ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Mission to the young: an urgent priority for the Church in Korea for the coming years

Thursday, 3 November 2005

Seoul (Fides Service) - Mission among the young will be a priority for the Catholic Church in Korea for the coming years. This was announced by Bishop John Choi Young-soo president of the Korean Bishops’ Committee for Evangelisation in a message sent to dioceses, parishes, religious institutes, Church movements etc. The Bishop wrote: “Remembering that numerous Christians have been martyred for this dignified mission we should reaffirm that it is the essential mission of every individual Christian to deliver the Good News to the people of our time who have not yet heard of Christ”.
The Bishop went on to say that looking at the changes in the Catholic population in Korea, evangelisation must be directed to the young. Since the year 2000 the number of Catholics under the age of 40 has been constantly decreasing, also because of the rapid decrease in infant baptisms, difficulty in managing Sunday Schools and the disappearance of young Catholics in parishes. Unemployment among young people and concern for secular affairs have distanced young Catholics from the values of the Gospel.
We must seek solutions and choose alternatives that are filled with the Gospel spirit if we are to speak to the so-called “Internet generation”, the Bishop said. “It is necessary to listen to young people to learn what they want and then respond to their needs. We must proclaim Jesus Christ as Liberator and healer, and Good Shepherd”.
The message offers Catholic communities concrete propaedeutic suggestions for authentic evangelisation among the young:
- Importance of infant baptism to counter the trend to postpone baptism until children are old enough to choose their religion ;
- Christian formation for pre-school children gives children a solid foundation for Christian life;
- Religious instruction for pupils from elementary school to high school to help children be “agents of the apostolate”;
- Mission on campus: form clergy, teachers and students to promote cultural and social initiatives, dialogue and encounter;
- Pre-marriage courses for engaged couples on the significance of marriage and the principles for happiness in married life, and the responsibility of parents for the religious education of their children;
- evangelise young workers offering material and spiritual assistance.
The Bishop said the Christian family is a place where children see concrete witness of Christian values and where they inherit the patrimony of the faith. Recalling the urgency of the Church’s evangelising mission the message ends with the words of St Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9,16).
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 3/11/2005 righe 28 parole 289)


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