The 19th Korean-Japanese Bishops' Colloquium was held with the theme
'Encyclical Pacem in Terris' in
Nagoya City in Japan, from November 12 to 14, 2013. Along with the Most Rev.
Peter Kang U-il, President of the CBCK and Bishop of Cheju, and the Most Rev.
Peter Takeo Okada, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan
(CBCJ) and Archbishop of Tokyo, 49 bishops and priests participated in this
colloquium.

The first session was held at a conference room of Kanajawa New Grand
Hotel on November 12, 2013. Fr. Juan Masia, SJ, Professor emeritus at Sophia University in Tokyo, gave a lecture on the
background of the promulgation of Pacem
in Terris. According to Fr. Masia the decisive reason for the promulgation
of Pacem in Terris was the
confrontation between the USA and the former USSR, which was escalated by the
Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Fr. Masia said that Pope John XXIII, by sending a
peace message to the two world leaders at that time, tried to act as a
peacemaker between them. He reiterated especially the need for the formation of
priests who can read the signs of the times through the study of the history of
the world and the Church, as we are witnessing many unprecedented threats to
peace, even though we now have enough resources to realize the peace of the
world.

In the second session on November 13, 2013, Most Rev. Linus Lee
Seong-hyo, Auxiliary Bishop of Suwon, gave a lecture with the theme "Pacem in Terris - an actual advice up to
now". Bishop Lee said that Pacem in
Terris presupposed the cooperation between Christians and non-Christians
through the goodwill of individuals, as well as the openness of the Church for
all the desires of the modern world which is called the 'signs of the times'.
Bishop Lee said that the actual viability of Pacem in Terris rests on the fact that it suggests dialogue,
negotiation, and solidarity to solve the many conflicts and disputes which are
still challenging us.

In the afternoon, the bishops visited the historical site on Mr.
Takayama Ukon, whose beatification is now in process by the CBCJ. The bishops
also paid a visit to the Nodayama Cemetery where Mr. Youn Bong-gil, a Korean
patriot in the era of Japanese colonial rule, was secretly buried by the
Japanese authorities. The bishops offered flowers to the soul of Mr. Youn.

In the evening the bishops celebrated Mass at Kanajawa church, which was
presided over by Archbishop Joseph Chennoth, Apostolic Nuncio in Japan, Bishop
Kang U-il, President of the CBCK, and Bishop Augustine Nomura Junich, Bishop of
Nagoya.

In the morning of November 14, 2013, the bishops had time for group
discussion on Pacem in Terris and on
the theme of the next colloquium. The bishops voiced with one accord that the
Church should take the initiative in the reconciliation of Korea, Japan, and
China, in the midst of escalating conflict caused by territorial disputes and
unsettled historical enmity.

Before the closing of the colloquium, the bishops issued a joint
statement and agreed upon the special prayer and collection campaign for the
Catholic Church in the Philippines which suffered great damage from the recent
typhoon.

The next colloquium will be held in Korea in November, 2014.