ASIA / SOUTH KOREA - Bearers of hope, in light of the risen Jesus, even in these dark times

Seoul (Agenzia Fides) – On the occasion of Easter, each diocesan bishop in Korea issued a message addressed to their diocesan community in which they exhorted the faithful, reborn by the risen Jesus, to bear witness to the truth that justice and love are the last thing to disappear though death, war and violence still prevail in the world. According to information sent to Fides by the Korean Episcopal Conference, the Diocesan Bishops asked the faithful to live their daily lives sincerely to bear witness to life reborn in Jesus. Meanwhile, they also urged the faithful to put more effort to build culture of life and to live together with the socially excluded in the full light of the risen Jesus.
H.E.Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul, said that the first thing the Church should do is to show the world that the risen Jesus dwells among us now. To do so, the faithful should be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Cardinal stressed that the presence of the Church is meaningless when it only takes care of its own interests.
Those who can talk about hope in current dark situations are the faithful, because they are rooted in the resurrection of Jesus, the Archbishop of Kwangju, Hyginus Kim Hee-joong highlighted, and asked Catholics to witness Christ in their daily lives as establishing truthful hope with the strength of faith in the resurrection.
The Most Rev. Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil, Archbishop of Daegu, said that the risen Jesus teaches us what we can hope, even when painful news is constantly being told in these days. The faithful, the witnesses of the resurrection, need to go forward to the way of life, instead of living as those who do not know what hope is. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 27/04/2011)