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March 12, 2005
Most Rev. Andrew Chang-Mu Choi
Kwangju Archdiocese
5-32 Im-Dong Buk-Ku
Kwangju City
†
The Lord is Light and Love
Your Excellency,
Together with Julia, I express my deep respect and love for Your
Excellency, who teaches and looks after the faithful in our Archdiocese as a
vicar of the Lord and a successor of the Apostles. We also sincerely apologize to Your
Excellency for the many times when we burdened, though unintentionally, Your
Excellency with many concerns and anxieties.
On February 11, 2005, we received Your Excellency's letter dated
February 4, 2005 from Fr. Luke Hong-Chul Song in the rectory of the Naju
Parish. We thank Your Excellency for the
fatherly love expressed in the letter.
As Your Excellency mentioned in that letter, Your Excellency had
already interviewed us twice, on March 13 and July 11, 2003. During these meetings also attended by Fr.
Song, Julia and I made sincere efforts to answer all the questions in an honest
and detailed way. Your Excellency even
said, "I have heard that Julia received little education, but she
speaks well, intelligently and logically," and hosted us for lunch.
We eagerly wish to lead a normal faith life as Your Excellency has
asked us. We are anxious to attend Mass and receive Communion every day. During the above-mentioned two interviews, we
reported to Your Excellency in detail that we were not refusing to lead a
normal faith life but were being prevented from doing so. Only after reading the February 4, 2005
letter, we realized that Your Excellency still did not have a correct
appreciation of our difficult situation.
I will put the details in writing in this letter, hoping that Your
Excellency will make an objective judgment with fatherly love and give clear
and reasonable instructions to both Fr. Song and us, separately from Archbishop
Youn's earlier Declaration, so that we may carry them out. Below are some of our questions to seek Your
Excellency's guidance, some comments on the subjects that seem to need
clarification, and some reports.
- During his
homily at the 10 a.m. Mass on May 27, 2001, Sunday, Fr. Luke Hong-Chul
Song said, "The Kwangju Archdiocese has the function of an individual
church within the Korean
Church, which has
the function of an independent church that has been inherited from the
Twelve Apostles of Jesus."
We understand that, in the Catholic Church, every local church must
be obedient to and united with the Holy Father and also maintain harmony
with other local churches that are obedient to the Holy Father. Are we incorrect in this understanding?
In the same homily, Fr. Song, made many
personal attacks against Julia instead of exercising charity. The following are just a few of them:
a. "The so-called messages
and signs have been all fabricated. For
that reason, Julia Youn must find a mousehole, hide in it, and breathe only in
it."
b. "Until fifteen years
ago, the water of our parish had been clear.
Then, a loach came in and made the water muddy. As people have been giving it more water,
food, and applause, it has now become a huge serpent, turning the water into
the water of death."
c. "Many pagans are being
drawn to that strange house (the Chapel where the Blessed Mother's statue
is). They are swarming like bees,
saying, 'Here is such a capable person even in the Catholic Church!' This is a disgrace for Naju. I think this is a cult seeking financial
gains and is a public enemy of the society."
- In early
June of 2001, Fr. Song saw me in a restaurant by chance and told me,
"Come to the 10 o'clock Mass this Sunday. I will give Julia and you the microphone. If you tell the congregation that you
have been fabricating everything and telling lies for the past fifteen
years and ask for forgiveness, I will receive you back to the Church." He was forcing us to falsely confess
that all the messages and miracles until then were false.
Julia has been receiving the messages and
signs directly from the Lord and the Blessed Mother. If she betrays her faith and conscience by
denying these facts in order to be allowed to go to church again, she will be
totally betraying the Lord and the Blessed Mother. How can a person who believes in God do such
a thing?
Before Fr. Song came to the Naju Parish, we
had been obedient to the pastoral directives in Archbishop Youn's Declaration
and reporting everything to Fr. Gabriel Young-Woong Park, the predecessor of
Fr. Song, and had been leading a normal faith life quietly, without any
trouble, which Your Excellency is now asking us to do.
