Pope Beatifies South Korean Martyrs, During His Visit to Korea

[mdgspencer]

A massive crowd of nearly a million people came to the mass, held in a square which was the scene of many martyrdoms, when the Pope beatified 124 Korean martyrs. Korean Catholics were drawn particularly to this mass because these martyrs were their forefathers in the Catholic faith, since the first Catholics in Korea were themselves martyred.
see www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140816000139

 

[JohnR77]

Thanks.

I love how the universality and the unity of the Church is being expressed in such a beautiful way.

Notes from other sites:

Video of Song for Asian Youth Day in Korea

omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/13652950.html

The song is entitled “Koinonia,” a Greek word meaning communion. The lyrics focus on the relationship of love between God and the members of the Church.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403446.htm

“ … The 124 were killed for their beliefs, setting off a 100-year period in the 18th and 19th centuries when the Korean government went after about 10,000 faithful who pledged filial piety to God, not the king of Joseon. Among this group was Paul Yun Ji-Chung, the very first Korean to be executed for his faith after he buried his mother using Catholic rites that completely went against the norms of the heavily Confucian society.

In his homily, the pope said, “So often we today can find our faith challenged by the world, and in countless ways we are asked to compromise our faith, to water down the radical demands of the Gospel and to conform to the spirit of this age.”

“Yet the martyrs call out to us to put Christ first and to see all else in this world in relation to him and his eternal kingdom. They challenge us to think about what, if anything, we ourselves would be willing to die for,” he said”

Overview of Martyrs

popekorea.catholic.or.kr/en/schedule/sch-sub02.asp

catholicnewsagency.com/news/dont-reduce-the-faith-to-easy-answers-pope-warns-bishops-24015/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium

“But in undertaking the path of dialogue with individuals and cultures, what should be our point of departure and the fundamental point of reference which guides us to our destination? Surely it is our own identity, our identity as Christians.”

“We cannot engage in real dialogue unless we are conscious of our own identity,” he said. “Nor can there be authentic dialogue unless we are capable of opening our minds and hearts, in empathy and sincere receptivity, to those with whom we speak.”

crisismagazine.com/2014/pope-francis-south-korea-three-things-know?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium

Pope Francis in South Korea: Three Things to Know

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[JohnR77]

Greetings,

I believe this video is higher resolution than the one in my previous post.

youtube.com/embed/nsieYtdiTQo?rel=0

History:
popekorea.catholic.or.kr/en/korea/kcc_02.asp

A Church Established by Lay Initiative

                        The most distinctive features of the Korean  Church—also a feature that is truly rare in the history of the universal  Church—is that it is founded by the laity, and flourished through the  many sacrifices of the martyrs. 

                        A number of European religious orders began  missionary activity in Asia since the 16th century. The early  missionaries translated into Chinese not only catechetical texts but  also books on science and culture. 

                        In the 17th century, Korean diplomatic  missions to the imperial court of China came across Jesuit missionary  books and brought them back to Korea. These books and other materials  were beginning to have an influence in Joseon as many scholars began to  study the literature and some even became interested in Catholicism.

                        Some Korean literati got an idea of this new  religion through reading and studying these books on Catholicism and  tried to practice it by themselves. One of them, Yi Seung-hun, went to  Beijing to be baptized and on his return to Korea he founded a Christian  community. This was in October, 1784. With this historical event we can  affirm that the Catholic Church in Korea was established, not by  European missionaries, but by the spontaneous efforts of Korean people. 

                        The Catholic Church in Korea was suppressed  from its early days because the government considered Catholicism to be  opposed to the Neo-Confucianism which was the guiding ideal of the  government at that time. The principle of equality of all mankind which  Catholics pursued was judged as a dangerous belief that contravenes the  social hierarchical system. Furthermore the contact of the Catholics  with foreigners without the permission of the government was regarded as  a criminal act. About 10,000 of the faithful died martyrs in  persecutions that lasted for more than one hundred years.

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More history if you understand Korean

youtube.com/embed/9Ar2OPF93MQ?rel=0

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