DECLARATION ON OUR
CATHOLIC FAITH AND THE MESSAGES AND MIRACULOUS SIGNS THROUGH MRS. JULIA
KIM OF NAJU, KOREA
by
the Witnesses of Naju
1.
We totally accept and firmly believe (i) that Our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ entrusted to His Church the most sublime and full truths
necessary for human salvation revealed by Himself or through His Apostles
and (ii) that these truths contained in the Sacred Scripture and Tradition
have been explained, clarified, and transmitted to us by means of the
catechisms, the papal teachings, the Council documents, the Saints'
examples and writings, the shepherds' sermons, and so on so that people of
every time and place may come to the knowledge of God and His truths and
be saved.
2.
We believe (i) that Our Lord has invited all the members of the
human race to His Church and called all the members of His Church to
participate in His work of human salvation so that His truths may be
propagated to all peoples and the graces of salvation earned through His
Passion may be widely distributed and also (ii) that He established an
hierarchy of shepherds in the Church to teach the truths to the faithful
and distribute the sacramental graces to them so that they may not deviate
from the truths or become negligent in keeping the commandments but adhere
faithfully to the Church's teachings on faith and morals and grow in
divine grace.
3.
We believe (i) that the Holy Spirit is always guiding the Church so
that the whole body of the faithful including both the clergy and the
laity in the Church cannot err in matters of belief (Catechism of the
Catholic Church #92) and (ii) that, when the Pope or the Ecumenical
Council in union with the Pope formally proposes a doctrine pertaining to
faith and morals as divinely revealed and as the teaching of Christ, the
Holy Spirit bestows on them the charisma of infallibility so that their
pronouncement of the doctrine may be free of errors (Catechism of the
Catholic Church #891).
4.
We believe that "divine assistance is also given to the
successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of
Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the
whole Church, when, without arriving at a 'definitive manner,' they
propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads
to better understanding or Revelation in matters of faith and morals"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church #892).
5.
Therefore, we believe (i) that "the Christian faithful,
conscious of their own responsibility, are bound by Christian obedience to
follow what the sacred pastors, as representatives of Christ, declare as
teachers of the faith or determine as leaders of the Church" (Canon
Law #212 (1)) and, at the same time, (ii) that this obedience is not
to be coerced. The Church teaches that "man's response to God by faith
must be free" (Catechism of the Catholic Church #160) and that
"nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to
be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious
matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others,
within due limits" (The Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis humanae
#2). When some members of the Church embrace erroneous ideas concerning
faith and morals and even propagate them to others either out of their
ignorance or out of their pride and vanity, the shepherds will need to
give them proper guidance so that they may repent of their errors and come
back to the truth and, if they still persist in their errors, will need to
warn them and take even stronger measures, if necessary. However, when
people remain faithful to the Church teachings and promote sound Catholic
devotions, the shepherds will have no reason to discourage them from doing
so.
6.
Humans have been created in the image and likeness of God and,
thus, have intellect and free will. Accordingly, we believe that the
members of the Church—not only the laity but also the shepherds—must make
their best efforts to use their intellect and free will properly so that
they may remain faithful to the Lord's truths. If we compromise truths
and accept errors for any reason, we become unfaithful to the Lord and
fail in doing His Will. We need to remind ourselves that the purpose of
our being in the Catholic Church is to learn the Lord's truths, bear
witness to them and defend them to the end so that we may attain eternal
life.
"All the faithful share
in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the
anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and guides them into all
truth" (Catechism of the Catholic Church #91).
"The eighth commandment
forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This
moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear
witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses
against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to
moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this
sense, they undermine the foundations of the covenant" (Catechism
of the Catholic Church #2464).
7.
Based on the above teachings, we have genuine respect and love for
the shepherds in the Church: the Pope, bishops, and priests, and intend to
be obedient to their teaching and guidance as children obey and follow
their parents. At the same time, we recognize that, in those cases where
the shepherds teach something that does not seem to conform to the truths
or take some action that unjustly infringes upon our freedom and rights as
members of the Church, we are free to make it known to the shepherds and
petition them for correcting the problems and also to make it known to
others in the Church: "The Christian faithful are free to make known
their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires to the pastors
of the Church. In accord with the knowledge, competence and preeminence
which they possess, they have the right and even at times a duty to
manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to
the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known
to the other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of
faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with
consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons" (Canon
Law #212 (2) & (3)).
