UPDATE
January 6, 2012

May the Lord's blessings and the Blessed Mother's loving care be with everyone who reads this Update! And our sincere Thank You to those who participate in our mission to defend and promote the authentic Catholic Faith.

Regarding the current status of Naju, there has been little change in the past several months. The prayer meetings in Naju continue with many pilgrims filling the chapel in Naju. Miracles including the sprinkling of the Lord's Precious Blood, fragrant oil, and the Mother's milk on pilgrims, the chapel floors, and the Way of the Cross also continue. Julia still suffers extreme pains and prays for the spiritual healings of sinners (and some physical healings as well).

It has also been quiet from the Vatican, probably because this is a transitional time for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (which handles the Naju question), as its current Cardinal Prefect is preparing to retire and the incoming Prefect will need some time to acquaint himself with the issues in the Congregation.

1. The local diocese in Korea still refuses to conduct proper investigations of the miracles and messages in Naju

The messages and miracles in Naju in the past 26 years since 1985 have never been objectively investigated by the church authorities and the scientists (except the several DNA tests at Seoul National University and a prominent DNA laboratory in Seoul that have been arranged by some lay individuals). The local church authorities' continuing refusal to carry out an unbiased investigation is nothing less than a blatant rejection and contempt of the possibility of God's intervening in human history with miracles and messages for His purpose of awakening humans from their persistent complacence, ignorance, and negligence about their spiritual well-being. It also constitutes a serious negligence on the part of the local church authorities to carry out the solemn duty that Our Lord has entrusted to them. (The "investigation" conducted by the radically liberal priests from 1995 to 1997 was so superficial and prejudiced and did not include a single scientific test.)

 

2. The church authorities in Korea have ignored Blessed John Paul II's requests to properly investigate Naju and approve it

The late Pope, Blessed John Paul II, recognized the truthfulness of the Eucharistic miracle that had occurred during the Mass celebrated by him in his Vatican chapel during Julia Kim's visit on October 31, 1995. During the Korean Bishops' ad limina visits in 1996 and 2001, Pope John Paul II earnestly advised the Korean Bishops to accept Naju especially for the sake of vitalizing the evangelization of the whole Asia, but his request has been completely ignored. Instead, the Kwangju Archdiocese in the Naju area issued a defiant Declaration condemning Naju even by distorting some of the Church dogmas about the Holy Eucharist and miracles. The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which has the jurisdiction over the Church in Korea, expressed serious concerns about this Declaration and did not approve it, but the Kwangju Archdiocese proceeded with announcing the Declaration on January 1, 1998 after somehow obtaining the support of a high-ranking official (not the Prefect) in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who had been unfavorably inclined on the miracles in Naju. In 2009, His Holiness Benedict XVI said "I am positive on Naju" during an official meeting with a Cardinal, but the opposing priests in Korea and their few supporters in the Vatican have succeeded so far in delaying the progress toward the official recognition of Naju.

 

3. The Kwangju Archdiocese's condemnation of Naju stands on doctrinal errors

The Kwangju Archdiocese has stated in its Declaration on Naju that the alleged Eucharistic miracles in Naju contradicts the Church teaching that says that the species of bread and wine must remain unchanged even after the consecration by the priest. The official church teaching only says that the priest's Eucharistic consecration changes the substances of bread and wine into the substances of Our Lord living Flesh and Blood without causing any changes in the species of the bread and wine. It does not say that the species of bread and wine must remain unchanged even after the consecration. The fact that the species of bread and wine normally remains unchanged immediately after the consecration is the result of the truth that the priest's consecration does not have the effect of altering the species of bread and wine. There is absolutely no doctrinal ground for saying that if the species of bread and wine change into the species of flesh and blood after the consecration, it constitutes a violation of the Church teaching. Unfortunately, many people seem to experience some difficulty in clearly distinguishing between the correct Church teaching and the distorted version of the Church teaching in the Kwangju Declaration. If what the Kwangju Archdiocese says were correct, the species of the Eucharist would have to remain unchanged even in the stomach of the communicant and all of the Eucharistic miracles in Church history would have to be condemned as violations of the Church teachings. Distorting or mis-interpreting the Church doctrines is an extremely serious matter, especially when it is done by the shepherds of the Church. Our correct acceptance of and belief in the authentic Church teachings is the foundation for our healthy faith life. If the integrity of the Church teaching is not sustained and guaranteed, the normal, healthy faith life in the Church will not be possible.

The Kwangju Declaration also says that the Eucharist can begin existing only through the consecration by the validly-ordained priests and, therefore, the alleged miraculous descents of the Eucharist from above conflict with the Church teaching. The true Church teaching, however, says that the validly-ordained priests only, not the laypersons or the clergy ordained in the heretic groups, have received the power of Eucharistic consecration from the Lord. In the authentic Church teaching, it is never intended to even imply that Our Lord Himself, the Highest Priest and the source of all priestly power, cannot form the Eucharist. If the Kwangju's assertion were correct, all of the miraculous communions in Church history including those in Fatima would have to be condemned. We read in Church history that many of the Saints received Communion directly from the Lord or the angels.

