ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Family and young people, main topics of Korean Bishops first Pastoral Letters and Messages for 2006

Wednesday, 18 January 2006

Seoul (Fides Service) - For the new year the Catholic Bishops of Korea issued pastoral letters addressed to their respective dioceses to tell the people the themes which will be given special attention in pastoral activity in the coming twelve months.
In his message for 2006, Archbishop Nicholas Cheong of Seoul, stressed the need to overcome the ‘deteriorating modern trend of contempt for life and purify the corrupt world with a religious life of Eucharist’ and he encouraged Catholics to continue in the spirit of the Year of the Eucharist to adore Christ present in the Eucharist and to remember that the Eucharist is the centre of life for every follower of Christ. Underlining that Family Pastoral is the basis of all pastoral activity the Archbishop called on every “Small Christian Community and parish in the archdiocese to provide practical support to families to help them become a true community of love which radiates God’s Love”.
In his message Archbishop Andrei Choi Chan-mou of Kwangju also focused on the family, calling on Catholic families to come together to pray, reflect and serve. “The family - the Archbishop wrote - is a most important field for evangelisation and formation”. “We must strive to make the Word of God become part of our daily life by reading, meditating and living Holy Scripture”: only by reading and loving the Word of God families learn to breath in the Spirit of God and give the world authentic Christian witness.
The field of action for 2006 chosen by Archbishop Paul Ri Moun-hi of Daegu was youth pastoral: “Nowadays we are aware of the sharp fall in the number of young Koreans and hence the number of young Catholics”, the Archbishop said, encouraging families to be open to new life. In his message he said young Catholics should witness the faith to other young people. To do this, the Archbishop urged them to engrave the Word of God on their hearts and minds. He also reminded young people that for the Church they are the “hope and future of humanity and the Church”. (Agenzia Fides 18/1/2006 righe 25 parole 256)


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