8.
We believe that public revelation of all the truths necessary for
human salvation was completed in the times of Our Lord and His Apostles,
but, for the purpose of keeping His people faithful to the
already-revealed truths, God sometimes sends great Saints and even the
Blessed Mother to warn, enlighten, encourage, and strengthen His people
especially in times of widespread apostasy, heresy, or moral degradation.
The Church teaches as follows: "So that she can fulfill her mission,
the Holy Spirit 'bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and
charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her'" (Lumen Gentium
#4). Therefore, there should be no conflict between (i) the graces that
we ordinarily receive through the Sacraments and other pastoral activities
of the hierarchy and (ii) the charismatic graces including the special
revelations (The term: special revelation was used in a doctrinal
pronouncement by the Council of Trent, DS #1566) that God sends to
His people in particular needs. When people respond well to the special
assistance from God, they can experience much progress in revitalizing
their faith, invigorating their missionary fervor, and enhancing the
effectiveness of the Church's efforts to fight moral corruption in the
world. A good example of this is the massive conversion of the Mexican
people to the Catholic Faith and the end of the evil practice of human
sacrifices thanks to the Blessed Mother's special help in Guadalupe in the
16th Century. Of course, as not all the reports of
apparitions, messages and miracles are genuine, we must not be credulous
toward them but discern them carefully based on our faith and reason and
also follow the official discernment by the Church when it becomes
available. It should also be kept in mind that the duty of the Church
concerning the reports of special revelations is to find out whether they
are genuine or not and is not to arbitrarily accept or reject them as if
the Church authority were above the truth (cf. Catechism of the
Catholic Church #86).
9.
As to the matters concerning Naju, the Kwangju Archdiocese formed
the Naju Investigating Committee at the end of 1994 and announced a
negative declaration on Naju on January 1, 1998. We believe that, when
there are serious reports of supernatural events, the local diocese has an
obligation to conduct an objective and thorough investigation based on the
authentic teachings of the Church, scientific tests, and many testimonies
and that the faithful have a duty to accept the official judgment of the
Church. In the case of the declaration on Naju announced by the Kwangju
Archdiocese, however, many clergy and lay people inside and outside Korea
have raised serious questions concerning the contents of the declaration.
It has been hoped that the Kwangju Archdiocese would either give a sincere
and convincing explanation in defense of its declaration or recognize the
problems and make the necessary corrections. If the questions raised were
merely trivial matters or unreasonable fault-findings, it would not matter
much even if they were ignored. On the contrary, the questions raised so
far have been considered to be of such a serious nature that the validity
of the declaration itself is deemed to be at stake and the integrity of a
bishop's teaching authority itself is thought to have been compromised.
Despite the seriousness
of the situation, the Kwangju Archdiocese has not addressed the problems
concerning its declaration at all. The only position it has taken so far
has been to demand unconditional acceptance of its declaration by the
faithful simply because it was issued in the name of the Archbishop. The
continuing refusal by the Kwangju Archdiocese to conduct a proper
investigation of Naju and to look into the questions of doctrinal errors
in the declaration and its persistent demand for unconditional obedience
from the faithful are serious violations of the following principles: (i)
The bishop's teaching authority is not an unlimited one but has been
entrusted to him by the Lord for the purpose of protecting the faithful in
the truth; and (ii) "Man's response to God by faith must be free" (Catechism
of the Catholic Church #160) and that "nobody may be forced to act
against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in
accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in
public, alone or in association with others, within due limits" (The
Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis humanae #2). The Kwangju
Archdiocese emphasizes unity in the church community as its major
objective and mentions it as the justifying reason for its rejection of
Naju, but is actually making true unity in the Church impossible by
violating the above principles that must be followed in seeking true
unity.
Then, what are the problems
in the declaration on Naju issued by the Kwangju Archdiocese?
