Communications on Aug. 9, 2002
* Messages of Korean Bishops on Independence Day Focused on North Korea Relief, Unity of Korean People through Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On the occasion of the Solemnity of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the 57th Korean Independence Day on August 15, the Most Rev. Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul, and the Most Rev. John Chrisostom Kwon Hyok-ju, Bishop of Andong, issued messages respectively and asked the faithful to pray for intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for reconciliation and unity of Korean people.
Archbishop Nicholas Cheong, Apostolic Administrator of Pyong-yang, appealed to the faithful to take the lead of North Korean relief movement according to Jesus teaching, saying, "we cannot ignore North Korean brothers and sisters even though we have different ideologies and political systems. At the same time he urged North Korean authority systematic reform to promote people's life while Bishop Kwon called for dialogue and understanding of people in efforts of reconciliation by referring the naval clash in the West Sea between South and North navy, and the incident of the deaths of two Korean teenage girls hit by a U.S.A. military vehicle.
* "You Are the Salt of the Earth, You Are the Light of the World"
"I could confirm in the youth infinite dynamism and potentialities of the Church," said the Most Rev. Peter Kang U-il, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul & elected Bishop of the diocese of Cheju, who gave catechism to Korean youth during the 17th World Youth Day that was taken place from July 23 to 28 in Toronto, Canada.
Over 800 Korean youth from South Korea, United States, Brazil and Canada participated in the catechism with theme of "Light to the world and salt of the earth, and Reconciliation."
During the instruction, Bishop Kang focused on fraternal love, saying, "in order to lighten the world and give flavor to the world, we have first to accept our neighbors as brothers and sisters. You are called to become light and salt to drive out darkness and injustice from the world by committing yourselves to the new values and new visions, and not compromising with the world."
By reminding Holy Father's trust and hope in the youth for the future of the Church, Bishop Kang said that an event such the World Youth Day is an unique opportunity to encounter the youth from all over the world and invited them to wide open their heart to accept different cultures of different people and different countries to build together more fraternal and human world, new civilization of peace and freedom, and for new evangelization of the world.
Rev. Gregory Choi Kyu-sik from the Parish of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon in Toronto that offered home-stay to the participants said that it was an excellent opportunity of unity and collaboration in Christ for the parishioners.
* Complementary Norms to the Canon Law Recognized by the Apostolic See
The Catholic Conference of Korea recently announced that the Complementary Norms to the Code of Canon Law drafted by the CBCK were recognized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples of the Apostolic See as of June 25.
These Complementary Norms were prepared following the recommendation of the Apostolic See after the promulgation of the revised Canon Law in 1983 that local churches should set up proper particular ecclesiastical laws in consideration of the civil laws or customs of the area. Accordingly, the Catholic Church in Korea, after completing the "Pastoral Directory of the Catholic Church in Korea" in 1995, developed the Directory into these complementary norms by revising and supplementing it in keeping with the situation in Korea and the times. Hence, it can be said that with this recognition the full meaning of inherent canon law of the Catholic Church in Korea is brought to completion.
These Complementary Norms were determined at 2001 Spring General Assembly of the CBCK and presented to the Apostolic See on May 22, 2001.
Covering 29 clauses including Norms on Presbyteral Council(Can. 496), Norms on Retirement of Priests(Can. 538 §3) and Regulation on Transmitting the Christian Doctrine through the Electronic Communication Media(Can. 772 §2), the Complementary Norms are evaluated in general as concrete and clear presentation of criteria conforming to the times.
One member of the Committee for Canonical Affairs of the CBCK who partook in the work of drafting complementary norms said, "this recognition reflects the Apostolic See's concern and support for the Catholic Church in Korea that is actively involved in mission activities in Asia. It is a clear proof of the elevated status of the Catholic Church in Korea as the forefront of the mission in Asia."
* Church Voices to Abolish the Industrial Trainee System
With regard to the "Improvement Plan for the Foreign Workers Programs" announced by the Korean Government on July 17, critical voices are raised inside and outside the Church.
Seven organizations in the Church such as Catholic Worker's Centers and Consultation Offices for Migrant Workers in various dioceses issued a statement on July 25 and said, "the plan of Government to maintain the industrial trainee system, which has been criticized as 'modern slavery system', and just to slightly increase the number of them is an unjust decision" and urged the Government to withdraw the plan immediately.
