SPOTLIGHT 25/11/04 Catholics warned against visiting controversial Marian site in S.

[성기화 요셉]

Those who visit Naju shrine will 'incur an automatic excommunication,' says Singapore archdiocese

Catholic Church in South Korea does not recognize the so-called Marian apparition in Naju. (Photo: najumary.or.kr)

By UCA News reporter

Published: November 07, 2025 12:03 PM GMT

Updated: November 07, 2025 12:08 PM GMT

A Malaysian archbishop has cautioned Catholics against visiting a controversial Marian shrine in South Korea, echoing a recent warning from the Singapore Archdiocese that threatened excommunication for those who take part in pilgrimages to this unapproved site.

Archbishop Simon Poh of Kuching said Catholics are not permitted to visit the Naju Marian shrine in the Archdiocese of Gwangju, South Korea, according to a Nov. 4 report in the official archdiocesan publication Today’s Catholic.

Poh said he had confirmed the matter directly with former Gwangju Archbishop Hyginus Kim, who reiterated that visits to the site remain prohibited.

The Malaysian archbishop urged the faithful to visit only officially recognized Catholic churches and pilgrimage centers.

His directive follows inquiries from Malaysian Catholics regarding organized pilgrimages to Naju, where several alleged miracles have been reported over the decades.

The Singapore Archdiocese issued a chancery notice on Oct. 31 warning Catholics not to visit the site.

It stated that anyone participating in activities at the Naju center—where an alleged visionary continues her ministry “against the guidelines of the local Ordinary in Korea”—would incur automatic excommunication.

The notice also urged those who had previously visited the shrine to stop doing so and to “approach a priest for the sacrament of reconciliation for the excommunication to be lifted.”

The Naju shrine, located within the jurisdiction of the Gwangju Archdiocese, is linked to Julia Kim, a mother of four who claimed to have received Marian apparitions beginning in the 1980s.

Kim, a Protestant-turned-Catholic, reported seeing visions of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary and claimed that her statue of Mary began shedding tears on June 30, 1985. She also said she had been miraculously cured of terminal cancer.

As devotion to “Our Lady of Naju” spread, Church authorities launched investigations. In 1998, then-Gwangju Archbishop Victorinus Youn Kong-hi declared that the reported events were “not of supernatural origin.”

The Korean Catholic Bishops’ Conference has also officially rejected the alleged miracles.

In 2024, the Gwangju Archdiocese warned the faithful about Alexander Kim Dae-sik, a priest expelled from the Salesian congregation in 2022, who reportedly continued to celebrate sacraments illicitly at the Naju center.

Despite repeated prohibitions, pilgrims from several Asian countries continue to visit Naju, drawn by reports of healing and mystical phenomena not recognized by the Catholic Church.