitality of local churches through activities such as homestays—are consistently cited by past WYD participants as one of their most unforgettable experiences.

For the Seoul WYD, these Diocesan Days will be hosted by dioceses nationwide, except in Seoul, where the main event will take place.

The website, set to open next month, will serve as a central hub for communication, facilitating both the promotion of the Diocesan Days and the registration process for participants.

In parallel, individual dioceses are holding their own organizing committee inauguration ceremonies and are in full swing with preparations to welcome young people from around the globe.

As the Korean Church steps up its bustling preparations, the global Church—eagerly awaiting the WYD—is offering its wholehearted support.

Last December, as part of the journey toward the Seoul WYD, Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation launched a special series titled *Visiting Past Host Cities*—a joint project with the Organizing Committee designed to revisit previous WYD venues and highlight the lasting fruits of those events.

These "senior churches"—those that have already experienced hosting a WYD—unanimously affirmed: "The World Youth Day is, in itself, a journey of grace and a pivotal opportunity for the New Evangelization." 

"While there may be a temptation to plan entertainment-focused events simply because young people enjoy festivals, we need to remember this fact: young people possess a deep thirst and longing—not merely for festivities, but, above all, to encounter the Lord."

"Stop the War"

Catholic Church… “Stop the War” 

“War is the easiest path… We must choose the difficult path of ‘peace’”

 With the U.S. and Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, there is a growing sense that the war is spreading across the Middle East.

The Catholic Church, led by Pope Leo XIV, is raising its voice against war and calling for peace.

 During the Angelus prayer on the 8th, Pope Leo XIV once again called for an end to the war in the Middle East and warned against the escalation of the conflict.

The Pope urged, “Let us pray that the sound of cannons may cease, weapons may fall silent, and a forum for dialogue may open where the voices of all peoples can be heard.”

Statements from the Catholic Church opposing war and calling for peace in the Middle East are also coming in one after another.

The Catholic Church’s call for parties to lay down their arms and come to the negotiating table is growing louder.

The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) stated in a declaration on the 3rd, “Only sincere, responsible, and sustained dialogue can open the way to a just and lasting peace.”

It urged “all parties to fulfill their moral responsibilities, reject the vicious cycle of escalation leading to deeper suffering and irreversible loss, and immediately cease hostilities.”

Furthermore, it emphasized interfaith solidarity, stating, “Diplomacy must be restored as the primary means of resolving conflicts, and no matter how difficult it may be, dialogue is the only path that respects the dignity of peoples and the sovereignty of nations.”

The Asia-Pacific member organizations of the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (ICMICA) also issued a statement on the 2nd, declaring, “We strongly condemn the military actions of the United States and Israel.” 

They emphasized, “Sustainable security can only be achieved through negotiations in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, not through military escalation.”

The Secretary General of the Bishops’ Conference’s Justice and Peace Commission said, “Peace is difficult, but we must take the difficult path to enjoy peace.”

“The easiest way to achieve peace is actually to wage war. It’s paradoxical, but the hardest part of achieving peace is dialogue, compromise, communication, concession, and sacrifice. While it takes a long time to achieve, once it is achieved, we can enjoy peace for a very long time.” 

Forced Repatriation of North Korean Residents

 

Amnesty International Korea Holds Press Conference on March 12... Delivers Petition Containing Over 2,700 Signatures to the Chinese Embassy in Korea. This article appeared in the Korean Catholic Times.

The press conference was attended by religious figures and human rights activists. Together, they denounced the inhumane nature of the forced repatriation of North Korean residents.

Notably, the son of a woman currently detained in a Chinese facility and facing the imminent threat of forced repatriation, attended the press conference alongside his representative. They made an earnest appeal to the South Korean government, the religious community, and civil society to intervene and prevent the forced repatriation.

The son stated, "My mother, who is currently in China, endured immense hardships to ensure I could make it to Korea; however, now..." "She is currently detained in a Chinese detention center, in a situation where she cannot send or receive any communication," he said, choking back tears. "It breaks my heart to think of my mother suffering in such cold conditions. If she is forcibly repatriated to North Korea, she will be sent to a political prison camp, making it nearly impossible for her to survive. I want to protect her with the help of many people."

If North Korean residents who have escaped their country and are currently staying in China are forcibly repatriated, they face severe human rights violations, including torture, forced labor, deliberate starvation, and enforced disappearance. Amnesty International has pointed out that the Chinese government’s forcible repatriation of North Korean residents constitutes a violation of the "principle of non-refoulement"—a peremptory norm of international law. Officials from Amnesty International, along with others, delivered a petition containing the signatures of approximately 2,700 citizens opposed to the forcible repatriation of North Koreans to the Chinese Embassy in South Korea.