Reminding the teaching of the Catholic Church that "the value of work should be measured by the same standard and not according to the difference in nationality, religion or race"(Laborem Exercens, n. 23), the statement urged the Government to rescind the industrial trainee system.
The statement claimed, "it is unreasonable to deal with the problem of human rights by simply reducing the number of illegal residents and to introduce workers through a defective system," and continued, "while they also admit that industrial trainee system is a channel to make migrant workers illegal residents, the Government is unwilling to abolish it and instead to expand it. It is obvious exploitation of migrant workers, and what's worse, it is led by the Government."
They demanded to think first the rights of migrant workers, not the logic of economy, and to make humanitarian policies.
The Committee for Labor Pastoral Ministry of the Archdiocese of Seoul also issued a statement which said, "the remedy proposed by the Government is a deception for migrant workers who voluntarily reported their illegal residence and an act to abandon the expectation of many who want to build a just world," and called for the introduction of work permit system or employment permit system which recognizes equal rights of migrant workers as those of domestic workers.
In the meantime, among the Nepalese migrant workers in Korea some get married with Korean women but must live in the dark because they are classified as illegal residents. Composed of some 30 Nepalese-Korean couples, a group named Ne-Co is trying to find solutions to their real problems including registration of their marriage, rearing and education of their children etc.
Ms. Lee Geum-yeon, director of a welfare center who is acting as an advisor of Ne-Co, said "we should be aware that migrant workers are also same human like us with inviolable human rights," reminding the word of John Paul II, "in the Church, there are no strangers or sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God(Homily for the Jubilee of Migrants and Itinerant People, n. 3)."
* Activities for Abolition of the Death Penalty to be Intensified
The Committee for Abolishing the Death Penalty under the Committee for Justice & Peace of the CBCK held its regular meeting on July 25 and planned activities for the second half of the year.
Among the activities planned is the invitation of Sr. Helen Prejean, the real person of the movie character in "Dead Man Walking". Her visit to Korea, scheduled to November 1-3, is expected to help to raise the awareness of people toward the abolition of death penalty. Lectures are planned in various places around her visit including Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.
Futhermore, the Committee will form a delegation to visit the National Assembly of Korea, which will develop activities over the candidates for presidential election in December, the Chairperson of the National Assembly and members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly. It also will urge the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to immediately deal with the pending "Special Law for the Abolition of Death Penalty", and if it is not going well, it will ask the Chairperson of the National Assembly to directly present the law by virtue of his authority.
Along with the effort to realize meeting between Cardinal Stephen Kim Souhwan and other religion leaders and the President concerning this matter, the Committee will send "Public Inquiry on the Abolition of Death Penalty" to the candidates of the presidential elections.
On the other hand, the "Association of Religions for the Abolition of Death Penalty"(joint representative: Rev. Paul Lee Chang-young), composed of seven religions, had prayer meeting at Cheondo-gyo central temple. All the participants were in one mind to pray for the reconciliation and forgiveness of the criminals and the victims and for the abolition of death penalty. In particular, the joint prayer meeting was meaningful when recalling that Cheondo-gyo and the Catholic Church in Korea were once hostile to each other in Korean history, being contrasted as Eastern Study and Western Study, respectively.
Statistically, according to "Hands off Cain", an international human rights organization for abolition of death penalty, of the 4,700 executions worldwide 4,450 or 94.6% were carried out in Asian countries in 2001.
Execution cases were highest in China as 3,500, accounting to 74.4% of the world total, followed by 100 in Vietnam, 45 in Pakistan and 18 in Thailand. Situation in North Korea was not known and in Kazakhstan 35 were executed only in the first half of the year of 2001.
In comparison, 161 executions were reported in Africa, 66 in America and 21 in Europe. In total, execution cases were increased in 2001 by 1,892 or 67.3% from the previous year(2,808).
In Asia, East Timor noticeably abolished both the death penalty and life imprisonment and Cambodia and Nepal, the death penalty.
* Catholic Activists Demand Overall Revision of the SOFA
"You shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you must to what is right in the sight of the Lord."(Dt 21,9)
Catholic Coalition to Solve the Case of Two Girls Killed by U.S.A. Military Vehicle(joint representative: Rev. Moon Kyu-hyeon) formed by 39 Catholic organizations including the Korea Priests Association for Justice held a press conference on July 29 at the entrance of Myeongdong Cathedral, Seoul, and demanded that the two U.S.A. soldiers involved be tried by the Korean jurisdiction and the overall revision of the Status of Forces Agreement(SOFA).
