CBCK News
2009-08-24 13:52
2009-08-24 13:52
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Communications on Dec. 12, 2002
* Celebration for 10th Organ Donation Day

The One Heart One Body Movement of the Archdiocese of Seoul and Catholic Medical Center(Director: Rev. Matthias Choi Young-sik) held the 10th Organ Donation Day on December 8 at Maria Hall of Catholic Medical College and encouraged the organ donators.
Some 600 donators and beneficiaries had candle-light ceremony during Mass and resolved to dedicate clean heart and body for the sake of brothers and sisters in suffering. The Most Rev. Lucas Kim Woon-hoe said in his homily, "the act of making a resolution to donate organs is a grace and I encourage to promote the organ donation movement for the sake of the Kingdom of God."
According to the report of the day, from 1990 to the present 15,920 people registered for organ donation; 1,503 corneal operations; 146 transplantations in case of brain deaths. In this year, there were 1,288 organ donations, 62 corneal operation and 7 transplantation of organ in case of brain death.
The organ donation movement in the Church in Korea was initiated with Seoul International Eucharistic Congress in 1987 and has been into action since 1990.


* New Secretary General of the CBCK Urges Abolition of Mother and Child Health Law

Rev. Casimir Song Yul-sup, new Secretary General of the CBCK(Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea), in special column of the Catholic Times of December 15, urged the Korean government to abolish the 30-year Mother and Child Health Law saying "People who are born and people who are to be born are equal beings with the same human dignity."

On December 4 and 5 the Secretariat of the CBCK received an important notice and sent out an important official document respectively.
The first was a negative response from the National Assembly of Korea to the petition of the CBCK for abolition of the Mother and Child Health Law and the latter was the third letter of the CBCK to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops asking support for a fair amendment of the Status of Forces Agreement(SOFA) between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
What do these two official documents mean to us?
At this critical juncture that the entire country is in mourning for two innocent schoolgirls' death crushed by a armored tank and nationwide rallies demanding a fair and complete amendment of the Korea-U.S. SOFA, what does this notice of the National Assembly make us to think?
All humans created in the image of God are equal. However, when we look back the history we find many unfair facts. There was time when females were not treated properly and people were treated as animals by white men for their skin is black. There was time of racial discrimination treating people as parasitic insects because they are of different race. There was time people were discriminated because of their social position and status.
The Korea-U.S. SOFA is an example of such inequality and discriminations. Discrimination offers to some people generous privileges while it causes to others pains, sufferings, and even death. In the bottom of the discrimination finds selfishness that one is lenient with oneself, and severe to others.
Koreans claim the fair SOFA, but, when they will understand the critical discrimination between people who are born and those who are not born yet? In our society, 4000-5000 unborn babies are being killed everyday due to this discrimination. However, the Mother and Child Health Law that has allowed abortion is still in good shape.
In December, 2000, the CBCK petitioned to the National Assembly for abolition of the Law with 1,240,000 signatures, but, the Assembly rejected it with mention that "as many other countries the women's right for choice has to be respected, and from the point of view of born people the partial abortion has to be allowed anyway." 
What is different and what is same between the Korea-U.S. SOFA and the Mother and Child Health Law? They have discrimination just the same but their subjects are different.
Two schoolgirls were killed but there was no punishment of criminals. Likewise, 1.5 million unborn babies are killed every year by the Mother and Child Health Law that was established in February 8, 1973 but there has been no punishment.
If American girls had been killed, the result of trial would have been different. And if people who are born, regardless they are born disabled or by rape, are killed by someone, what the situation would be?
But people who are born and not born yet are same people. Rich or poor, being born or still in mother's womb, all human beings are equal beings with human dignity that are created in the image of God. Aren't they?
Then, why do people discriminate them?
Why do they protest against one discrimination while consider the other discrimination to be natural?


* Bishops Encourage the Faithful to Recite the Rosary for the Reconciliation of Korean People and Sanctification of Family

On the occasion of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patron of the Church in Korea, all the diocesan bishops, including the Most Rev. Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul, issued a pastoral letter titled "Let us Recite the Rosary for the Reconciliation of the Korean People and the Sanctification of the Family." and encouraged a revival of the Rosary, prayer for peace and the family.
In line with the recent apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, "Rosarium Virgini Mariae," in which he declared "the Year of the Rosary" (from October 2002 to October 2003) and added the "Mysteries of Light," the Permanent Council of the CBCK decided to invite the faithful to recite the Rosary from the first Sunday of Advent, 2002 to the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe in 2003 (November 23) with the above-mentioned intentions.
The Bishops said in the letter, "with the Rosary, we contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and experience the depths of his love, and receive abundant grace through Mary's intercession," and invite all parishes and communities to "recite the Rosary, especially to recite it in the family with all the family members."
Emphasizing that the Rosary is a prayer for peace, the Bishops said, "in this new millennium filled with widespread violence and hatred, let us make a resolution to commit ourselves to advance world peace, especially for the reconciliation and peace of our peace."
Regarding the presidential election on December 19, in particular, they advised, "in the first presidential election of the new millennium, let us make a prudent choice of the leader and choose a right leader who is committed to peace and justice."
Since the Rosary is one of the best and most efficacious prayers to protect the family and to promote peace in it, they called for the recitation of the Rosary “so that the light of Jesus, and his 'Mysteries of Light' lighten up the world and the family that is in darkness."
In this regard, the Committee for Liturgy(President: Most. Rev. Vincent Ri Pyung-ho) of the CBCK at its regular meeting on December 4 decided the prayer text of the Mysteries of Light in Korean language.


* Catholics to Take Positive Part of Public Demands for the Amendment of SOFA

With regard to the deaths of two Korean schoolgirls in a road accident involving a U.S. military vehicle in June, 2002, anti-Americanism and movements to call for the complete amendment of unfair Korea-U.S. SOFA are growing nationwide by diverse groups and in various forms.
As a part of it, on December 8 some 5,000 Catholics and priests of the Diocese of Suwon gathered at the Art Plaza in Ansan to urge the amendment of the current unfair Korea-U.S. SOFA.
Three days earlier than this, the Fountain of Peace including 21 civic or religion women groups, held Korean traditional exorcism in Seoul to console the souls of two young victims and made resolution to commit themselves for the amendment of SOFA while the Catholic Human Right Committee held "Musical Concert for Peace and Life".
Besides, the priests from the Korea Priests' Association for Justice have been staging hunger strikes since December 2 and every evening on main streets in Seoul citizens are holding peaceful demonstration holding candles.
On the occasion of the Human Rights Sunday (December 8), some parishes of the Archdiocese of Taegu held various events such as photo exhibition, signature-collecting campaign or film shows etc to reveal the truth of the tragic incident of two innocent girls' death.


* Archdiocese of Seoul Sponsors Thai Workers' Celebration for Their Holiday

On the occasion of the celebration of the birthday of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the biggest national holiday of Thailand, the Labor Pastoral Commission of the Archdiocese of Seoul(Chairman: Rev. Andrew Heo Yun-jin) sponsored an event for Thai workers with the theme of "We are Friends" at Labor Pastoral Center in Seoul on December 8, 2002.
Some 200 Thai workers participated in the event and party, and enjoyed happy time together, consoling each other their solitude and difficulties of being in foreign land.
The celebration provided them a good opportunity to consolidate the solidarity among Thai community, which began to be activated since last October when the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand sent lay missionaries to Korea to care for Thai workers.
In the afternoon of the same day, the Most Rev. Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation to foreign workers at the Catholic University in Seoul.