* Statistics of Overseas Korean Catholics 2007
The Statistics of Overseas Korean Catholics 2007 was published by the CBCK Committee for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants (President: Most Rev. Vincent Ri Pyung-ho) on February 1, 2008.
According to the statistics, as of December 31, 2007, the number of Korean Catholics practicing their faith in overseas Catholic churches and missions totaled 149,966. About two-thirds of the total overseas Korean Catholic population, 108,263 Korean Catholics are living in
Most overseas Korean Catholics are concentrated in the
There are 165 parishes and 170 mission stations for overseas Korean Catholics in 61 countries. 203 priests, 39 brothers and 131 sisters have been sent to those countries to provide pastoral care for them.
The diocese and the religious community sending the largest number of Korean pastoral workers abroad were the Diocese of Pusan (27 priests to 7 countries) and the Sisters of the Blessed Korean Martyrs (30 sisters to 4 countries).
According to the biennial statistics published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
* Renewed Web-site of the CBCK
The web-site of the CBCK (www.cbck.or.kr) has been renewed as of February 18, 2008. The most distinctive part of the renewed web-site is a section of documents which supplies in free e-book form many Church documents translated into Korean or published by the CBCK, such as documents of the Second Vatican Council, and the various documents of the Popes and the Holy See.
This web-site also provides e-book service for free so that the netizens can access to the texts of Gyeonghyang Magazine, the Bulletin of the CBCK, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
There is also an easy search function for the Bible in various Korean versions including Seonggyeong (the new Korean translation of the Bible for Catholics), the Common Translation of the Holy Bible (the ecumenical Korean translation) and the New American Bible in English.
It also provides Daily Mass and liturgical calendar. The CBCK as the center of the Church in Korea informs about various and latest news and press releases of the Catholic Church in Korea and of the Universal Church on the main page of this web-site. For the convenience of believers who plan a retreat, this web-site provides detailed information of retreat houses or centers in cooperation with various religious societies and has easy links to other web-sites of the holy places in Korea.
* Mobile Service of the Research Foundation of
The Research Foundation of Korean Church History (hereafter the RFKCH; President: Most Rev. Andrew Yeom Soo-jung) started providing mobile service from February 24, 2008, in connection with the 'Jeong Yak-jong Project', a Catholic Wireless Yangeop System which was developed by the Diocese of Uijeongbu as a mobile pastoral information system.
Beyond the existing services provided by the Jeong Yak-jong Project such as a search function for Seonggyeong (the new Korean translation of the Bible for Catholics), the Catholic Prayer Book; parishes and Mass times, the weekly diocesan bulletin or various Catholic news, the RFKCH supplies various additional contents such as today's Church history, news from the RFKCH, and information of new books published by the RFKCH.
Bishop Andrew Yeom said, "We are flooded by so much information. In this situation, a Catholic media is necessary to help the youth encounter the Word of God and be nourished by it. In this sense, I hope that this mobile service will be a method for the youth to access to the Word of God at any time."
* Newsletter for the Reconciliation of the Korean People Published
The CBCK Committee for the Reconciliation of the Korean People (hereafter, the CRKP) published the first edition of its monthly web-magazine, Newsletter for the Reconciliation of the Korean People on February 28, 2008. The newsletter is addressed to the clergy, religious, laity and new settlers who are North Korean defectors in South Korea within the Church. Its objective is to share activities of the Committee and information about
The Newsletter includes the following columns: 'News of the CRKP' containing news of the CRKP of the CBCK and of each diocese, 'News of North Korea' delivering information and news of North Korea, 'Accompanying New Settlers' containing new settlers' viewpoint on the Korean society, 'Fragmentary Thoughts of the Clergy' containing religious insights of priests, 'Place of Sharing' introducing assistance activities for North Korea on various levels; 'Column of Experts' in a series.
In an address of the first edition, the Most Rev. Lucas Kim Woon-hoe, President of the Committee, said, "I hope that activities of the CRKP with the publication of the Newsletter will contribute to reconciliation and reunification of the Korean people, and help the Church in Korea strengthen her roles and positions for building and consolidating the true peace on the Korean Peninsula."
The Newsletter is available for free after registration on the CRKP web-site (http://hwahai.cbck.or.kr).