Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Seoul (Agenzia Fides) – The Christians of various confessions present in Korea gathered to pray together, reflect on the divisions among them, and invoke God, in the name of unity. The encounter was attended by over 4,000 Korean faithful, in the Olympic Hall, in Seoul's Olympic Park. Accompanying Cardinal Nicholas Cheung, Archbishop of Seoul, was the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, and the Bishops and representatives of various Christian confessions, including Protestant leaders and the Vicar General of the Orthodox Church in Korea. Cardinal Cheung presented a “Message of Peace” to all those present, affirming that “the greatest gift for us Christians is true peace, which the Risen Lord gave to his disciples. Today we thirst for peace...the peace that we seek should be manifest in our vocation to be salt and leaven for the world. As Christians, united, we can become instruments of peace, of the peace that the Lord longs for.”
In his address, Rev. Kim Sam-hwan, President of the National Council of Churches in Korea, a union of Protestant denominations, said: “We are called to be one. If we Christians are one, then our divided nation and society will be able to reunite.”
During the vigil, in fact, the assembly prayed for the situation of Korean Christians, which like many other citizens, suffer for the divisions of the nation, especially after the Korean War (1950-53), which left 10 million families divided on either side of the “Bamboo Curtain.”
It was precisely a group of Korean Christians who chose the theme for this year's Week of Prayer: “That They May Become One in Your Hand” (Ezekiel 37:17). Through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Ecumenical Council of Churches, the theme was then proposed for reflection by the entire Church.
In light of the dramatic experience of division in their country, the Christians of Korea have sought inspiration in the prophet Ezekiel, who also lived in a tragically divided nation and desired the unity of his people. The text of Ezekiel, they say, “presented surprising analogies with the Korean situation of a divided country and Christians not yet united.”
The words of the Prophet restore the hope that God will once again unite the people and bless them. The Christians of Korea (Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox) work and pray together for the common good, in order to bring about authentic peace on the Korean peninsula. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 23/1/2009)