(1)
In the Kwangju declaration, it is stated that the doctrine of
the Catholic Church says that even after the bread and wine are
transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ with the formula of
priests' consecration, the species of bread and wine remain (The
Korean original of the Kwangju declaration says "the species of bread
and wine must remain") and, based on this, condemned the phenomena in
Naju of the Eucharistic species turning into visible flesh and blood and,
in effect, condemned all of the Eucharistic miracles that had occurred in
Church history, many of which had already been officially approved by the
Church. It is obvious, however, that the Church doctrine on this subject
only explains that, even though the substances of bread and wine change
into the substances of Our Lord's body and blood at the time of priests'
consecration, the species of bread and wine remain unchanged. In other
words, this doctrine describes what the effects of the priests'
consecration are and is not intended to indicate that the Eucharistic
species must continue unchanged even after the consecration. The Kwangju
declaration distorts the Church doctrine in order to condemn the
Eucharistic miracles in Naju. If anyone says that the species of bread
and wine also change by the power of the priests' consecration, it will
clearly be a violation of the Church doctrine, but this has never been
said or implied in connection with the Eucharistic miracles in Naju.
Underlying the rejection of the Eucharistic miracles by the Kwangju
Declaration is a denial of the possibilities of miracles that occur by
special interventions by God. The First Vatican Council condemned any
attempt to reject the possibilities of miracles or deny that miracles are
certain proofs of the divine origin of the revealed truths (DS
#3009 & #3034).
(2)
The miracles of the Eucharistic species changing into visible flesh
and blood are signs from God that externally reveal the inner reality
normally hidden behind the Sacramental signs of bread and wine and are
intended to strengthen our faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament. Denying these miracles, even by distorting the Church
doctrine, is an act that does not uphold this teaching on the Eucharist
but opposes it. In fact, Rev. Peter Soon-Sung Ri, the secretary general
and dogmatic theologian of the Naju Investigating Committee of the Kwangju
Archdiocese contributed an article to the Pastoral Care magazine
published by the Korean Bishops' Conference (the March 1998 issue) just
two months after the announcement of the Kwangju declaration on Naju for
the purpose of justifying the contents of the declaration. In this
article, Father Ri said, "The real reason for the rejection of the
Eucharistic phenomena in Naju in the Declaration of Archbishop Victorinus
Youn of Kwangju was to pursue the grand proposition of pursuing unity with
our separated brethren." What Father Ri means is that, as the
Protestants oppose the Catholic teaching of the Real Presence of Our Lord
in the Eucharist with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, the Eucharistic
miracles which affirm the Catholic teaching could not be recognized for
fear of offending the Protestants. This is to abandon the truth for the
sake of seeking a false unity and represents a betrayal of the Lord who is
the truth itself. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council sternly
warned against compromising the Catholic teachings under the pretext of
pursuing unity with the separated brethren: "Nothing is so foreign to
the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism which harms the purity of
catholic doctrine and obscures its genuine and certain meaning" (Unitatis
Redintegratio, November 21, 1964). Father Ri further said in
his article that there had been different views on the Eucharist in the
past centuries and, even in our times, some of the theologians are trying
to find ways of presenting the doctrine on the Eucharist which would be
acceptable to both the Protestants and the Catholics. His remark implies
either that there is no definite Catholic teaching on the Eucharist yet or
that, even if there is one, it could be revised according to the
theologians' new formulas. This view, however, is totally unacceptable to
those who want to remain faithful to the authentic Catholic Faith. The
Catholic dogmas are God's teachings infallibly defined by the Church with
her teaching authority entrusted to her by the Founder of the Church, Our
Lord Himself. To avoid taking a clear position may be a shrewd tactic in
the secular world but is not the correct attitude that we expect from
those who are faithful to the Lord's truths. In Chapter 6 of St. John's
Gospel, there is an account of Our Lord explaining the doctrine of the
Holy Eucharist and many Jews no longer following Jesus. Seeing them
leave, Our Lord did not call them back by promising to modify His teaching
but challenged His disciples to affirm their faith. If we also have had a
weak faith and a cold and indifferent attitude toward Our Lord really
present in the Eucharist, it is now the right time to correct our mistakes
by becoming truly devoted to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and to His
Mother through whom His Incarnation has been accomplished.
