Experience, Testimony, and the Concern over the Transmission of Them
‘On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice(CPAJ) held a symposium, September 24-26, 1994, to review the course of its past activities and to reflect on the role of the Church ‘now and here’. And, as a result of these self-examinations and reflections, the Gaudium et Spes Pastoral Institute came into being. Therefore, the fundamental concern of the Institute lies in the same context of the birth of the CPAJ, that is, their effort to find the proper place of the Church in the midst of the realities of the nation and the people. It meant that, following the teaching of Jesus Christ, “For whosoever shall do will of my Father which is in the heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother (Matt. 12:50), ” the Church should be the place for those who are in agony and tears on the scenes of ordeal, and amid the challenges of the times. And there existed a clear consciousness among them that such scene of ordeal was just another Golgotha, and we had to raise a cross in it. The realities of the times which awakened those priests were an experience of God’s grace as well as sufferings to them. Hence, they left a valuable experience to us.
Our faith stands on the memory, confession, and transmission of personal experiences. Likewise, the experience of the CPAJ needed to be materialized and transmitted, following the example of our predecessors. Accordingly, the Institute embarked on the project of discovering and documenting the testimonies of those priests who went through the turbulent 1970’s and 1980’s. The publication of the ‘Torch in the Darkness’ was the embodiment of such testimonies, and the initial volume of the series was issued on June 17, 1996, the official birthday of the Institute. Since then, 8 volumes in this series have been issued, and regarded as a valuable material in which we can trace the position of the Church in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
From Testimony to Proclamation and Service
Since the year 2000, the Institute has been publishing the ‘Kerygma et Diakonia’, a periodical devoted to preaching material for priests, which is intended to assist priests in one of their main functions, namely, the ‘proclamation of the Word’. The conditions of the 1970’s and 1980’s called for ‘testimonies’ of the times. However, the understanding that the concrete ‘proclamation’ of the Word was required for the situations of the 1990’s was the basis of such undertaking. In other word, as the Institute was established for the purpose of building an ideal Church community, the necessity for the proper proclamation of the Word for this purpose prompted the publication of such preaching material.
As part of its primary functions, that is, research work in the framework of theological reflection, the Institute has held an annual symposium since 1998, centering it on the role of the Church in the midst of the realities of the nation. Also, the Institute has been issuing the ‘Gaudium et Spes’ since 1996, -a monthly newsletter linking the Institute and the Supporters’ Club, and the ‘Pastoral Companion’ -a periodical devoted to pastoral information for priests, since 2004.
The Institute has also organized series of Bible lectures around Rev. Sim Yong Seub and Rev. Ham Sei Ung since 1997. These lectures designed for laymen are given in two-terms each year and serve as a medium to advance the spirit of the Institute into the outer world. In addition, the Institute has held the annual Lent Lectures in this season of grace and repentance since 2000, as one of its efforts to communicate with the world.
If the history of the CPAJ can be called the ‘history of testimony’ with its will to share with the people in their sufferings, now the Institute is going to open a new ‘history of proclamation’ amid the new signs of the times. As the CPAJ finds the witness of joy and hope in the nationwide solidarity of priests and gains much strength from it, the pastoral experience of those priests will become the basis of the primary theological experience of the Institute. Accordingly, in the years of the new millennium, the CPAJ and the Institute will continue to share the times of God’s grace, working together in solidarity for the task of idealizing and materializing the transmitted experience in the framework of theology.
Again, in Search of Reflection and Prospect
Looking back into the past 10 years, the Institute is now preparing reflections and alternatives for the attainment of an ideal Church community in our dream. This means that the questions about our faith should be rooted in the actual scenes of our lives, and more concrete results will be required throughout the process of answering them. At present, the Institute is illuminating the realities of our Catholic theology through overall reflections of the Korean theological community and in the light of the Korean and world theological trends. Such theological reflections will appear as a search for the paradigmatic change of the Korean Church. For this, the Institute is going to take a lead in the development of theological thoughts through the publication of specialized academic journal. It is also planning to publish a series of theological studies as a project to materialize and actualize theoretical reflections and practical prospects.
Seeing the new millennium in, the Church exchanged a large number of discourses. What is required as ever for the realities of the Korea Church is to change its theological-pastoral paradigm which serves as an intermediating framework between the Church and the world. A proper theological-pastoral paradigm will be instrumental in building a link between the Church and the signs of the times, and the Church and the world.