"The forcible repatriation of North Koreans must be approached from a humanitarian perspective—one that recognizes the pain of families being torn apart, and insists that such suffering must not be repeated a second or third time—rather than merely as a matter of political opinion or human rights issues."

Fasting By Necessity

 

A Prison Without Bars - In the Wilderness. A review of a life by a now emeritus professor of a Korean University.

Compared to the past, today's international students begin their studies in relatively stable circumstances. However, even 40 years ago, studying abroad was a journey fraught with survival itself.

My journey abroad with my pregnant wife was arduous from the start. There was no income, only expenses. My wife, who had been keeping a household account book, one day said, "I don't want to spend anymore." Faced with the reality that she had less than $100 left, keeping a record of our expenses became not a source of comfort, but despair. I was at a loss for words as my wife wept, asking what she should eat.

Then, a verse from the Bible suddenly came to mind: “If God feeds the birds of the air, how much more precious will he be to his children?” (Matthew 6:26). Those words didn’t erase all my worries. But they gave me something to hold on to. In fact, those words were more of a pledge to myself than to my wife.

My wife later called those days “a prison without bars.” We had no money, so we couldn’t go anywhere, and my husband was always busy with his studies. My wife spent each day at home, caring for our children, filled with anxiety. My body was free, but my mind was always imprisoned. It felt as if invisible bars were surrounding our lives.

On Sundays, I would take someone else’s car and drive down the highway to the Sacramento Korean Catholic Church, about 40 minutes away. Celebrating Mass, sharing meals, and chatting with fellow Koreans provided the only solace I had throughout the week. That encounter felt as desperate as someone waiting for a visitation in a detention center. For a moment, I felt reconnected with the world.

Looking back, my time studying abroad was like a wilderness. In the wilderness, food is scarce, and there's no proper place to rest or sleep. There, humans become the most vulnerable. As their dependence diminishes, they have no choice but to cling to God. The wilderness is where human inadequacy is most starkly revealed, and at the same time, it's where faith becomes most purified.

In the Bible, the wilderness is always a place of prayer. Moses wandered in the wilderness and sought God, and Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days in the wilderness. Fasting was not a choice, but a way of life created by an environment that forced us to let go of our greed. The wilderness is not a place to satisfy human desires, but a place to empty them.

The fasting of Lent follows the same pattern. We often understand fasting solely as a practice of self-restraint or sharing. However, its true meaning lies deeper than that. Fasting is a passageway for emptying ourselves and approaching the Lord fully. For believers, fasting is the body's way of confessing, "Lord, I cannot live alone."

Prayer offered from a place of surrender is different. There are no calculations or conditions. We simply entrust ourselves to the Lord and cling to Him. Lenten fasting is not a discipline meant to forcefully torment us, but a path of grace that leads us into the wilderness. It is a time to step back from a life lived solely for ourselves and return to a place where we can hear the Lord's word. My time as a student abroad, a time like the wilderness of my past, still teaches me anew the meaning of fasting.

Walking in the Wilderness

'Young Male Christians in Their 20s Walking Through the Wilderness.'

This article is from <Catholic Review> Issue 50 (Winter 2025, Our Theology Research Institute). reprinted in <Catholic News Now Here https://www.catholicnews.co.kr>

'Strangers in the Church'

Having received baptism at this year’s Easter Vigil Mass and having been officially registered for less than a year, my time with the Catholic Church has not been long. By good fortune, I received confirmation the day after my baptism, so I can be considered a fully adult member. Before coming to Catholicism, I was actively involved as a young Christian leader in a youth group at a church affiliated with another Protestant church in Korea. For certain reasons, I decided I needed to attend a Catholic parish and began catechism classes for prospective members starting last October.

Now, about seven months after becoming a Catholic, my affection for the mainstream Roman Catholic Church grows day by day; however, it is also true that I feel some regrets. Most of these regrets stem from the Church's attitude towards its youth. In the field of youth ministry in Korean churches, men in their 20s hold a peculiar presence. They participate briefly when liturgical service or physical support is needed for events, yet the pain they endure or the spiritual longing they carry rarely becomes a serious agenda for the community. In society, they face conflict, defined by the political and social framework of the “20-something men,” while paradoxically, within the church, they are often left behind.

The older generation often interprets the passive attitude or frequent indifference of men in their 20s as being “too busy chasing worldly pleasures” or “uninterested in inheriting a faith legacy.” However, this diagnosis fails to account for the existential circumstances they face.