(3)
The Kwangju declaration also said, "The doctrine of the Catholic
Church says that only through the legitimately ordained priest's
consecration does the sacrament of the Eucharist begin to exist," and,
based on this, condemned the miraculous descents of the Eucharist in Naju
and, in effect, also condemned many miraculous Communions that the Saints
had received directly from the Lord or from the angels throughout Church
history. This was another serious distortion of the Church doctrine on the
Holy Eucharist, as the Fourth Lateran Council stated in 1215: "Surely
no one can accomplish this sacrament except a priest who has been rightly
ordained according to the keys of the Church which Jesus Christ Himself
conceded to the Apostles and to their successors" (DS #802) in
order to counter the Waldensian heresy that rejected the hierarchy and
claimed equal powers for all the faithful. Its purpose was not to
preclude the possibility of Our Lord Himself miraculously coming to us in
the form of the Eucharist without the intermediary of His priests on
earth. This teaching is clearly different from the assertion in the
Kwangju declaration that says: the Eucharist can begin to exist only
through the priest's consecration. The Eucharist is not a lifeless
object but Our Lord Himself. He is fully capable as the Son of God to
appear in His proper form as He did sometimes or in the form of the
Eucharist as He did other times.
(4)
The Kwangju declaration also condemned the miracle of St. Michael
the Archangel taking the Eucharist from a priest in sin and taking It to
the Chapel in Naju while Archbishop Giovanni Bulaitis, the Apostolic
Pro-Nuncio in Korea, was visiting on November 24, 1994 quoting the Church
teaching that says that the validity of the Sacraments does not depend on
the sanctity of the celebrating priest. Even though this presentation of
the Church doctrine was correct, it was incorrectly applied, as the
Eucharist was brought to Naju after the consecration and a valid
consecration was never denied. Archbishop Bulaitis mentioned that a small
corner of one of the two halves of the Eucharist received in Julia's hands
was missing, which was an indication that the priest put the tiny piece of
the Eucharist in the chalice and was about to consume the Eucharist.
(5)
Relying on these incorrectly presented and applied Church doctrines
as its pretexts, the Kwangju Archdiocese has not ordered any scientific
tests of the miraculous evidences in Naju. Nor has it considered the
results of the tests conducted at Seoul National University (in its
Department of Forensic Medicine), hospitals in Kwangju, and laboratories
abroad. Thorough scientific examinations of miracles are necessary before
the Church makes decisions concerning beatification and canonization, and
the same is true in the cases of the Marian apparitions. Many priests and
lay people in Korea said, "The miracles in Naju must have been
fabricated!" and spread this groundless and irresponsible accusation.
Many others said, "I don't care whether these miracles are true or
not. Miracles are not important!" This is a dangerous, erroneous
statement, as true miracles are God's own testimonies that confirm the
divine origin of His teachings so that we may believe in them more
strongly and adhere to them more firmly. In the Scripture, we read that
Our Lord sternly scolded those who heard and saw His sermons and miracles
but did not believe (Luke 10:13-16). If we have become
overconfident because of our secular wisdom and scientific knowledge and
despise the supernatural teachings and signs from God, we will be
despising God Himself who sent these teachings and signs to us. The true
miraculous signs are special manifestations of the omnipotence and love of
God the Son (together with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit) who
became incarnate and dwells among us. They are His sacred and loving
touches and pulses that remind us of His presence among us and the fact
that the true lord of this universe is not us but the living God Himself.
(6)
The following do not concern the Kwangju declaration itself but are
problems that have occurred in the process of applying the declaration to
the pastoral care by the Kwangju Archdiocese and the Naju Parish.
(i)
On May 11, 2002, Monica Chung, Julia's mother-in-law, passed away.
She had been a faithful member of the Dongrim-dong Parish in Kwangju.
Simply because she was Julia's mother-in-law, she was denied a funeral
Mass at the Naju Parish Church and her own parish church in Kwangju. More
shocking was the remark by Fr. Luke Hong-Chul Song, the Naju Pastor, that
the order to prohibit Masses for Monica Chung had come from Archbishop
Choi.
(ii)
In recent years, Korean and foreign pilgrims to Naju have been
denied entrance into the Naju parish church. The same thing has also been
happening in some other parishes in Korea and some of the Korean parishes
in the United States.
(iii)
In June 2001, Fr. Song of the Naju Parish said that he would
welcome Julia and Julio, her husband, back into his parish, if they
declared before the parishioners during a Sunday Mass that all the
messages and miracles had been fabricated and they would never spread them
again. By saying this, Fr. Song made it impossible for Julia and Julio to
lead an ordinary faith life in the parish. What he did was something that
was unimaginable in the Catholic Church, as he was in fact asking Julia
and Julio to abandon their conscience and deny the messages and works of
the Lord and the Blessed Mother. Archbishop Choi has done nothing about
this, even though he was informed about it.