The Coalition claimed that, "after 48 days of tragic incident of U.S.A. military vehicle that claimed two innocent Korean young girls, the investigation is not made yet because of arrogance of the United States Forces Korea(USFK) and its evasion of responsibility, and unequal SOFA" and they demanded an overall revision of the SOFA.
In this regard the Committee issued "1000 Korean Catholic Declaration" and vowed to fight until the day the justice be done for the death of two young students.
In the statement the Coalition asked apology of President Bush of U.S.A. to the bereaved families and Korean people; overall revision of the unequal SOFA; transfer of jurisdiction to Korean court; closing of camp-house of the U.S.A. military unit concerned.
Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-son, middle school students, were killed immediately when they were run over by the military vehicle on June 13 on a rural road north of Seoul.
Families and civic organizations demanded a trial of two American army soldiers in Korean court, which they claimed was necessary for a thorough investigation.
On July 10, the Justice Ministry of Korea called on the USFK to waive its right to prosecute its soldiers for crimes committed while on duty.
However, the USFK turned down South Korea's request to relinquish jurisdiction over two American army soldiers whose armored vehicle fatally ran over two 14-year-old Korean girls on their way home.
In a note sent to the R.O.K. Justice Ministry, the USFK said there is no precedent of U.S.A. soldiers being tried in Korean courts concerning on-duty crimes.
Upon hearing the news, thousands of activists clustered outside the U.S.A. Embassy and city centers to protest.
A civic coalition of 150 organizations set up on the girls' death condemned USFK's decision as "stamping on South Korea's sovereignty" in a statement.
The girls' deaths have provoked a flurry of anti-American protests nationwide over the last month and activists have demanded an apology from President Bush.
Though thousands of similar incidents of crimes have occurred since the U.S.A. Army's stationing in Korea, Korean side had no right to claim over crimes for the SOFA signed by Korean and U.S.A. governments saying that the U.S.A. has primary jurisdiction over crimes of its soldiers committed while on duty.
In South Korea, there are 37,000 U.S.A. troops, a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
On the occasion of the Solemnity of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the 57th Korean Independence Day on August 15, the Most Rev. Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul, and the Most Rev. John Chrisostom Kwon Hyok-ju, Bishop of Andong, issued messages respectively and asked the faithful to pray for intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary for reconciliation and unity of Korean people.
Archbishop Nicholas Cheong, Apostolic Administrator of Pyong-yang, appealed to the faithful to take the lead of North Korean relief movement according to Jesus teaching, saying, "we cannot ignore North Korean brothers and sisters even though we have different ideologies and political systems. At the same time he urged North Korean authority systematic reform to promote people's life while Bishop Kwon called for dialogue and understanding of people in efforts of reconciliation by referring the naval clash in the West Sea between South and North navy, and the incident of the deaths of two Korean teenage girls hit by a U.S.A. military vehicle.
* "You Are the Salt of the Earth, You Are the Light of the World"
"I could confirm in the youth infinite dynamism and potentialities of the Church," said the Most Rev. Peter Kang U-il, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul & elected Bishop of the diocese of Cheju, who gave catechism to Korean youth during the 17th World Youth Day that was taken place from July 23 to 28 in Toronto, Canada.
Over 800 Korean youth from South Korea, United States, Brazil and Canada participated in the catechism with theme of "Light to the world and salt of the earth, and Reconciliation."
During the instruction, Bishop Kang focused on fraternal love, saying, "in order to lighten the world and give flavor to the world, we have first to accept our neighbors as brothers and sisters. You are called to become light and salt to drive out darkness and injustice from the world by committing yourselves to the new values and new visions, and not compromising with the world."
By reminding Holy Father's trust and hope in the youth for the future of the Church, Bishop Kang said that an event such the World Youth Day is an unique opportunity to encounter the youth from all over the world and invited them to wide open their heart to accept different cultures of different people and different countries to build together more fraternal and human world, new civilization of peace and freedom, and for new evangelization of the world.
Rev. Gregory Choi Kyu-sik from the Parish of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon in Toronto that offered home-stay to the participants said that it was an excellent opportunity of unity and collaboration in Christ for the parishioners.