The "military" experience for South Korean men is a time and space characterized by frequent crises. Exposed to a closed system and potential violence, living as "soldiers" during this period, young men experience a profound sense of powerlessness. They often feel anger at the hardships they face simply because they were "born as men in South Korea." Furthermore, the decline in self-esteem caused by failed college entrance exams and job placements, coupled with the resulting family discord, drives them into emotional isolation. As the world imposes meritocracy on them and even the church ignores their pain, young men become isolated islands, with nowhere to turn. Is faith a help or a burden? For men in their 20s facing life crises, faith can be both a help and a burden. At times, it can be a lifeline, but at other times, it can push them into a corner. This ambivalence in faith primarily stems from the conflict between "personal faith" and "institutional faith." In interviews, young people confessed that they gained the strength to reinterpret and persevere through intimate religious practices like prayer and personal meditation. However, "institutional faith"—associated with parish communities, doctrine, and clergy—often burdened them rather than comforted them. Some young people feared censorship, fearing that their religious struggles would be perceived as "heresy" or "incorrect faith" as defined by the church. They also felt guilt, viewing the recurring obligations of attending Sunday Mass or participating in community activities as "tasks that must be done but are unwilling" rather than joyous. Especially for young people who have been pressured into perfectionism at home or school or oppressed by a hierarchical structure, the church's strict social ethics and the imperative to "believe unconditionally" function as yet another form of oppression. When the church demands that those exhausted by the world's competitive struggle become "better believers," faith becomes not a resource for overcoming life's crises, but rather a source of "negative religious coping" that exacerbates them. The Gap Between Expectations and Reality The crucial reason young people turn their backs on the church is the persistent gap between their "expectations" for the church and the "reality" they face. They weren't looking for grand solutions to their life crises. They expected a "safe space" where they could hear and empathize with their anxieties, failures, and raw pain. They also hoped to meet others in similar situations and find empathy from those who had previously experienced similar situations but had now moved on. But the church, rather than reaching out to them in their specific lives, is busy offering doctrinal solutions or spiritual advice like "you don't pray enough." The job insecurity, military absurdity, and disconnected relationships experienced by men in their 20s are often glossed over in vague terms or reduced to accusations like "young people lack faith." When young people share their concerns, they are met with admonitions rather than empathy, or when their weaknesses become the subject of gossip within the community, they ultimately remain silent. They feel the church is unconcerned with their "existential suffering." They experience a deep sense of alienation due to the inertia of a system that demands only the functions of a "good young man" and a "good servant," while remaining insensitive to the inner battles they face as "human beings." Ultimately, this disconnect leads young people to perceive the church not as a "protective fence" but as a "condemning court." Hope in Distance Interestingly, many men in their 20s, despite having left or distanced themselves from the church, continue to identify as "Christians." Even though they may miss Sunday Mass and parish activities, they remain committed to their belief in God and their desire to follow the life of Jesus Christ. This does not mean they have abandoned their faith per se, but rather that they have temporarily suspended the rigid "system" that fails to communicate with them. While this does not necessarily equate to a truly engaged Christian life, it can be seen as a sign of hope that comes from leaving the church and maintaining a certain distance. From the perspective of the established church, these individuals may be categorized as "indifferent parishioners" or "Canaanites" in need of correction. However, from the perspective of "receptive ecumenism," they are "pilgrims" actively reconstructing their faith. They are forging their own "living faith" through critical reflection rather than blind obedience, and through questioning the meaning of faith in the concrete realities of their lives rather than a routine religious life. Therefore, their departure from the system should not be viewed as a negative act that obscures their faith. Rather, it should be reinterpreted as a fierce struggle to encounter God anew in the wilderness outside the temple, a process of "deepening" their faith, embracing the complexities of modern society and the unique pain of the younger generation that the established church fails to address. May a small light shine upon all young people walking in the wilderness. Pope Francis emphasized that the Church must become a "field hospital" for the world as a "wounded healer." Through this study, I want to highlight how the Korean church is failing to serve as an appropriate field hospital for these patients: men in their 20s. They felt the church offered only flat answers, such as "pray and it will be resolved," to their complex life crises, or condemned their honest struggles as "lack of faith." The church must now step down from its role as a "teacher" and shift to a "learner." We must remember that we all have a unique apostolic role. This attitude of "receptive ecumenism" should be applied not only to other denominations but also to the young people around us, creating a nonjudgmental space where we can listen to their struggles with job market insecurity, military trauma, and broken relationships, and embrace even their doubts and confusion as part of their faith journey. Young people do not seek grand solutions; they simply yearn for a safe space where they can reveal their contradictions and pain, where their existence is accepted without judgment. Only when the church becomes a friend who stays with them in their "wilderness" will young people finally return to the church and breathe again.