-
During an interview with Peace
Broadcasting Company (a Catholic TV and radio station) from Kwangju City
on August 15, 2001, the Solemnity of Our Lady's Assumption, Fr. Song said:
"I have always understood that the
Blessed Mother lived a most ordinary as well as extraordinary life. But, suddenly in the 20th Century,
she turned into an abnormal woman who is so talkative and incites people's
curiosity in the land of Naju in the Jeonla Province. I simply cannot understand this. When I go to Heaven, I will make sure to see
the Blessed Mother and ask her about it before doing anything else."
"Those who are involved in the Naju
matters should think seriously about the fact that a false religion, which is
illegitimate and private, is not only totally outside the Church but also
brings itself to its final consequence of promoting confusion in the world and
making its followers miserable."
"What can such conducts of Catholics
be anything other than idolatry? If this
strange statue of the Blessed Mother made of plaster and bought for 8,000 won
became broken, Julia and her followers would probably ask me, their Pastor, to
celebrate a funeral Mass, saying that the Blessed Mother was dead."
- On May 11,
2002, my mother (Monica Chung), a member of the Dongrim-Dong Parish in Kwangju, passed away in Naju Hospital. As I was her eldest son, I reported this
to Fr. Song of the Naju Parish. Fr.
Song not only refused to celebrate the Mass but also asked the
parishioners not to visit the hospital to say prayers. He also threatened the pastor of my
mother's parish: "If you allow even a prayer service for her, I
will consider it a scandal in the Church and take appropriate measures." No priest was allowed to celebrate Mass
or give a prayer service for my mother.
This was extremely shocking like a bolt out
of the blue to us who just lost their mother.
It is an important duty for children to offer Masses for their deceased
parents, but we could not do so. Julia,
the eldest daughter-in-law, felt so sorry and painful in her heart, as she was
not able to carry out her duty for her mother-in-law.
Since one year after Julia and I were baptized on Easter Sunday in
1981, I began serving in the parish first as the parish administrator and a
member of the pastoral committee because I loved the parish so much. For a number of years afterwards I served as
the president of that committee and several other committees in the parish
despite my unworthiness. Even if the
deceased person were a non-practicing Catholic, Mass should still be offered
for the salvation of the soul. My mother
was a fervent and diligent Catholic, but has been denied her basic right as a
member of the Church for the salvation of her soul for the simple reason that
she was Julia's mother-in-law. Even if
Julia were a great criminal, would it be right to refuse Masses and prayer
services for her mother-in-law? We felt
that this was a case of a priest abusing his power.
During the meeting on February 11, 2005, Julia said to Fr. Song, "Father,
I still feel so sad. Wasn't it too harsh
to the deceased person?" Father
Song replied, "It was an order from the bishop." Julia was surprised and said, "His
Excellency prohibited the funeral Mass?" Fr. Song hesitated a little, looking
embarrassed, and said, "He did.
To those who are involved (in Naju)." This was so shocking and hard to believe. Your Excellency
has asked the faithful to do their duties as ordinary members of the Church,
but ordered that the funeral Mass be refused for an individual who has been
faithfully doing her ordinary duties in the Church? We would appreciate Your Excellency's clarification
of this matter that my family can understand.
-
In late 2001, Fr. Song expelled several homeless elderly women from the
parish on the ground that they were living in a house provided by Julia. He also said that even physical force would
be used to prevent non-parishioners from stepping into his parish church. Since 2002, he has banned all foreign
pilgrims from entering the Naju parish church.
In the February 4, 2005 letter, Your Excellency stated that if one does
not profess the Creed and live according to its contents, he could not be
called a true Catholic. Does Fr. Song
really have the right to prevent the people who belong to other parishes and
those who are from other countries from attending Mass in his parish
church? If he has this right, from whom
did he receive it?
