Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Manila (Agenzia Fides) - "Reform yourselves and believe in the Gospel" is the title of a message issued by the Korean Catholic Bishops' Conference on January 27 at the end of their 96th plenary assembly. The message, issued in view of the Season of Lent which starts on Ash Wednesday tomorrow February 6, is a call to Catholics and all men and women of goodwill to strive for interior renewal, greater faith, hope and charity, and to put aside immoral practices such as violence and corruption.
The Bishops urge the faithful to “promote the common good and general interests of the country, rather than personal gain”, to build a society of justice and brotherhood and to avoid anything which feeds hatred, intolerance, attempts to overthrow the present democratically elected government.
The Bishops say it is useless to try obtain Church support for a given political party, seeing appeals made from different social society groups to the Bishops' Conference asking for support. They recall that the Church does not support any political party. She is simply on the side of honesty and morality and policies which improve the lives of the people and bring benefit to the poor.
In the Message the Bishops mention persistent structural problems in Korea, endemic corruption, extra-judicial killings, slow progress in land and electoral reform programmes, growth and proliferation of family political dynasties, abuse of natural resources inviting all to repent: “ To journey to the light, we need first to realise that we have contributed not a little to the common malaise—because of decisions we have made, decisions that flowed from what we have become and because of our unconcern, inaction, apathy, often thinking only of our interests. ”. So we seek a wider response from all our faithful towards a more vigorous work for good governance and a more active promotion of responsible citizenship in our society in the light of the Gospel and the social teachings of the Church.”.
The Bishops' Conference recalls that Lent is a time for personal and social conversion, for individual citizens and political leaders and whole communities, for striving to acquire deeper 'social awareness' inspired by the quest for the common good, The faithful are encouraged to “pray together, reason together, decide together, act together,” form groups of thinking and praying people ”. They close by saying that the Season of Lent is a good time to recognise personal and social failings, and to resolve to do better, returning to essential values, respect for human life and dignity. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 5/2/2007 righe 28 parole 289)
