The Result of the First Survey on Overseas Aid

     The very first research performed by the Caritas Coreana (President: The Most Rev. Francis Xavier Ahn Myeong-ok) of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea showed that Korean Catholics donated about KRW 2,000 (about USD 2) a person in 2008 for neighbor countries suffering from poverty and difficulties. The total amount of aid was a little more than KRW 10 billion (about USD 8.7 million), the average for a person around KRW 2,017 (about USD 2), which the whole donation is divided by the entire number of the faithful in Korea, approximately 5 millions as of the end of 2008.

     Since the mid 1980s, the Korean Catholic has continuously supported other nations going through various hardships. However, there has not been any specific data. This research conducted by the Caritas Coreana between September 7 and November 11, 2009, therefore, has significant meaning. In order to collect the data to obtain this result, 16 dioceses in South Korea, 1,542 parishes, 165 religious societies, 28 apostolate organizations and other institutes and organizations offering helps overseas were participated. This gave the opportunity to figure out the general state of foreign support and financial scale, details of works, and to analyze them. The experienced and others in this field will be able to use these data to continue the better overseas aid. It also makes it possible to offer efficient support, avoiding overlapped help. The result of the survey will be useful to build the network for overseas aid of the Catholic Church in Korea.