ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Formation for laity and families urgently needed to bear witness to Gospel values in Korean society

Thursday, 14 July 2005

Seoul (Fides Service) - The new millennium puts new challenges to the family which is the cradle of life and must be protected from attacks by a materialist and rationalist culture which wants to manipolate it and subject it to science and man’s thirst for power. People must realise that life belongs to God, the Lord of Life, and man may not dispose of life as he pleases. Hence the need for formation on matters of bio-ethics and the fundamental elements of Christian anthropology. This emerged from a meeting in Seoul of the Family Pastoral Commission of the Korean Bishops’ Conference.
The Commission noted the need to continue to promote the formation of lay people and families at the diocesan level and it praised the activity of Life 31 movement which promotes this sort of formation offering diocese professional assistance of experts and doctors. It said that particularly young people need formation since they too are threatened by a culture which uses the media to promote interpersonal relations which lack all reference to morals such as mutual fidelity, honesty, love and solidarity.
Christian lay people are called the be authentic witness to the Gospel and Christ, above all in the family, first place for evangelisation. The Korean Bishops’ Conference said recently that the laity need help to strengthen their spiritaulity in order to right spreading hedonism and secularisation. The Bishops said the family in not only the object of the Church’s pastoral care, it is also a valid subject of evangelisation and also in the field of bio-ethics. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 14/7/2005 righe 23 parole 238)


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