Communication on November 25, 2005
* 2006 Pastoral Letters of the Diocesan Ordinaries Issued
As the new liturgical year of the Church begins with the first Sunday of Advent on Nov. 27, 2005, the Archbishops and Bishops of the Catholic Church in Korea issued their Pastoral Letters for the year of 2006.
The Most Rev. Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul, urged the faithful that "We have to overcome the deteriorating modern trend of contempt for life and purify the corrupt world with a religious life of Eucharist." And he added, "The Small Christian Communities and parishes must provide families with practical support to make each of them a true community of love since family pastoral ministry is the basis for all pastoral activities."
The Most Rev. Paul Ri Moun-hi, Archbishop of Daegu, said, "Nowadays we are aware of the sharp decrease of the younger Catholics as the de facto rate of increase of the Catholics in Korea stagnates." He asked the faithful to do the best especially for the evangelization of the youth, saying "We have to urge the youth to live a life witnessing the true meaning of the Word of God by engraving it on their mind."
The Most Rev. Andreas Choi Chang-mou, Archbishop of Kwangju, urged the faithful to come together in the family to pray, study and serve since "a family is the greatest field of evangelization and education." And he added, "We have to exert our effort to make the Word of our Lord be incarnated in our daily life by reading, transcribing and meditating on the Bible always anew."
* A Survey Tells the Opinion of Catholics about North Korea
At "The 8th Catholic Network for the Reconciliation of the Korean People", a symposium which was held at the St. Jung Hasang Education Center in Daejeon from Nov. 17 to 18, 2005, the results of a survey about the Catholics' opinion of North Korea were presented. "The Catholic Church Preparing for the Reunification" was the theme of the symposium, which was sponsored by the Special Episcopal Commission for the Reconciliation of the Korean People of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea(CBCK).
The total number of the respondents of the survey was 4,475. It comprised of 1,038 priests and seminarians, 1,408 religious, 1,929 lay Catholics and, what noteworthy is, 100 North Korean refugees.
According to this survey, only 28.7% of the responded priests and 16% of religious heard the news about North Korea regularly, but with 94.7% of priests and 91.2% of religious, they were strongly convinced that the two Koreas must be reunified.
While only 33.2% of the laity showed their interest in North Korea and reunification, 73.6% consented to the necessity of the reunification of two Koreas.
The North Korean refugees regarded the efforts of the Catholic Church in Korea for North Korea as insufficient. Only 18.8% of the non-faithful and 15.3% of the faithful [of the North Korean refugees] said the Church exerted enough efforts for North Korea.
Dr. Lim Gang-taek, a research fellow of the Korea Institute of National Unification, who presented part of the results of the survey at the symposium, said that "The hitherto efforts for the exchange and cooperation between the Church and North Korea on the official level of the Church have reached its limit." And as a measure to solve the confronting problem, he proposed to set up a kind of NGO to support North Korea, besides the existing official Church organizations and institutes. He said "The Catholic Church has to sincerely ponder on the means to increase the capacity for the evangelization of North Korea. 'The EugeneBell Foundation' of the Protestants and 'Good Friends' of the Buddhism must be good examples to the Catholic Church."
The Most Rev. Lucas Kim Woon-hoe, a member of the Special Episcopal Commission for the Reconciliation of the Korean People of the CBCK, said, "All opinions articulated in this symposium will be the cornerstone for the evangelization of North Korea." And he added, "The number of people, armed with the sense of calling for evangelization and love, must increase so that we are able to pluck the fruit of the reconciliation and unity."
As the new liturgical year of the Church begins with the first Sunday of Advent on Nov. 27, 2005, the Archbishops and Bishops of the Catholic Church in Korea issued their Pastoral Letters for the year of 2006.
The Most Rev. Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul, urged the faithful that "We have to overcome the deteriorating modern trend of contempt for life and purify the corrupt world with a religious life of Eucharist." And he added, "The Small Christian Communities and parishes must provide families with practical support to make each of them a true community of love since family pastoral ministry is the basis for all pastoral activities."
The Most Rev. Paul Ri Moun-hi, Archbishop of Daegu, said, "Nowadays we are aware of the sharp decrease of the younger Catholics as the de facto rate of increase of the Catholics in Korea stagnates." He asked the faithful to do the best especially for the evangelization of the youth, saying "We have to urge the youth to live a life witnessing the true meaning of the Word of God by engraving it on their mind."
The Most Rev. Andreas Choi Chang-mou, Archbishop of Kwangju, urged the faithful to come together in the family to pray, study and serve since "a family is the greatest field of evangelization and education." And he added, "We have to exert our effort to make the Word of our Lord be incarnated in our daily life by reading, transcribing and meditating on the Bible always anew."
* A Survey Tells the Opinion of Catholics about North Korea
At "The 8th Catholic Network for the Reconciliation of the Korean People", a symposium which was held at the St. Jung Hasang Education Center in Daejeon from Nov. 17 to 18, 2005, the results of a survey about the Catholics' opinion of North Korea were presented. "The Catholic Church Preparing for the Reunification" was the theme of the symposium, which was sponsored by the Special Episcopal Commission for the Reconciliation of the Korean People of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea(CBCK).
The total number of the respondents of the survey was 4,475. It comprised of 1,038 priests and seminarians, 1,408 religious, 1,929 lay Catholics and, what noteworthy is, 100 North Korean refugees.
According to this survey, only 28.7% of the responded priests and 16% of religious heard the news about North Korea regularly, but with 94.7% of priests and 91.2% of religious, they were strongly convinced that the two Koreas must be reunified.
While only 33.2% of the laity showed their interest in North Korea and reunification, 73.6% consented to the necessity of the reunification of two Koreas.
The North Korean refugees regarded the efforts of the Catholic Church in Korea for North Korea as insufficient. Only 18.8% of the non-faithful and 15.3% of the faithful [of the North Korean refugees] said the Church exerted enough efforts for North Korea.
Dr. Lim Gang-taek, a research fellow of the Korea Institute of National Unification, who presented part of the results of the survey at the symposium, said that "The hitherto efforts for the exchange and cooperation between the Church and North Korea on the official level of the Church have reached its limit." And as a measure to solve the confronting problem, he proposed to set up a kind of NGO to support North Korea, besides the existing official Church organizations and institutes. He said "The Catholic Church has to sincerely ponder on the means to increase the capacity for the evangelization of North Korea. 'The EugeneBell Foundation' of the Protestants and 'Good Friends' of the Buddhism must be good examples to the Catholic Church."
The Most Rev. Lucas Kim Woon-hoe, a member of the Special Episcopal Commission for the Reconciliation of the Korean People of the CBCK, said, "All opinions articulated in this symposium will be the cornerstone for the evangelization of North Korea." And he added, "The number of people, armed with the sense of calling for evangelization and love, must increase so that we are able to pluck the fruit of the reconciliation and unity."