During
an interview on July 11, 2003, Fr. Song asked us if we pay Rufino
Park, the Chapel
administrator, to cover his living expenses. Julia answered, "Not we but Fr. Spies is paying him." Then, Fr. Song said, "Isn't Fr. Spies
in a vegetative state, relying on a tube? Is he still paying you?" After hearing this, Julia said,
"Father, please do not use words like 'a vegetative state'. I think we should be careful about the
language. It was only recent that Fr.
Spies visited us. His health is not too
good, but he is not relying on a tube."
- In the February 4, 2005 letter,
Your Excellency mentioned that copies of this letter were being sent to the
Apostolic Nuncio in Seoul and all other Bishops
in Korea. However, we found some of the contents of
that letter different from the facts. I
would like to clarify them:
a. Regarding the book by St. John of the Cross: The Ascent of Mount
Carmel, which Your Excellency asked us to read, we have already obtained a
copy of this book and read it.
b. Your Excellency mentioned: In the front (of the Chapel) were the
Blessed Mother's statue and a glass case containing a large host. We have never placed any host in the glass
case or anywhere else in the Chapel.
What was in the glass case was a photograph of the Eucharist that
miraculously came down on August 27, 1997 during Fr. Raymond Spies' visit.
c. Your Excellency wrote: On
July 11, 2003, at 3 p.m., I met Julia and Julio again in my office located in
Im-Dong, Kwangju. As Julia was holding a New Testament in her
hands, I asked, "Last time you said you could not read any books. How come you are carrying the
Bible?" She answered, "When
did I say that I could not read the Bible?" I said, "If you had told me that you
could not read any books except the Bible, I would not have misunderstood
you."
Actually, Your Excellency asked,
"Can you read anything other than the Bible?" and Julia answered, "I can read the
Bible and the messages and can write, too." I think there was some misunderstanding.
- Your Excellency also mentioned: "I asked her two questions on
the Gospel, but she asked back, lacking humility, and did not engage
herself in the conversation."
When Julia was unexpectedly asked to explain the meaning of a
verse from Mark 3:20-30:
"Those who insult the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven",
she did not know the answer and asked Your Excellency if it referred to
the sin of judging and criticizing others. Your Excellency said, "Those
sins can be forgiven!"
Julia was startled at Your Excellency's suddenly raised voice and
hurriedly asked, "Your Excellency, I cannot answer that question,
because I do not know the answer.
Please tell me the answer." Then, Your
Excellency said, "Julia refuses to speak when she does not want
to speak just like that?"
Julia said, "Your Excellency, it is not that I am not
answering the question but that I did not know the answer and was asking
Your Excellency to tell me the answer and waiting for the answer."
Your Excellency suddenly
stood up and walked out of the room, calling me loudly: "Julio! Julio!". Julia hurriedly followed Your Excellency,
trying to apologize and explain. She
again said that she really did not know the answer and was asking Your
Excellency to teach her. Your Excellency
said, "No more of it!" and got in the car. Julia was standing still, feeling sorry,
until she could not see the car any longer.
- Your
Excellency also mentioned in the letter that we had failed to present the
financial documents which Your Excellency had requested. Actually, we had been informed by Your Excellency
that Your Excellency would make a pastoral visit to us after the
installation of the auxiliary bishop, which was to occur on August
18. As Your Excellency visited us
on August 7, earlier than expected, we were not ready. While I was looking for the passbook in
order to show that to Your Excellency, Your
Excellency did not wait and left before I could present it. We have no intention of continuing to
privately manage the Chapel, the Blessed Mother's Mountain, and any other
real estate acquired while we were doing the Blessed Mother's work. In compliance with Your Excellency's earlier
suggestion to us, we have been taking steps to set up a corporate
body. As to the managing and
reporting financial inflows and outflows, balance sheet, and so on, we
will achieve and maintain objectivity and transparency through the
corporate body established as suggested by Your Excellency, entrusting
all the real estate and structures to it.
- Your
Excellency mentioned in the letter, "Toward the end of November
of 2004, through Fr. Aloysius Hong-Bin Chang, I urged Julio and Julia to
make a confession, fulfill their ordinary duty of presenting offerings to
the parish, and reconcile with the Church community before Christmas as
mentioned in the Church guidebook.
