ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - CHURCH IN KOREA CHALLENGES YOUNG PEOPLE TO USE EYES OF FAITH TO VIEW INTERNET, CHAT-LINES, DRESS AND DISCOS

Monday, 16 June 2003

Seoul (Fides Service) – Evangelisation and formation of youth is a major priority for the Catholic Church in Korea which emphasises in its pastoral work the need to empower the activity of Catholic laity in the social, cultural and political dimensions.
A commitment to wager on youth, Springtime of the Church, in order to give vitality and dynamism to pastoral activity and form a mature, responsible laity, was assumed during a recent meeting of the standing Commission on Education of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, held in early June at Taegu. The meeting, presided by Bishop Paul Ri Moun-hi head of the Education Commission, gave diocesan personnel engaged in youth pastoral an opportunity to reflect and discuss animation of Christian life among young people living today in a society heavily marked by consumerism and hedonism.
Delegates of 12 dioceses shared information on initiatives and programmes organised at the diocesan and parish levels, highlighting difficulties encountered and achievements reached. Among the more outstanding reports, Suwon diocese stressed the importance of the community and the family as key places in which young people feel either accepted or rejected, where they develop a sense of morals, discover and strengthen their faith, and see people acting as models for daily behaviour. Suwon diocese gives priority to strengthening the faith of parents as the first channel for the Christian message to reach children.
The participants voted unanimously for the creation of Basic Church Communities stressing the need to have catechists equipped with adequate anthropological as well as theological formation and cultural and technological preparation in keeping with the times. It is necessary in fact to be able to interact and be present in the life of young people, teaching them to use the eyes of faith to view the various experiences of daily life: the Internet, chat-lines, dress, discos. PA (Fides Service 16/6/2003 EM lines 24 Words: 319)


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