CBCK News
2009-08-24 13:56
2009-08-24 13:57
8,697
Communications on Feb. 7, 2003
* Catholic Social Welfare Facilities Outstretch Active Services in Korean Society

The Committee for "Caritas Coreana" of the CBCK recently published a Korean handbook titled 2002 Social Welfare Services of the Catholic Church in Korea which indicated that the Catholic Church in Korea has gradually expanded her scope of social welfare services in the society.
According to the handbook, at the end of 2002 there were 620 Catholic social welfare facilities in Korea. This number is increased by 96 from 524 of the year of 1999 and amounts to 14.6% of total social welfare facilities in Korea.
Of the dioceses in Korea, the Archdiocese of Seoul has the largest number of facilities in 156 places or 25.2% of total Church-run facilities, and the Archdioceses of Kwangju and Taegu have 72 and 68 facilities respectively. This shows that about half of the facilities are concentrated in big cities.
Looking into it more carefully by the field, facilities for the handicapped are increased by 165 places, and for children and the youth, 158 places. However, the welfare facilities for social correction (2 places), for the sick with tuberculosis (4 places), for counseling (8 places), and for women (29 places) are insufficient compared to others such as facilities for the elderly (117 places).
One other remarkable thing was the increase of registered facilities. The unregistered facilities, which reached 50.5% in 1999, decreased to 36.1% in 2002. But facilities are still being established without report to the related authorities; 24 unregistered facilities have been newly set up since 2000.
According to the handbook, 130 priests, 1,488 religious and 4,705 lay Catholics are engaged in Catholic social welfare services.
Prof. Lee Tae-su of Kkottongnae Hyundo University of Social Welfare who led the publication of this handbook explained, "as the Catholic Church takes important status in social welfare field, in both quantitative and qualitative aspects, she should become a beacon for other social welfare facilities and contribute to building of welfare community by utilizing her potential resources available."



* Interfaith Circle Urges to Stop the Land Reclamation Project

Christians and people of other faith had a prayer meeting on January 22 at an Anglican church in downtown Seoul and issued a joint statement urging the government to cancel the Saemangeum reclamation project.
In the statement, the leaders of Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and Won Buddhists and 500 participants urged the South Korea's President-elect Roh Moo-hyun to abandon the reclamation project in the Saemangeum region.
"The mud flats have become a sacred place and a sign for all who love and hope that life and peace can be fulfilled, the Roh Moo-hyun government should abandon the short-sighted policy of blind development." they urged.
Environmentalists, religious bodies and civic groups claim the government project will destroy a precious ecosystem that is home to 370 species of marine life and a stopover for migratory birds. They also argue that the planned farmland cannot full compensate fishermen for lost income.
Rev. Paul Moon Kyu-hyon, co-chairperson of the Peace and Life Solidarity for Saemangeum, insisted that the government has to abandon "the myth that the development is everything."