I have been informed that they did not go to Fr. Luke Hong-Chul
Song (Naju Pastor) or carry out their duties as members of the Church." The fact is that we did contact the
parish office to do everything Your Excellency asked us to do and,
thus, to be able to return to the parish church, but Fr.
Song only repeated his previous demand before he would welcome us back
into the parish. That was the real
reason why we could not return to the parish church. When we met Fr. Song on February 11,
2005, he told us that he had reported to Your Excellency on what
happened. It is difficult for us
to understand the above statement in Your Excellency's letter.
As mentioned earlier, Fr.
Song's demand was that we declare before the parishioners that everything so
far has been a fabrication and that we will close down the Chapel and the
Blessed Mother's Mountain. Asking us to reconcile with the church
community and carry out the duties as ordinary parishioners under such conditions
is the same as asking us to falsely state that everything that the Lord and the
Blessed Mother have been doing has been a fabrication and a lie. Is it right for us to make a false confession
before the parishioners, close the Chapel and the Blessed Mother's Mountain,
and surrender the Blessed Mother's statue to the parish in order to reconcile
with the church community and to carry out the ordinary duties as members of
the Church? Should we bring the Blessed
Mother's statue to Fr. Song who has been openly boasting that he would smash
the Blessed Mother's statue and destroy the Chapel with a bulldozer? Instead of giving us instructions in general
terms like "Obey the Declaration", please explain to us
specifically and in writing what is meant and required by "true
reconciliation with the church community" and "carrying out
the ordinary duties".
- During
the meeting on February 11, 2005, Fr. Song asked that the website: The
Mary's Ark of Salvation be discontinued, that the Chapel and the
Blessed Mother's Mountain, which have become the places for accumulating
wealth (according to him), be closed, that the Blessed Mother's statue,
all the promotional literature, and the evidences of miracles be brought
to the parish office, and that we show clear and concrete signs of
dismantling everything that has been going on, proving our total
obedience to the Declaration and returning to our previous life style of
leading ordinary faith life together with other parishioners before the
end of the Lent 2005. Fr. Song
also said that these were Your Excellency's requests. He was reading a declaration that he
himself wrote and promised to send us a copy if we requested. Since then, we asked twice but he has
not sent it to us yet. In Your
Excellency's letter of February 4, 2005, we did not find the same
requests that were mentioned by Fr. Song.
We would like to know if they are truly Your Excellency's
requests.
When Fr. Lazarus Chun-Soo Lee was the Pastor
of Naju, Julia asked him that the Blessed Mother's statue be placed in the
parish church, saying that she felt unworthy of keeping the statue at
home. So, Fr. Lee visited Archbishop
Youn twice and asked for his permission, but Archbishop Youn said "No"
on the ground that the statue was Julia's private property. Now, Fr. Song, the current Pastor, is asking
me to surrender the statue to the parish, saying that this is the bishop's
request.
Your Excellency requested information on the financial inflows and
outflows that occur in connection with the devotional gatherings in the Chapel
and on the Blessed Mother's Mountain, the sale of publications and other
religious items, and the real estate, explaining the reason as follows: I asked the financial records submitted to
me, because I need to be kept informed as the Ordinary who had the duty of
guiding and overseeing any activities that were carried out in the name of (the
Catholic) religion within the diocese. Then, is it not also the Ordinary's duty to
oversee and give guidance concerning the messages and signs from the Lord and
the Blessed Mother, which have been continuing even after Archbishop Youn's
Declaration on January 1, 1998?
Also, we understand that Your Excellency's letter of February 4,
2005 was a private correspondence that included a request for our
response. Nevertheless, copies of this
letter were sent to the Apostolic Nuncio and all the Bishops in Korea, while
some of the contents were different from the facts. Would it not be more appropriate, if these
copies together with Your Excellency's requests to other Bishops for
cooperation were sent after hearing our response or after it became clear that
we were not complying with Your Excellency's requests? But the papers already reached other dioceses
together with the request that they prevent people from making pilgrimages to
Naju. We are so sad.