Korean Lent Movement

The Lent Movement that has been going on for 50 years in Korea... 'Let's share what we have with love.' A reporter for the Catholic Times provides readers with some background on the movement.

The Social Welfare Committee of the Bishops' Conference launches this nationwide campaign during Lent... This year, the fasting was on March 27th, and the day of joint offering was on the 29th.

The Conference of Bishops produces posters promoting the Lenten movement every year, distributes them along with the Pope's discourse to encourage love for God and neighbor, and launches a nationwide campaign. The theme is: 'Let's share what we have with love.'

The three major elements of this movement are ▲ Neighbor Love Awareness Education (Lent Education) ▲ , Recommendation of Fasting (Friday of the 5th week of Lent) - 'Fasting of Love' ▲ , National Offering (Sunday of the Passion of the Lord) - 'Common Offering Day for the Poor'.

Fasting is on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday to participate in the Passion of Christ and to atone for sins. In his Lenten speech this year, Pope Leo XIV said that "fasting is a concrete way to prepare ourselves to receive God's Word," and that "abstinence in food was an ancient virtuous practice and is essential for the journey of repentance.

Since 1978, the movement's theme has been fixed at 'Let's share what we have with love'. Fasting on Friday in the fifth week of Lent and making joint offerings on Sunday in the Passion of the Lord have also been established.

From its early days to the 1990s, the Lenten movement focused on fasting, exhortation to communal giving, and education in faith renewal and sharing practices. Since the early 2000s, the movement has spread through donation banks, secondhand donations, and charity concerts and bazaars. In particular, the meaning of the movement has expanded as various sharing activities such as 'special blood donation during Lent', 'organ donation movement', and 'volunteer activities' have emerged one by one.

The Lent movement has established itself as a faith movement that practices love for neighbor through moderation and sacrifice and has undergone changes and development for 50 years. Today, this movement continues to be a representative sharing activity of the Korean Church, leading believers to understand the meaning of Lent more deeply and practice charity.

Old Testament Atonement Rites

In the Catholic Times, an Emeritus Pastor of the Inchon Diocese, with a doctorate in Biblical Exegesis, offers readers some help in understanding the atonement ceremonies of the Old Testament.

Christians often begin their prayers with “Our Father who art in heaven…”. I often ask myself: Where is heaven? Does it mean that God is somewhere beyond the clouds, in the void? Upon careful thought, one realizes that this is not the case. If God were somewhere beyond the clouds in the sky, that sky would be a greater existence encompassing God. To say that God is the creator of heaven and earth, and then to try to find God in some specific place on earth, is undeniably a contradictory act.

If God exists in a certain place, that place becomes a larger world that embraces God. A world greater than God. Of course, a god in some part of the void would still be a god. But it would be a god imagined by humans. One must encounter God that exists before human imagination, the source of imagination, and beyond imagination. We must be freed from the narrowness of human thought. The reversal of thought is needed: instead of finding God in a space or location, we must see God in everything and everywhere.

Nietzsche boldly declared that “God is dead”. In one sense, he was right. The God that Nietzsche killed is the narrow god created by humans, hidden in a corner of the vast world, only to satisfy all their desires when needed.

When thinking of God, we unconsciously follow the surroundings or background of the many concepts of God, but we should not remain there. We must discover God shining in the void. This requires deep contemplation, seeing the surroundings with focus. The idea of omnipresence, ‘being everywhere’ (無所不在), becomes valid expressed one way in the ritual for Azazel, the spirit that roams the wasteland.

“Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the children of Israel, transferring them upon the goat’s head, and then hand it over to the person waiting to send it away into the wilderness. And so the goat will carry away all their sins to the wasteland.” (Leviticus 16:21-22)

In fact, a similar ritual appears in other cultures besides Israel. It is commonly a method of transferring sins or impurities onto a living creature or an object, or placing them upon it to completely eliminate them. This appears to be a purification or atonement ritual arising from the sense of guilt present in the inner human self.

Throughout history and now, the guilt, remorse, or shame residing within every human being always yearns for healing and reconciliation. The main ritual of the Day of Atonement’s great purification liturgy involves laying both hands on the live goat that has been set aside, fully transferring the people’s sins onto the sacrificial goat, so that this sacrificial goat carries all the sins of Israel far into the wilderness. We see that the atonement ritual of Leviticus 16 is deeply rooted within Paul’s doctrine of justification (cf. Romans 3:21-26). “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement.” (Romans 3:25)