The above problems are
serious usurpations of the faithful's right as well as violations of the
power entrusted to the clergy in the Church. The following are the
relevant Church laws:
"The Christian faithful
have the right to receive assistance from the sacred pastors out of the
spiritual goods of the Church, especially the word of God and the
sacraments" (Canon Law #213)
"One who abuses
ecclesiastical power or function is to be punished in accord with the
seriousness of the act or omission not excluding deprivation from office
unless a penalty for such abuse has already been established by a law or a
precept" (Canon Law #1389).
In addition, the act of the
Kwangju Archdiocese (and other dioceses in Korea to the extent they are
cooperating with the Kwangju Archdiocese) of demanding from the faithful
unconditional acceptance of its declaration on Naju that contain doctrinal
errors and other serious problems is also an abuse of power. The reason
is that Our Lord has entrusted His teaching authority to the shepherds for
the purpose of protecting the faithful in the truth (cf. Catechism of
the Catholic Church #890 & 896), but this teaching authority has been
used not to defend the truths but to enforce errors. This is a serious
abuse of power in the Church and disloyalty to the Lord.
Currently, the atmosphere in the Church in Korea is
suffocating as in a society under dictatorship and repression. Many of
the faithful in Korea are experiencing severe difficulties and pains under
the pressure from their bishops and pastors who demand a full compliance
with the Kwangju declaration on Naju which rejects the messages and
miracles in Naju as false and distorts the Church doctrines to justify its
negative decision on Naju. The faithful who are being subjected to this
pressure probably have never disobeyed their bishops or pastors; nor have
they been accused of breaking law and order in the Church or harming unity
in the church community. Let us remember, however, that our ancestors of
the earlier centuries suffered worse persecutions and hardships but
successfully overcame them with their firm faith and trust in the Lord and
the Blessed Mother. We are definitely not seeking to be disobedient to
the teaching authority of the Church. We love the Church and want to be
faithful to her teachings and obedient to her shepherds. Nevertheless, we
are experiencing a painful conflict now, because the local church leaders
in Korea demand that we accept distortions of the Lord's truths which we
have pledged to uphold and deny His works which we have witnessed. The
church leaders in Korea are resorting to coercion to make the faithful
accept the Kwangju declaration on Naju despite all its errors and
shortcomings. If we surrender to this misused power, we will be
consenting to the doctrinal errors contained in the declaration and also
joining those who say that the messages and miraculous signs in Naju have
been fabricated. By doing this, we may avoid the current criticisms and
other mistreatments by those who are around us, but will have to answer
Our Lord who may ask us why we compromised with errors and turned our
backs to the presence, messages, miracles, and graces of Our Lord and Our
Lady. If we say that we were forced by our bishops, priests, and friends,
will the Lord accept these excuses? Now is the time for Our Lord's
separating good grains from empty heads of grain as mentioned in one of
His messages in Naju. God is infinitely merciful to those who repent of
their sins and reform their lives but is stern to those who remain in
evil. Also, we must not neglect the unity in the universal Church while
pursuing unity in the local church. The unity in the local church alone,
which ignores the unity with the Holy Father, many Bishops and priests,
and countless lay people around the world, is not true unity worthy of the
Catholic Church. Unity that does not stand on truth will collapse like a
house built on sand. Besides, the Catholic doctrines cannot be different
between the universal Church and the local churches or between Rome and
the local churches. Let us hope and pray that those who persist in errors
realize their mistakes soon, humbly kneel before the Lord, and join the
true unity in the universal Church by restoring truth and charity in their
minds and hearts.
The current uneasy and difficult situation will not
last indefinitely. Let us not become impatient or have any doubt about
the approaching total triumph by Our Lord and Our Lady but pray fervently
that this triumph will be realized in ourselves as soon as possible,
always meditating on the truths from the Lord, and thus become loyal
children of the Lord and the Blessed Mother. It will be easier to accept
the messages and signs in Naju after its official approval, but it will be
more precious if we defend the Lord and the Blessed Mother and bear
witness to Their messages and works now when it is so difficult to do so.
Let us not lose heart despite the pressure that keeps pushing us away from
the truth and away from being faithful to the Lord. Instead of trembling
and worrying before the coercion, let us together become the light and the
salt for saving this world as the children and servants of Our Lord and
Our Lady.
Witnesses of Naju
May 31, 2005
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