Fr. Song has been insisting that the Declaration of the Kwangju
Archdiocese dated January 1, 1998 was a decision made after thorough examinations
by experts in theology and science and also thorough on-the-spot investigations
during the three-year period. Your
Excellency also said on March 13, 2003, "Archbishop Youn examined
whether or not the phenomena occurring in the Blessed Mother's House in Naju
were damaging to the unity in the Church and causing disorder in the pastoral
care of the faithful. It was not an
examination to determine whether these phenomena were miracles or not." I was surprised and asked Your Excellency to
confirm this statement, saying, "This is a very significant statement." Your Excellency confirmed the statement. In fact, the members of the investigating
committee only made one brief visit to the Chapel and interviewed Julia only
once. Besides, much time during this
interview with Julia was spent for asking seemingly irrelevant questions
instead of asking sincere questions on the messages and signs. For example: "The Blessed Mother will
need to come down from heaven to speak on earth, but how can she come through
the extremely cold air in the upper atmosphere?" "Didn't the Blessed Mother just read
from Fr. Gobbi's book?" "When
did your eldest daughter get married?"
"The Blessed Mother talks too much", and more. The chairman of the investigating committee,
Father Kim, even said, "Theologically, God the Father cannot speak. Jesus and the Blessed Mother could speak,
because they had the human nature, but even they cannot speak now as they died
2,000 years ago." Julia was
shocked to hear this. By saying this,
the priest was rejecting
not only the messages in Naju but all other apparitions in the world as well.
God the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased" (Matthew 3:17) and "This is my chosen Son; listen to him"
(Luke 9:35). How can we accept the above remark that,
theologically, God the Father cannot speak.
Besides, can the investigation with just one interview qualify as "a
thorough investigation"?
In the February 4, 2005 letter, Your Excellency said, "After
I was installed as the Ordinary of the Kwangju
Archdiocese, her followers have continued demanding a re-investigation through
direct and indirect channels, but I have judged that their reasons were not
valid and refused their demands."
However, the messages and signs from the Lord and the Blessed Mother as
well as so many miraculous healings of incurable illnesses, that are supported
by medical records, have continued even after the Declaration of January 1,
1998. Still, an objective and sincere
investigation including scientific tests has never been done. Is it fair and right to refuse
re-investigation saying that there are no valid reasons?
It is not up to us to stop the pilgrims coming from all over Korea and
around the world, but we have been trying hard to conform to the pastoral
directives mentioned in the Declaration.
For example, in November 2001, Julia was invited by the Cardinal of the
Monterrey Archdiocese in Mexico
to attend the international conference of the clergy on the Holy Eucharist, but
politely informed His Eminence that she would not be able to go, because she had
to be obedient to her own bishop. We
have heard that, in that conference, copies of a new Spanish edition of the
Blessed Mother's messages in Naju published in the U.
S. A. were distributed by a bishop from Colombia and
his assistants to all the bishops and priests attending the conference.
About the miraculous descents of the Eucharist and the miraculous
changes in the Eucharistic species, Your Excellency told us in the education
building of the Naju Parish on March 13, 2003, "What do you mean by these
miracles? You are telling a lie, aren't you?
The Eucharist cannot come down from heaven. You also say that St. Michael the Archangel brought the Eucharist, but that is not
possible. The Eucharist can be formed
only by the priest's consecration during Mass according to the command of
Jesus, the bread changing into His Flesh and the wine into His Precious
Blood. The Eucharist can exist only
through the priest's consecration. That
is why you only had hallucinations."
Julia responded, "I received messages also. They were not hallucinations." Your Excellency continued, "You are
only asserting it. Do you
understand? These phenomena do not
conform well to the common-sense understanding of the catechism. Therefore, there will never be a
re-investigation." Fr. Song
added, "You should not try to justify and rationalize everything." Concerning the large Sacred Hosts that came
down on June 12 and August 27 in 1997, if they are considered just hosts, they
should be returned to Julia, as they must have belonged to her. If they are considered the Eucharist, please
let us know where they are being preserved and in what manner.