* Complementary Norms to the Canon Law Recognized by the Apostolic See
The Catholic Conference of Korea recently announced that the Complementary Norms to the Code of Canon Law drafted by the CBCK were recognized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples of the Apostolic See as of June 25.
These Complementary Norms were prepared following the recommendation of the Apostolic See after the promulgation of the revised Canon Law in 1983 that local churches should set up proper particular ecclesiastical laws in consideration of the civil laws or customs of the area. Accordingly, the Catholic Church in Korea, after completing the "Pastoral Directory of the Catholic Church in Korea" in 1995, developed the Directory into these complementary norms by revising and supplementing it in keeping with the situation in Korea and the times. Hence, it can be said that with this recognition the full meaning of inherent canon law of the Catholic Church in Korea is brought to completion.
These Complementary Norms were determined at 2001 Spring General Assembly of the CBCK and presented to the Apostolic See on May 22, 2001.
Covering 29 clauses including Norms on Presbyteral Council(Can. 496), Norms on Retirement of Priests(Can. 538 §3) and Regulation on Transmitting the Christian Doctrine through the Electronic Communication Media(Can. 772 §2), the Complementary Norms are evaluated in general as concrete and clear presentation of criteria conforming to the times.
One member of the Committee for Canonical Affairs of the CBCK who partook in the work of drafting complementary norms said, "this recognition reflects the Apostolic See's concern and support for the Catholic Church in Korea that is actively involved in mission activities in Asia. It is a clear proof of the elevated status of the Catholic Church in Korea as the forefront of the mission in Asia."
* Church Voices to Abolish the Industrial Trainee System
With regard to the "Improvement Plan for the Foreign Workers Programs" announced by the Korean Government on July 17, critical voices are raised inside and outside the Church.
Seven organizations in the Church such as Catholic Worker's Centers and Consultation Offices for Migrant Workers in various dioceses issued a statement on July 25 and said, "the plan of Government to maintain the industrial trainee system, which has been criticized as 'modern slavery system', and just to slightly increase the number of them is an unjust decision" and urged the Government to withdraw the plan immediately.
Reminding the teaching of the Catholic Church that "the value of work should be measured by the same standard and not according to the difference in nationality, religion or race"(Laborem Exercens, n. 23), the statement urged the Government to rescind the industrial trainee system.
The statement claimed, "it is unreasonable to deal with the problem of human rights by simply reducing the number of illegal residents and to introduce workers through a defective system," and continued, "while they also admit that industrial trainee system is a channel to make migrant workers illegal residents, the Government is unwilling to abolish it and instead to expand it. It is obvious exploitation of migrant workers, and what's worse, it is led by the Government."
They demanded to think first the rights of migrant workers, not the logic of economy, and to make humanitarian policies.
The Committee for Labor Pastoral Ministry of the Archdiocese of Seoul also issued a statement which said, "the remedy proposed by the Government is a deception for migrant workers who voluntarily reported their illegal residence and an act to abandon the expectation of many who want to build a just world," and called for the introduction of work permit system or employment permit system which recognizes equal rights of migrant workers as those of domestic workers.
In the meantime, among the Nepalese migrant workers in Korea some get married with Korean women but must live in the dark because they are classified as illegal residents. Composed of some 30 Nepalese-Korean couples, a group named Ne-Co is trying to find solutions to their real problems including registration of their marriage, rearing and education of their children etc.
Ms. Lee Geum-yeon, director of a welfare center who is acting as an advisor of Ne-Co, said "we should be aware that migrant workers are also same human like us with inviolable human rights," reminding the word of John Paul II, "in the Church, there are no strangers or sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God(Homily for the Jubilee of Migrants and Itinerant People, n. 3)."
* Activities for Abolition of the Death Penalty to be Intensified
The Committee for Abolishing the Death Penalty under the Committee for Justice & Peace of the CBCK held its regular meeting on July 25 and planned activities for the second half of the year.
Among the activities planned is the invitation of Sr. Helen Prejean, the real person of the movie character in "Dead Man Walking". Her visit to Korea, scheduled to November 1-3, is expected to help to raise the awareness of people toward the abolition of death penalty. Lectures are planned in various places around her visit including Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.
