features 15/09/04 Will there be a 'pope effect' for the Church in Korea? - One year after landmark papal visit, Korean Church sees mixed progress

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Will there be a 'pope effect' for the Church in Korea?

One year after landmark papal visit, Korean Church sees mixed progress

Pope Francis greets crowds at Asia Youth Day in Solmoe, South Korea, on Aug. 17, 2014. (Photo by ucanews.com reporter)

• ucanews.com reporter, Seoul
• South Korea
• September 4, 2015

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When Pope Francis landed in South Korea last August for his landmark first visit to Asia, excited clergy and laypeople anticipated major impetus for the Korean Church.

In a whirlwind tour, Francis called on clergy to venture out of churches and find the ordinary man, urging Catholics to embody Korean Christians who died for their faith centuries earlier.

"They knew the cost of discipleship … and were willing to make great sacrifices," the pope told a packed Mass in downtown Seoul where he beatified 124 Korean martyrs on Aug. 16 last year.

One year on, the pope’s visit has helped boost evangelization in South Korea, but progress has been slower than hoped, say clergy and Church observers.

Part of the challenge has been following remarkable past success. After two landmark visits by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and 1989, Catholic numbers in Seoul nearly tripled in the 1980s to 916,000 by the end of the decade, according to statistics from Seoul archdiocese.

"When we compare with John Paul II, it’s different. At that time, so many people started going to the Catholic Church and a lot of catechists came out of that," said Father Gabriel Byong Young Je, director of the Institute of Culture and Education at Sogang University in Seoul. "But this time [after the visit of Pope Francis], it’s not like that, it’s slow and less than before."

Ahead of the pope’s visit last year, the Archdiocese of Seoul aimed for the city to be 20 percent Catholic by 2020. It’s an ambitious target, agree most Church observers — even by Korean standards.

Last year, Seoul recorded nearly 1.5 million Catholics, or 14.5 percent of the city’s population. At the current rate — rising 1.1 percentage points in the past four years — the capital might expect to reach about 16 percent in five years' time, based on figures from the archdiocese. Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the head of Seoul archdiocese, did not respond to emailed questions.

Catholic worshippers gather outside Myeongdong cathedral during a Mass by Pope Francis in Seoul on Aug. 18, 2014. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP)  

The 'pope effect'

It may be too early to tell if the 'pope effect' can produce a surge in baptisms in Seoul, and across South Korea, said Father Augustine Lee Jeong-joo, spokesman of the Korean Catholic Bishops’ Conference. The next data, which will include the period directly following the pope’s visit, is not due for about two years, he added.

"We have to prepare for six to eight months for a baptism," said Father Lee, adding that it is still too early to know how many new Catholics there were over the past year as many are not yet baptized. "Now there are a great number of catechists who will be preparing."

He points to the "great interest" last year’s papal visit generated not only among Catholics but also among other faiths in South Korea. Close to 86 percent of South Koreans have a favorable view of Pope Francis, according to a survey conducted in March by Pew Research. In the United States, it’s just 66 percent.

For the papal Mass in downtown Seoul last August, parish churches received ticket allocations of just a few dozen — to keep overall numbers manageable — but could have sent numbers many times over, said Korean priests.

Asia Youth Day in Solmoe, considered the birthplace of Korean Christianity, saw tens of thousands of young people from across Asia brave rain — and in China’s case, resistance from authorities — to see Francis on Aug. 17 last year. Few if any had seen a pope before.

At the first Mass of the papal visit in Daejeon’s World Cup stadium on Aug. 15 last year, attendee Song Min-seok, 68, seemed to sum up the feelings of many excited Catholics across the country in calling Francis "among the greatest popes ever." Those sitting next to him who travelled to the stadium early that morning nodded in agreement. Song had watched Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1989, and converted from being a Protestant a year later, he told ucanews.com.

Twitter users generated millions of Francis posts during the visit, the first by a pope to Asia this millennium. But the social media impact also highlights the tough task the Church faces today versus a generation ago when Pope John Paul visited, notes Father Young.

He edited and translated three books in Korean on the current pope following his trip last year. And even though print runs of about 10,000 each have mostly sold out, overall the response has been muted, he said.

"Many people are too interested in the Internet. I would say they don’t like reading serious things," said Father Young. "It’s not that the pope’s message was not strong enough. It’s the time: people have changed and Korean society has changed."

The Church must therefore translate the pope’s message into direct action, which "takes time," he said.

Growth

As in the Church the world over, South Korea stands at a key juncture between conservatism and a more radical approach — on the family in particular — with both sides reading what they want in the pope’s message, said Father Lee.

"I would say that, for Francis his intention was not like that," he said, meaning the pope does not want to create divisions between conservatives and progressives. "He’s talking about good news, a basic thing."

By focusing on the rich and on Seoul, the Korean Church also risks marginalizing poorer people, particularly in rural areas — a move at odds with the message of Pope Francis, said a Church observer speaking on condition of anonymity. Although the Church hopes to create new Catholics across the country, Seoul has a much more explicit campaign.

Despite challenges facing the Korean Church, evangelization efforts overall have been nothing short of stellar in recent decades, said Father Giancarlo Faldini, an Italian missionary here since 1969.

While most other countries have seen the number of faithful slide as economic development grows, South Korea has bucked this trend. And Catholicism in the country has seen growth that has outstripped other faiths by some distance. Protestants still outnumber Catholics nearly two to one, but a series of scandals has prompted numbers to peak at around nine million. Buddhists make up 23 percent of the population, but again, there are few signs of growth.

When Father Faldini arrived in South Korea nearly half a century ago, there were just 800,000 Catholics in the country.

"Now there are 5.5 million," Father Lee said. "So it doesn’t matter how you look at it, the South Korean Church has always been very successful."

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