After participating in the Ordinary Public Consistory in Rome, during which 15 new cardinals were created, His Eminence Nicholas Cardinal Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of Pyong-yang, arrived at Incheon International Airport, on March 30, 2006. At a press conference in the airport Cardinal Cheong said that people first seek for inner peace in order to resolve the problem of the polarization of society and all kinds of social problems in .

    After Cardinal Cheong arrived at Myeongdong Cathedral of Seoul , he participated in the welcoming ceremony which was prepared by the faithful. In the ceremony Cardinal Cheong said, "His Holiness Benedict XVI stressed on mission to Far East Asia, namely North , and ." He also said, "It is very significant that three new Cardinals from Asia were created in this consistory." Cardinal Cheong emphasized "Let's direct our efforts to evangelize Asia to meet the expectation of the Universal Church on the Church in , as the third millenium is the time for the evangelization of Asia whose population amounts to three thousand million."   

Campaign to Read Church Documents on Life

  

  The Committee on Life (Chairperson: Most Rev. Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul ) in the Archdiocese of Seoul promotes a campaign to read church documents on life, aiming to inspire respect for life. The campaign inspired by the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II is designed to commemorate the late Pope who used to recommend that the Church should make an effort to carry out her mission, that is, to proclaim the Gospel of life.   

            The Committee holds a meeting every Thursday, starting with the first meeting on April 20, 2006 at the conference room in Myeong-dong Catholic Centre. Whoever is interested in the culture of life is allowed to take part in the meeting.

    Chosen documents for the campaign are as follows:
  "Evangelium Vitae", an encyclical letter on various threats to human life which Pope John Paul II issued on March 25, 1995; "Charter for Health Care Workers" by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers; "The Life and the Family" by the Committee for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea; "Human Life: The First Wonder!" by the Rev. Remigio Lee Dong-ik, secretary of the CBCK Bioethics Committee; "Living man is the Glory of God"" by the Rev. Paul Lee Chang-young, a member of the CBCK Bioethics Committee; "Choose the Life" by Headquarters of the Life 31 Movement of the CBCK; "Piccolo Manuale di Bioetica" written by J.M. de la Croix and so on.


 
        Establishment of a Week for Catholic Education

 

   The CBCK Committee on Education (President: Most Rev. Matthias Ri Iong-hoon, Auxiliary Bishop of Suwon) held a meeting in Pyeonghwa Building , Seoul on March 31, 2006. According to the decision made at the 2006 Spring General Assembly of the CBCK, the Week for Catholic Education will be celebrated in the second last week in May including the Korean Youth Day (Last Sunday in May).

  At the meeting the Committee members reached a consensus that the education based on the spirit of Catolicism would be necessary to get through the crisis both the society and the Church have faced. They also agreed to concentrate its efforts on spreading the Catholic value for many various levels of the Society, even non-belivers.

    The Rev. Stephen Han Seung-ju, the secretary of the Committee, remarked, "The Week for Catholic Education is the time when we confirm the teaching of our authentic master, the Lord and all Catholic community members reflect on themselves for their spiritual growth. He also said, "We need to gather spiritual power of all the faithful through education based on the spirit of Catholicism in order to take a step forward to God."