Dear Friends,

The spring session of the Korean Bishops' Conference ended on March 29, 2011 without announcing any decision or information about Naju. As we had been aware that the Holy See had been urging the Korean Bishops to take a more positive stance on Naju, we had been hopeful that some meaningful words might come out of this meeting, but it ended without leaving a clue as to what the Korean Bishops intend to do about the Naju question.

It seems possible that the Bishops did exchange their opinions and even reached some agreement or understanding without making it public. However, the Kwangju Archdiocese's Declaration of January 1998, which was negative on Naju, and its Decree of January 2008, which threatened that anyone in the world who visits Naju would be subject to automatic excommunication (which the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Ivan Dias, said the Archbishop of Kwangju had no authority to do), were official church documents that will remain so until these documents are officially and publicly corrected or revoked. What we are dealing with in Naju is not a human work but a solemn work of God through the Blessed Mother for the salvation of the whole human race. A mediocre, half-way compromise solution will not suffice but be an insult to God and His work. The Church's duty is always to humbly relay God's words and signs to His people and correctly and faithfully follow His Will. We, humans, are not in the driver's seat or are equals with God in deciding the destiny of the human race or controlling the course of the Church. It seems that the church officials in Korea have not so far made this humility noticeable.

On May 1, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the beatification rite for John Paul II. The thorough examination of John Paul II's life was conducted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints led by Cardinal Prefect Angelo Amato, and their conclusion was approved by Benedict XVI. It is a matter of public knowledge that John Paul II had accepted the truthfulness of the Eucharistic miracle through Julia Kim in the Pope's chapel on October 31, 1995 and that he had repeatedly urged the Korean Bishops to proceed with officially approving Naju. If the beatification goes ahead on May 1 while the Kwangju Archdiocese's condemnation of Naju remains on the church's official documents, this will constitute an unthinkable conflict and disgrace in the Church. To resolve this problem, the local church's erroneous and defiant papers must be rescinded as soon as possible. So far, the Kwangju Archdiocese or the Korean Bishops have not shown any signs indicating a solution. If the beatification goes ahead without the necessary correction from Korea, the Korean Church will be in contempt of soon-to-be Blessed John Paul II and the current Pope Benedict XVI as well.

When we were conducting the petition campaign last year, we thought it might be the last petition for Naju, as the Holy See remained firmly favorable on Naju giving us much hope for its official recognition soon. Now, we are less certain because of the continuing lack of cooperation from Korea. Thus, we have decided to do one more petition. Please review the enclosed petition letter and, if you agree, please sign your name, hopefully adding as many others' signatures as possible, and mail the signature page(s) only to us. If you are outside the United States, please send your mails directly to Naju: The Blessed Mother's Chapel, Attn: Mr. Peter Jae-Suk Kim, 107-28 Kyo-Dong, Naju, Jeonnam Province, South Korea. We expect to end this campaign right after the First Saturday of May and then send them to Naju so that they may mail all of the collected signatures to the Vatican. As the Vatican will begin its summer recess in early July, we want the signatures to arrive in Rome before the last week of May so that the Vatican officials may have enough time to review the petitions and respond.

Thank you so much.

Benedict Sang M. Lee
April 5, 2011