Communications on Feb. 14, 2003
* Life 31 Movement Launched with Mass and Candlelight Procession
The Catholic Church in Korea launched a new life movement to put an end to the culture of death and build the culture of life.
On February 7, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea launched the Life 31 Movement with a Mass and candlelight procession at the Myongdong Cathedral of Seoul and declared the Life 31 Movement to take lead in building a world of life where no abortion, death penalty, manipulation of human life and war exist.
Some 7,000 participants to the ceremony repented the way of life they are accustomed to the culture of death and made commitment to be the spearhead of building the culture of life through the Life 31 Movement.
His Eminence Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan who was the main celebrant of the concelebration of Mass said, "It is deplorable that 1,500,000 lives are aborted every year in Korea but nobody feels pang of guilt for this reality," and stressed the need to end the culture of death and build the culture of life.
He also said, "Life 31 Movement aims at laying foundation for life-cherishing values in our society," and urged politicians and people to make sincere efforts to build the culture of peace and life in our society.
Earlier than this on February 5, leaders of seven religions including Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Won Buddhists, Confucianists, Chondogyo and Association of Ethnic Religions issued a joint statement entitled "Let Us Build Culture of Life and Social Justice by Rooting Out Culture of Death" and visited the Chairman of the National Assembly, Mr. Park Kwan-yong to his office.
The statement reads, "We can not remain silent to any of anti-life elements which are against the dignity of human life" citing as example the Article 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law, the death penalty system and the human cloning.
The Most Rev. Boniface Choi Ki-san, President of the Committee for Promoting Christian Unity & Interreligious Dialogue of the CBCK, said to the Mr. Chairman Park, "to restore the culture of life is vital to the future of our people", and added, "however, what is more important than the revision of anti-life laws is to awaken the consciousness of people, thus the religious and political world should struggle for this end."
Mr. Chairman Park gave a pledge to do his best to cross out gradually the evil laws by strict enforcement of the five clauses of Art. 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law that permit the abortion under certain conditions. Regarding the abolition of death penalty system, he said it may be possible in the future if the public opinions support it further."
* Catholic Church Calls for Legislation of Life Ethics Bill
Regarding the controversial Life Ethics Bill, the Catholic Church in Korea prepared another bill and asked for its legislation to the National Assembly on February 5.
The bill, requesting legislation in the name of the Most Rev. Andrew Choi Chang-mou, President of the CBCK, explicitly stated that the human life starts from the very moment of the conception, therefore the fertilized egg or embryo should be respected as an individual being with human dignity.
Regarding the human embryo which is a hot issue of the times, the bill clearly stated that cloning human embryos must not be permitted without regard to its purpose.
In addition, the bill made a clear statement on the rights of people related to the life ethics of Korean people, and duties of the government and people involved in the field of bio-technology.
Rev. Remigio Lee Dong-ik, Executive Secretary of the Bioethics Committee of the CBCK, said, "The bill finalized by the governmental ministries was greatly influenced by some part of bio-technology, thus, in a great concern over the damaged human dignity, we prepared this bill on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church."
The bill prepared by government, accepting the opinion of the Ministry of Science & Technology while maintaining the existing bill of the Ministry of Health & Welfare, included a new stipulation that cloning of somatic cell for the purpose of cure of the rare and incurable diseases shall be allowed selectively. This inclusion has stirred up the criticism of religious circles.
* Prayer Movement for Beatification and Canonization of Korean Martyrs to be Accelerated
The Committee for the Beatification and Canonization of the Archdiocese of Taegu (CBCAT, Pres. Rev. Cho Hwan-kil) decided to concentrate its efforts on the prayer movement for the beatification and canonization of Korean martyrs.
The CBCAT asked each parish of the Archdiocese to select three martyrs among the 20 martyrs and pray for their beatification and canonization.
The Archdiocese of Taegu has 20 martyrs out of 124 Korean martyrs for whom the Episcopal Special Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the CBCK is promoting for the Causes of Saints.
"We will print the image of the twenty martyrs and distribute them to the faithful so that they can feel them close and pray." said Rev. Cho Hwan-kil.
The CBCAT established in 1998 has been working for the beatification and canonization of the martyrs of Eulhae Persecution(1815), Jeonghae Persecution(1829) and Gihae Persecution(1839) and has intensified it by launching prayer movement on the diocesan level and carried out various projects of study on martyrs' lives and spirituality, diffusion of meditation books of the martyrs' spirituality, pilgrimage, holding seminars etc. since 2001.
