Catholics From South Korea

"The fight to protect life in Korea unites Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists. Although a minority in Korea the Catholic Church has great influence on public opinion: the country is divided."

"Grow understanding and respect towards other religions. I hope we can build solidarity for the common good based on this mutual respect and cooperation and this harmony can continue with the common values of truth, love and justice."

"The Church will continue to support the struggle for the official and definitive abolition of capital punishment in the country and defend life, from conception until its natural end. We will do it with public statements, but also with awareness and the education of children and young people, to increase the value and the culture of life in the country."

"It is not enough to have only sympathy for the poor and the neglected. We must help them find their place in life and restore their dignity. Contemplating the commandment to love, let us revive the justice of God on this earth."

"Global warming is a product of materialism. Excessive emission of carbon dioxide not only destroys the environment it leads to climate change. If we overlook this phenomenon the natural environment in which human beings live will be destroyed."

"Remembering that numerous Christians have been martyred for this dignified mission we should reaffirm that it is the essential mission of every individual Christian to deliver the Good News to the people of our time who have not yet heard of Christ."

"I think the interreligious situation in Korea is very unique in the world. We cannot witness often in other countries for leaders of different religions to make this kind of concrete effort for harmony and unity."

"Christmas is a day of blessing on which the Divine love and His reign over the world have been revealed. We should share joy and practice love with the marginalized and the neglected. When we share what we have been given, our love will not be dried out but more enriched."

"We can promote sincere reconciliation between Korea and Japan and become neighbors in heart."

"Support for missionary activity, with prayer, sacrifice and material offerings is important because it helps sustain and nourish the whole Church."

"Even those supposedly trained for years in biblical "studies" are quite unable to bring the Bible as living word into people's lives. One might ask: what makes other Christian groups often so appealing to the grassroots people? Is it not their thirst for God's life-giving word? To help remedy this inadequacy, a serious formation in biblical apostolate ought to be integrated into the seminary and religious curriculum."

"I think the interreligious situation in Korea is very unique in the world. We cannot witness often in other countries for leaders of different religions to make this kind of concrete effort for harmony and unity. It was a good opportunity for us to grow understanding and respect towards other religions. I hope we can build solidarity for the common good based on this mutual respect and cooperation and this harmony can continue with the common values of truth, love and justice."

"The Korean Catholic Church has always embodied the Christian virtues of "forgiveness" and "sharing", promoting these values in society while living peacefully with other religions. In the reality of living in a "divided nation", the Church has worked tirelessly over the past seven decades to resolve the conflicts inherent in this division and has striven for peace and unity for the Korean people."

"Work for the evangelization of North Korea. This task is all the more important the closer we get to the border, and we are very close. This institution will be a new base for cultivating peace in East Asia and even the world."

"In the training of priests, the study of Asian spirituality should play an important role. The people in charge of the seminaries should meet, study and explore the ways to achieve the best possible training. The priests, at least those from the same cultural area, should try to live in a climate of profound mutual understanding."

"Celebrating Easter, we must live a life of love and service of neighbour."

"In our day we have a desperate need of the spirit of the declaration Nostra Aetate issued 40 years ago. I hope all religions will always be ready to work together for the good of humanity through sincere dialogue, despite the different teachings of our faiths"

"The most fundamental principle of legislation is to defend human rights. If a law violates the most fundamental right, the right to life, it commits a serious error."

"In North Korea, after the persecutions of the past decades, there is the so-called "Silent Church": a community of people who have not let the flame of the Spirit extinguish, but who do not have the freedom of professing their belief in Christ. It is a Church that suffers, which must be encouraged and gradually awakened, not abandoned."

"Considering the situation of North Korea, the conflict sedimented for half a century, we recognize that the path of rapprochement should be gradual. We cannot talk about "mission", but dialogue and reconciliation. Everything starts from considering the North Koreans our brothers, to love people, beyond the ideology and oppressive power they are subject to."

"Cardinal Cheong always said that he wanted to be a little star in the night sky, and now he's become a big one. We too shall try to become a little star by loving our neighbour as ourselves."

"We all are a family under the Catholic faith."

"I don’t really have a lot of desires, or that’s what I think of myself. But if I were to pick one, I would want for people to live peacefully. I don’t understand why some people harass or hurt others, or why they do these things because they envy others — we fight and wound each other and it might be a natural phenomenon that arises among weak humans, but I still hurt thinking about social issues such as Asian hate."

"When I become a character in a movie or drama … I can think about the character only and not the complicated matters of my own life. I feel ecstasy in those moments and it’s what keeps me going as an actor. It’s not about the money, it’s not about the honor."

