The Catholics in South Korea are like none other I've ever seen. They put the flesh on the bones. The cut to the chase. They jump in where others fear to tread. They are real Christians. I wish it were the case here in the U.S. and in other parts of the world.Lately I've been trying to help widen the circle of activists in the U.S. who are working on the Jeju Island Navy base issue. Getting Veterans For Peace involved has been a great gift to the movement. Now my goal is to get Pax Christi in the U.S. to take a more active role and I've been appealing to every good Catholic activist friend I know to help make that happen. Thanks to several of them around the country things are beginning to stir. They will quickly discover that their movement in the U.S. will become strengthened by working more closely with their extraordinary peers in South Korea.
Yesterday in Seoul Catholic priests held a mass in front of one of the Samsung offices. The priests and lay people are escalating their pressure on Samsung and from reports we are hearing from inside South Korea this is starting to have an impact. The right-wing newspapers that support President Lee are increasingly printing articles and Op-eds that support and justify the Navy base construction. For the longest time the Gangjeong village struggle was ignored by the national press in South Korea. That is all changing now. Samsung and President Lee are getting desperate. That's why they blocked the three VFP members from going to Jeju.
It appears that the mass at Samsung was not a one shot deal. Regina Pyon writes from Seoul:
"Samsung, the image of Cain who stains Korean peninsula with the blood of Abel. . ." Path of cross (prayer and meditation walking through the 14 stations of cross during the lent) will be held at exit No. 7 of Gangnam subway station at 7 p.m. toward Samsung. . . It takes about 30 minutes. . and Catholic mass at Samsung at 8 p.m."
My respect for the South Korean Catholic community continues to grow.
Yesterday in Seoul Catholic priests held a mass in front of one of the Samsung offices. The priests and lay people are escalating their pressure on Samsung and from reports we are hearing from inside South Korea this is starting to have an impact. The right-wing newspapers that support President Lee are increasingly printing articles and Op-eds that support and justify the Navy base construction. For the longest time the Gangjeong village struggle was ignored by the national press in South Korea. That is all changing now. Samsung and President Lee are getting desperate. That's why they blocked the three VFP members from going to Jeju.
It appears that the mass at Samsung was not a one shot deal. Regina Pyon writes from Seoul:
"Samsung, the image of Cain who stains Korean peninsula with the blood of Abel. . ." Path of cross (prayer and meditation walking through the 14 stations of cross during the lent) will be held at exit No. 7 of Gangnam subway station at 7 p.m. toward Samsung. . . It takes about 30 minutes. . and Catholic mass at Samsung at 8 p.m."
My respect for the South Korean Catholic community continues to grow.
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