The Catholic Church in Korea launched a new life movement to put an end to the culture of death and build the culture of life.
On February 7, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea launched the Life 31 Movement with a Mass and candlelight procession at the Myongdong Cathedral of Seoul and declared the Life 31 Movement to take lead in building a world of life where no abortion, death penalty, manipulation of human life and war exist.
Some 7,000 participants to the ceremony repented the way of life they are accustomed to the culture of death and made commitment to be the spearhead of building the culture of life through the Life 31 Movement.
His Eminence Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan who was the main celebrant of the concelebration of Mass said, "It is deplorable that 1,500,000 lives are aborted every year in Korea but nobody feels pang of guilt for this reality," and stressed the need to end the culture of death and build the culture of life.
He also said, "Life 31 Movement aims at laying foundation for life-cherishing values in our society," and urged politicians and people to make sincere efforts to build the culture of peace and life in our society.
Earlier than this on February 5, leaders of seven religions including Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Won Buddhists, Confucianists, Chondogyo and Association of Ethnic Religions issued a joint statement entitled "Let Us Build Culture of Life and Social Justice by Rooting Out Culture of Death" and visited the Chairman of the National Assembly, Mr. Park Kwan-yong to his office.
The statement reads, "We can not remain silent to any of anti-life elements which are against the dignity of human life" citing as example the Article 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law, the death penalty system and the human cloning.
The Most Rev. Boniface Choi Ki-san, President of the Committee for Promoting Christian Unity & Interreligious Dialogue of the CBCK, said to the Mr. Chairman Park, "to restore the culture of life is vital to the future of our people", and added, "however, what is more important than the revision of anti-life laws is to awaken the consciousness of people, thus the religious and political world should struggle for this end."
Mr. Chairman Park gave a pledge to do his best to cross out gradually the evil laws by strict enforcement of the five clauses of Art. 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law that permit the abortion under certain conditions. Regarding the abolition of death penalty system, he said it may be possible in the future if the public opinions support it further."
* Catholic Church Calls for Legislation of Life Ethics Bill
Regarding the controversial Life Ethics Bill, the Catholic Church in Korea prepared another bill and asked for its legislation to the National Assembly on February 5.
The bill, requesting legislation in the name of the Most Rev. Andrew Choi Chang-mou, President of the CBCK, explicitly stated that the human life starts from the very moment of the conception, therefore the fertilized egg or embryo should be respected as an individual being with human dignity.
Regarding the human embryo which is a hot issue of the times, the bill clearly stated that cloning human embryos must not be permitted without regard to its purpose.
In addition, the bill made a clear statement on the rights of people related to the life ethics of Korean people, and duties of the government and people involved in the field of bio-technology.
Rev. Remigio Lee Dong-ik, Executive Secretary of the Bioethics Committee of the CBCK, said, "The bill finalized by the governmental ministries was greatly influenced by some part of bio-technology, thus, in a great concern over the damaged human dignity, we prepared this bill on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church."
The bill prepared by government, accepting the opinion of the Ministry of Science & Technology while maintaining the existing bill of the Ministry of Health & Welfare, included a new stipulation that cloning of somatic cell for the purpose of cure of the rare and incurable diseases shall be allowed selectively. This inclusion has stirred up the criticism of religious circles.
* Prayer Movement for Beatification and Canonization of Korean Martyrs to be Accelerated
The Committee for the Beatification and Canonization of the Archdiocese of Taegu (CBCAT, Pres. Rev. Cho Hwan-kil) decided to concentrate its efforts on the prayer movement for the beatification and canonization of Korean martyrs.
The CBCAT asked each parish of the Archdiocese to select three martyrs among the 20 martyrs and pray for their beatification and canonization.
The Archdiocese of Taegu has 20 martyrs out of 124 Korean martyrs for whom the Episcopal Special Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the CBCK is promoting for the Causes of Saints.
"We will print the image of the twenty martyrs and distribute them to the faithful so that they can feel them close and pray." said Rev. Cho Hwan-kil.
The CBCAT established in 1998 has been working for the beatification and canonization of the martyrs of Eulhae Persecution(1815), Jeonghae Persecution(1829) and Gihae Persecution(1839) and has intensified it by launching prayer movement on the diocesan level and carried out various projects of study on martyrs' lives and spirituality, diffusion of meditation books of the martyrs' spirituality, pilgrimage, holding seminars etc. since 2001.