Communication on Jan. 9, 2004
* Norms on the Ministry and Life of Priests to Be Enforced
The Norms on the Ministry and Life of Priests are to be promulgated and enforced from January 2004, as the Permanent Council of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea decided at its meeting held from December 28 to 29, 2003.
The 107 Norms concerning the priestly life, including the identity and mission of priests, the holiness of priestly life, their pastoral ministry and other activities, are expected to suggest a proper image of priests fitting for the modern times.
* Myongdong Cathedral Leads the Faithful to Daily Recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours
Myongdong Cathedral of Seoul (Pastor: Rev. Thomas Lee Seong-man) leads the lay Catholics to pray the Liturgy of the Hours everyday and receives good response from them.
It was October 2003 when Myongdong Cathedral initiated the daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours for the laity to play a role as the hub of prayer. As a preliminary step the Cathedral provided one month of training course for lay leaders in September.
Now more than 100 Catholics, including the faithful from other parishes, participate in the Liturgy of the Hours at Myongdong Cathedral, at five thirty every afternoon except on Sundays.
In general, lay Catholics surmise that the Liturgy of the Hours is a complicated prayer reserved only for clerics or religious. With this initiative, however, more and more lay Catholics are accustomed to this prayer and realize its beauty.
"I attend this prayer meeting about four times a week and it was a new and grace-filled experience for me to pray the Liturgy of the Hours because I have rarely prayed it before," a lay attendant said on Jan. 5.
Fr. Thomas Lee stressed, "Myongdong Cathedral first and foremost should be the place for the faith, that is, the center of prayer," and said the Cathedral will promote the initiative more positively this year by arranging another prayer time before the daily morning Mass.
* "Caritas Volunteering Group" of Taegu to Be Organized
The Archdiocese of Taegu plans to organize and operate "Caritas Volunteering Group" from March to be ready for possible natural disasters and give aid to the victims.
It is for the first time to form on the diocesan level a special volunteering group to prepare for disasters. The Archdiocese is expecting to promote specialized and systematic relief work in case of possible disasters as well as to animate the ordinary social welfare service in parishes.
This Group, to be formed under the wings of the Caritas Taegu (Dir.: Rev. Jerome Lee Jeong?hyo), will consist of some 100 volunteers, individual or group of Catholics, and will have a training period in February inviting professional personnel from the municipal Emergency Control Office.
The trained volunteers will carry out various activities of social welfare service in ordinary times, for example, supporting the elderly living alone, and in emergency cases they will be mobilized to develop relief and recovery work effectively.
The Norms on the Ministry and Life of Priests are to be promulgated and enforced from January 2004, as the Permanent Council of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea decided at its meeting held from December 28 to 29, 2003.
The 107 Norms concerning the priestly life, including the identity and mission of priests, the holiness of priestly life, their pastoral ministry and other activities, are expected to suggest a proper image of priests fitting for the modern times.
* Myongdong Cathedral Leads the Faithful to Daily Recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours
Myongdong Cathedral of Seoul (Pastor: Rev. Thomas Lee Seong-man) leads the lay Catholics to pray the Liturgy of the Hours everyday and receives good response from them.
It was October 2003 when Myongdong Cathedral initiated the daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours for the laity to play a role as the hub of prayer. As a preliminary step the Cathedral provided one month of training course for lay leaders in September.
Now more than 100 Catholics, including the faithful from other parishes, participate in the Liturgy of the Hours at Myongdong Cathedral, at five thirty every afternoon except on Sundays.
In general, lay Catholics surmise that the Liturgy of the Hours is a complicated prayer reserved only for clerics or religious. With this initiative, however, more and more lay Catholics are accustomed to this prayer and realize its beauty.
"I attend this prayer meeting about four times a week and it was a new and grace-filled experience for me to pray the Liturgy of the Hours because I have rarely prayed it before," a lay attendant said on Jan. 5.
Fr. Thomas Lee stressed, "Myongdong Cathedral first and foremost should be the place for the faith, that is, the center of prayer," and said the Cathedral will promote the initiative more positively this year by arranging another prayer time before the daily morning Mass.
* "Caritas Volunteering Group" of Taegu to Be Organized
The Archdiocese of Taegu plans to organize and operate "Caritas Volunteering Group" from March to be ready for possible natural disasters and give aid to the victims.
It is for the first time to form on the diocesan level a special volunteering group to prepare for disasters. The Archdiocese is expecting to promote specialized and systematic relief work in case of possible disasters as well as to animate the ordinary social welfare service in parishes.
This Group, to be formed under the wings of the Caritas Taegu (Dir.: Rev. Jerome Lee Jeong?hyo), will consist of some 100 volunteers, individual or group of Catholics, and will have a training period in February inviting professional personnel from the municipal Emergency Control Office.
The trained volunteers will carry out various activities of social welfare service in ordinary times, for example, supporting the elderly living alone, and in emergency cases they will be mobilized to develop relief and recovery work effectively.