* Symposium on “The Korean Adaptation of Pauline Mission”

A symposium on the subject of “the Korean Adaptation of Pauline Mission” was jointly held by the Committee for Evangelization of the CBCK (President: the Most Rev. Paul Choi Deok-ki) and the Pyonghwa Broadcasting Corporation (Catholic Broadcasting Company, President: Rev. John Oh Ji-yeong) at the Coste Hall of Myeongdong Cathedral of Seoul on September 19, 2008.

In his keynote address, Bishop Choi appealed the faithful to arm themselves with missionary passion of St. Paul the Apostle, saying “A measure of vitality of the Church is the rate of evangelization. In this regard, the present low rate shows that the missionary passion of the Church in Korea is on the decline.” He continued, “Efforts the Church in Korea makes for the foreign missionary fall short of expectation of the Holy Father and the universal Church. In this context, on the occasion of the Pauline Year, it is necessary to learn missionary works from St. Paul who was the most famous missionary with a burning passion for missionary work.”

Rev. Damian Kim Young-nam, Professor at the Catholic University of Korea, presented a paper on St. Paul’s missionary spirit and characteristics in the light of the Acts of the Apostles and Pauline Epistles. He said, “The soul of the Church in Korea is the spirit of martyrdom. God grants His abundant grace to the Church in Korea which was established by Korean martyrs’ blood. We must not forget that the divine grace is given to us to share with our neighbors.”

Rev. Andrea Yoo Hee-seok, Professor at Suwon Catholic University, presented a paper on measures to implant the missionary spirit and ways of St. Paul Apostle in the missionary works of the Church in Korea. He stressed that all the faithful should find their own identity as missionaries and take the lead of missionary works following St. Paul’s examples.