We live in an age when the authentic Church teachings, which are God's own teachings, are not adequately respected and practiced and are often compromised with and diluted by the secular spirits and fashions that pull us away from the way of salvation. We should be reminded that nobody in the world, not even the Kwangju Archdiocese, has the right to alter the true meaning of any of the Church doctrines. It is an extremely painful wound to the Church that doctrinal errors were committed by a diocese and remain uncorrected until today. The Kwangju Archdiocese only demands total, blind obedience from the faithful while not correcting its own doctrinal errors and not carrying out its legal duty of conducting an honest investigation.

 

4. The fundamental cause of the Korean Church's rejection of Naju is their heretical ideas in preference to the Divine Truths

In fact, the problem is not limited to the Kwangju Archdiocese. The defiant liberal spirit and the accompanying doctrinal distortions and dilutions have deeply penetrated into the minds of many of the clergy, religious, and laity in the whole world. The minds infected with errors seek to compromise with and appease the secular winds: they scorn the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ and, accordingly, refuse to address the Blessed Mother as "the Mother of God"; they despise miracles as they do not believe or welcome the possibility of God's intervention in human history; they insist that Christ's presence in the Eucharist is a symbolic one only; and they encourage people not to worry about their sins or the need for penance. These are the fundamental problems of our age and the main enemies facing us. Naju is a truly precious opportunity from God for expelling the errors that are so overwhelming our world and even many in the Church. We should not lose courage simply because the official recognition of Naju is being delayed; and we should not slow down our missionary work or cool our zealousness for it, as it would be the same as retreating before the devil and his forces.

5. Possible misrepresentation of the differences between public revelations and private revelations

We often hear that we are not obligated to believe the private revelations. (Note: "Private revelations" were called "special revelations" in the Council of Trent document. DS #1566) This statement is correct in the sense that the facts of private revelations are not articles of the Faith infallibly defined by the Church as revealed by God. For example, the doctrine of the Blessed Mother's Immaculate Conception is an article of the Faith declared by the Church in 1854, whereas the facts of the Blessed Mother's apparitions in Lourdes in 1858, in which she identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception", were private revelations and, thus, do not belong to the articles of the Faith. This does not mean, however, that private revelations are not credible and, therefore, the faithful can safely ignore them. All of the true private revelations also come from God, and their credibility and dignity should be most sincerely and humbly recognized by the faithful especially when they are accompanied by miracles that are physical signs from God conforming the private revelations. For this reason, we need to add some clear explanations when we say that we are not obligated to believe the private revelations, as there is a realistic danger that the people who hear this conclude that they are completely free to accept or reject the private revelations according to their preference as they are unimportant and irrelevant. The true private revelations are binding on us not with the weight of the articles of the Faith but with the weight of our own conscience, the miracles, and, finally, the official discernment by the Church.

Private revelations are God's special interventions in the flow of human history to help the people of a particular age, especially when they are threatened with extreme dangers caused by their doctrinal and/or moral corruptions. God's message through Noah was a good example. Most people who heard the warning proudly ignored and laughed at it. Of course, they were free to accept or reject the warning, but they were not free from the consequences of their choice, as those who despised the warning all perished in the Deluge. In contrast, the people of Nineveh believed God's warning through Jonah, did penance, and were saved from the threatened disaster. True private revelations are extremely important means that God uses to keep His people faithful to His teachings and thus to save them. "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" - The Catechism of the Catholic Church #768.

Enclosed is a 3-page article with some additional information on the photograph of Our Lady of Guadalupe taken in Portland, Oregon, on August 15, 1991. (Previously published information is available on our website at www.marys-touch.com.) Also enclosed is a copy of the translation of Sister Lucia's testimony to the 3^rd part of the Secret in Fatima that she presented to the Holy Father and also a drawing based on the Sister's testimony. An interesting observation is that the Cross on the mountain in this drawing, toward which the Holy Father, Bishops, priests, religious, and lay people are climbing, seems to be very similar to the image of a cross on a steep mountain top seen on the Blessed Mother's blue mantle in the GD photograph (in her left lower part of the mantle). Thus, we can now see on the lower half of the GD photograph, (1) a little image of the Crucifix with the Blessed Mother standing underneath it on Mt. Calvary (on the left side from our standpoint and outside the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe); (2) the kneeling image of Our Lady of Naju; (3) a little image of Our Lady of Lourdes; and (4) the image of a cross on the mountain looking very similar to the Cross and the Mountain depicted in the drawing of the 3^rd part of the Secret in Fatima. It looks like a panoramic depiction of God's work of human salvation for 2,000 years of Church history

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Illustration of the Third Secret of Fatima

In addition, there is a line of several black spots on both sides of the Image of the Eucharist in the GD photograph, probably signifying the vicious attempts by the devil to cover up the Eucharist with the black spots so that people may not see the Eucharist. These black spots may represent the many heretical errors floating around in the world to mislead more people away from the truths of the Eucharist. Despite these attacks, the Eucharist is very visible, unaffected by the attacks.

In the drawing of the 3^rd part of the Secret in Fatima, the angels are gathering the martyrs' blood in the aspersorium and sprinkle the blood on those who are climbing the mountain toward the Cross. In Naju, there have been many miraculous sprinklings of Our Lord's Precious Blood, the Blessed Mother's tears of blood, and the Saints' blood on the pilgrims, chapel floors, and the Way of the Cross on the Blessed Mother's Mountain.

—    Benedict Sang M. Lee