Futhermore, the Committee will form a delegation to visit the National Assembly of Korea, which will develop activities over the candidates for presidential election in December, the Chairperson of the National Assembly and members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly. It also will urge the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to immediately deal with the pending "Special Law for the Abolition of Death Penalty", and if it is not going well, it will ask the Chairperson of the National Assembly to directly present the law by virtue of his authority.
Along with the effort to realize meeting between Cardinal Stephen Kim Souhwan and other religion leaders and the President concerning this matter, the Committee will send "Public Inquiry on the Abolition of Death Penalty" to the candidates of the presidential elections.
On the other hand, the "Association of Religions for the Abolition of Death Penalty"(joint representative: Rev. Paul Lee Chang-young), composed of seven religions, had prayer meeting at Cheondo-gyo central temple. All the participants were in one mind to pray for the reconciliation and forgiveness of the criminals and the victims and for the abolition of death penalty. In particular, the joint prayer meeting was meaningful when recalling that Cheondo-gyo and the Catholic Church in Korea were once hostile to each other in Korean history, being contrasted as Eastern Study and Western Study, respectively.
Statistically, according to "Hands off Cain", an international human rights organization for abolition of death penalty, of the 4,700 executions worldwide 4,450 or 94.6% were carried out in Asian countries in 2001.
Execution cases were highest in China as 3,500, accounting to 74.4% of the world total, followed by 100 in Vietnam, 45 in Pakistan and 18 in Thailand. Situation in North Korea was not known and in Kazakhstan 35 were executed only in the first half of the year of 2001.
In comparison, 161 executions were reported in Africa, 66 in America and 21 in Europe. In total, execution cases were increased in 2001 by 1,892 or 67.3% from the previous year(2,808).
In Asia, East Timor noticeably abolished both the death penalty and life imprisonment and Cambodia and Nepal, the death penalty.
* Catholic Activists Demand Overall Revision of the SOFA
"You shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you must to what is right in the sight of the Lord."(Dt 21,9)
Catholic Coalition to Solve the Case of Two Girls Killed by U.S.A. Military Vehicle(joint representative: Rev. Moon Kyu-hyeon) formed by 39 Catholic organizations including the Korea Priests Association for Justice held a press conference on July 29 at the entrance of Myeongdong Cathedral, Seoul, and demanded that the two U.S.A. soldiers involved be tried by the Korean jurisdiction and the overall revision of the Status of Forces Agreement(SOFA).
The Coalition claimed that, "after 48 days of tragic incident of U.S.A. military vehicle that claimed two innocent Korean young girls, the investigation is not made yet because of arrogance of the United States Forces Korea(USFK) and its evasion of responsibility, and unequal SOFA" and they demanded an overall revision of the SOFA.
In this regard the Committee issued "1000 Korean Catholic Declaration" and vowed to fight until the day the justice be done for the death of two young students.
In the statement the Coalition asked apology of President Bush of U.S.A. to the bereaved families and Korean people; overall revision of the unequal SOFA; transfer of jurisdiction to Korean court; closing of camp-house of the U.S.A. military unit concerned.
Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-son, middle school students, were killed immediately when they were run over by the military vehicle on June 13 on a rural road north of Seoul.
Families and civic organizations demanded a trial of two American army soldiers in Korean court, which they claimed was necessary for a thorough investigation.
On July 10, the Justice Ministry of Korea called on the USFK to waive its right to prosecute its soldiers for crimes committed while on duty.
However, the USFK turned down South Korea's request to relinquish jurisdiction over two American army soldiers whose armored vehicle fatally ran over two 14-year-old Korean girls on their way home.
In a note sent to the R.O.K. Justice Ministry, the USFK said there is no precedent of U.S.A. soldiers being tried in Korean courts concerning on-duty crimes.
Upon hearing the news, thousands of activists clustered outside the U.S.A. Embassy and city centers to protest.
A civic coalition of 150 organizations set up on the girls' death condemned USFK's decision as "stamping on South Korea's sovereignty" in a statement.
The girls' deaths have provoked a flurry of anti-American protests nationwide over the last month and activists have demanded an apology from President Bush.
Though thousands of similar incidents of crimes have occurred since the U.S.A. Army's stationing in Korea, Korean side had no right to claim over crimes for the SOFA signed by Korean and U.S.A. governments saying that the U.S.A. has primary jurisdiction over crimes of its soldiers committed while on duty.
In South Korea, there are 37,000 U.S.A. troops, a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.