"But if there’s something you gain, there’s also something you can lose. Therefore, I try not to showcase my personal life."

"I tend to pick projects that give me a sense of freshness. So my filmography, especially after hitting my 30s, has become a lot more diverse."

"As long as you have a television screen or a streamer, we are living in an era where we can connect and enjoy any content from any place around the world very easily."

"I think an actor's filmography represents the direction and the course of the acting that an actor has pursued. I'm filling in my filmography to let people know who I am and how I see the world as an actor."

"Usually, I'm attracted by screenplays that stir my curiosity. I try to ask myself why the writer wants to tell this story."

"Even when I choose projects, if before, I looked only at my own character, I am now more interested in what the producers are trying to say through this project and what kind of statement they want to make."

"I am extremely grateful for all the attention and anticipation for my work, but I will admit that sometimes it does put pressure on me. Honestly speaking, I tend to be someone who follows my own heart and is drawn to and chooses productions that resonate with me."

"In the perspective of the audience, the movies that make me think are the most precious. I want to naturally be projected onto the film or role. From there, applying my tendencies and emotions is what I believe is the most natural way for actors to tell a story."

"I think I was pretty much constant, unvarying, for 20 years. So, I do want to give myself a pat on the back for focusing on one career without any dramatic slumps for the last 20 years. But [personally] I don’t want a son like me. I don’t think that highly of myself."

"I still don’t know how to define or answer what is the meaning behind life and death. And I don’t think I will be able to define them in the future either. It’s difficult. What I can do, is to live my life, which is only given to me once, without regret until it runs its course. That’s I think the best I can do, at the present."

"When others see our joy as Christians, they are contaminated."

"Seminaries should not be factories for priests who are already beautiful and ready."

"Pope Francis [...], invited us to face the struggle of searching within ourselves and, at the same time, not to forget God’s presence in our life. We can thus recognize a vocation when we place our deep desires in dialogue with the work that God’s grace does inside of us; thanks to this dialogue, the night of doubts and questions gradually lightens and the Lord allows us to understand which path to take."

"I have never thought of advising the Holy Father. Instead, I have always found communion with the Pope very beautiful. For my part, instead of advising, I rather try to listen to the Holy Father in order to understand well what he expects from my service, starting with some fundamental questions: What priests does the Church need today? How do we choose them? How do we form them? I see in this regard a very clear answer, ever since, at the beginning of the Pontificate, the Pope gave us the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium."

"St. Andrew Kim, and others of our forefathers, practiced what they believed, even if they lived in a society dominated by a hierarchical social system, and did their best to live the Gospel ideals of human dignity and equality among peoples."

"In the Church, we must remember this: it is better to be imperfect in communion than to be perfect in disunity."

"I thank the Lord for choosing me to show this people with my presence the affection and closeness of the Holy Father. My presence has also built a bridge between the Church in Korea and the Church here: we have many Korean missionaries in Bangladesh."

"Relations between Catholicism and Buddhism are based on mutual respect."

"North Korea’s recent decision to go along with South Korea in joining the United Nations separately means a change in North Korea’s policy toward the South remains to be seen. In these circumstances, I believe that South Korea and the United States must continue to maintain their solid cooperative relationship."

"The people strongly demand an end to the authoritarian system. It has become a stark reality that an authoritarian system can no longer maintain national unity, achieve economic development and preserve national security."

"I place the organization ahead of individuals. I think two ordinary men are better than one genius. I always choose teamwork rather than individual efforts."

"The military was the last resort to contain social and political chaos. It would have been very dangerous if the military had faltered . . . . The troops were mobilized to save the nation. We did not intend to take power. It is not proper at all to link the incident with a coup."

"I did not desire to become a politician or a presidential candidate. I think it is my fate, shaped by the conditions of an era."

"One of the most moving experiences for me was to see realized the people’s desire to elect the president with their own hands and to see the release of politicians and others who were imprisoned because of their conviction."

"I emphasized that authoritarianism . . . should be removed and that we should renovate both the system and the way of thinking that then prevailed. In my inaugural speech, I asked political leaders and government officials not to turn me into a Don Quixote. I emphasized the need for a completely fresh way of thinking . . . . Although the authority of the president should be preserved, authoritarianism should be eliminated."

"As the nation transforms itself into a democracy, the public expects and demands more than ever that politicians and political parties work harder in the best interest of the country, the people and society. Our politicians, however, have given the impression that, on the contrary, they are engrossed in self-serving maneuvers to advance the interests of only their parties, factions or themselves, personally. The process of liquidating such negative political legacies of the old era has progressed more slowly than the people expected."