CBCK News
2009-08-27 10:30
6,800
Communication on September 30, 2005
* Joint Symposium To Commemorate The II Vatican Council

The Research Foundation of Korean Church History and the Catholic University of Korea held jointly a symposium to commemorate the end of the Second Vatican Council at the main auditorium of the Catholic University of Korea on Sep. 24, 2005. The theme was "The II Vatican Council and the Church in Korea."

Five scholars presented their papers on five subjects respectively ranging from the social engagement of the Church in Korea to the understanding of the Korean traditional religions from the standpoint of the Korean Catholics. The Rev. Joseph Kim Sung-Tae, the president of the Research Foundation of Korean Church History, said that "Though there are 16 documents of the II Vatican Council, we chose 5 subjects which are general problems in the particular environment in which the Church in Korea is situated."  

A heated panel discussion followed the fruitful presentation of the papers. On the whole, the participants firmly agreed that the inculturation must be a prerequisite for the Church in Korea as particular churches to be able to contribute to the Universal Church.

And the participants saw the rapid quantitative growth of the Catholic Church in Korea after the end of the Second Vatican Council was not always accompanied by a qualitative one, therefore it still remained  many problems to be challenged.

Prof. Roh Kil-Myung of the Korea University, who presided the panel discussion, concluded that "We all have to read first the documents of the II Vatican Council again to cope with the rapidly changing circumstance of the age."