The 14th annual conference of the Association of Southeast and East Asian Catholic Colleges and Universities (ASEACCU) was held from August 24 to 26, 2006 at the Catholic University of Daegu. This is the second time in Korea after the 5th conference in 1997.
The participants came from 51 colleges and universities in seven Asian countries: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Korea.
The aim of the ASEACCU is to find a new chance for the development of its members through international exchange among them. In this conference, the participants discussed many challenges, with which the Catholic universities and colleges are confronted now, and sought to find solutions together. They tried to consolidate the international exchange system and benchmark good examples of other colleges and universities conforming to the age of globalization in the midst of the intensifying competition.
Key note speakers and panels presented their opinions about the “Technical Progress and the Humanistic Education”, the theme of this conference. The Rev. Albert Suh Kyung-don, President of Catholic University of Daegu, said, “The importance of the humanity will be ever more stressed as the high-tech era is emerging.” And he observed that “The humanity will become the core value in the age when the technology and human capacity are inseperably intermingled.”
Mr. John Bosco Sohn Byung-du, President of Sogang University, said, “We have to overcome the cure-all myth of scientific rationalism alleged to be the only way to the truth. And furthermore, we have to try to strike the balance between technical progress and humanistic education.” And he added, “We have to teach students the proper rationality of ethical and religious values, not just that of natural science, so that they could have a balanced point of view.”
As one of the panels, Mr. Yamaoka Sanzi, a professor from the Sophia University in Japan, said that “The Catholic universities must exert their efforts to teach the students to have an amicable attitude to others and respect one another for their spiritual growth, and encourage them to confront many challenges audaciously.”
The 120th Anniversary of Catholic Publishing House
Catholic Publishing House celebrated its 120th anniversary of foundation on 28 August, 2006 at the Maria Hall.
At the celebration Mass His Eminence Nicholas Cardinal Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul, said, “The Catholic Publishing House has been the role model of the Catholic publishing in Korea.” And he added, “The members of the Catholic Publishing House who communicate the will of God to the world through publication must strive for the God's work with pride and self-confidence.”
As a part of the celebration, a symposium was also held to review the overall situation of the publishing culture of the Catholic Church in Korea.
The Rev. Benedict Chang Dong Ha, one of the seven speakers who presented their papers, said, “It is said that the Catholic Publishing House officially started to run its press machine in 1886. ... But in 1878, the Rev. Blanc, the then Pro-Vicar Apostolic, already tried to set up a print house in Korea. And in early 1882 he had Mr. Basilio Choe Woo-jung, the younger brother of the Rev. Thomas Choe Yang-eop, print ‘Gong-gua’, the Prayer Book, in Jeolla Province, Korea. ... So we have to study more to find out the exact date of the foundation of the Catholic Publishing House.” Other speakers presented also their papers on five different themes in relation to the meaning and role of the Catholic Publishing House: doctrine and catechism, the Bible and the theology of Bible, the theology of spirituality, modern theology, and Catholic philosophy.