At the end of the letter of February 4, 2005, Your Excellency
emphasized that our salvation comes from believing in Jesus Christ and living
according to His teachings and does not come from promoting miracles and
chasing after them. Of course, it would
not be good to chase after miracles, but we think that Jesus performed many
miracles to help those without faith begin believing and those with faith
strengthen their faith.
In the investigation for beatification and canonization by the Holy
See also, miracles are considered important and necessary as signs of
intermediation by the individuals under investigation. Also throughout Church history, the Blessed
Mother has appeared at many places like Guadalupe, Lourdes,
and Fatima, giving messages and working
miracles to confirm the authenticity of the messages. Because of the miracles, many atheists began
to believe in God and many of the non-practicing Christians returned to the
Church.
Thus, we believe that it is a proper duty of the Church to conduct
objective and scientific investigations of the miracles in order to reach the
correct discernment instead of making efforts to reject them and turning eyes
away from them because of prejudice. Fr.
Song of the Naju Parish even swore to unmask the true face of lies, falsehoods,
and hypocrisies. Where are these lies,
falsehoods, and hypocrisies that Fr. Song mentions?
There have been so many people giving their testimonies both before
the Declaration and after it. I would
like to introduce just two:
This is a testimony by Angela Lim from Busan before the
Declaration. Her husband flirted with
another woman and tried to kill Angela several times. He even pushed her from the window on the
third floor of the apartment building.
When that failed, he left home with his new woman. Angela lived a difficult life, filled with
rancor and vengefulness. Eighteen years
afterwards, she came to the Blessed Mother's House (the Chapel) in Naju and
attended an overnight prayer meeting.
When she heard Julia relaying the Blessed Mother's messages: "Families
are sick. Sanctify your families. The messages that I give to my children will
transform their souls if they accept my words well," she became deeply
shaken and cried uncontrollably. She was
feeling the unlimited love of the Lord and the Blessed Mother.
Acknowledging that
everything was her fault, she went to the place where her husband was living. She found her husband gravely ill and his
woman run away. Angela completely
forgave him with love and brought him home.
She prayed for the Blessed Mother's intercession for her husband's
healing and also accepted the little girl born of her husband and the other
woman. She repaid her husband's huge
debts and formed a holy family. She also
brought many other people to Naju and helped them receive the grace of
repentance.
But after the
Declaration was announced in 1998, the number of pilgrims plummeted for some
time as many people feared to be accused of disobedience to their bishops. Angela also stopped coming to Naju and her
husband found another woman. Angela is now
in a mental hospital. There have been
many similar cases. Such sad situations
have been developing while people were trying to be obedient to the
Church. Who will be held responsible for
their misery?
Next is a testimony by a university professor, a Ph.D. in
Daegu. He had stomach cancer, and, on
November 25, 2004, his doctors began operating on him, but, after seeing the
cancer spread too widely, they discontinued the operation. While waiting for death, this man came to
Naju like a person drowning and trying to grab even a straw. In Naju, he deeply repented his sins and was
completely healed of his cancer. His
family, relatives and friends also repented their sins and began forming holy
families. The scars from the operation
also healed and disappeared completely two months after the operation. He is now much healthier than before he had
the cancer and is working normally at the university. He is leading a diligent and fervent faith
life.
During the meeting on July 11, 2003, Your Excellency said, "Regarding
the miracles, there are some people who have exceptional knowledge about life
at its natural level and are capable of doing extraordinary things. There also are some who experience instant
healing of cancers after drinking some spring water, by the energy from the
water. Don't be mistaken. These natural healings are also the works of
God." On the other hand, Fr.
Song said during the interview with the Peace Broadcasting Company on August
15, 2001, "Satan is capable of causing some unusual phenomena to
promote disunity and confusion in the Church.
God and the Blessed Mother are not working through this woman (Julia), I
advise her and her followers not to delude the world and deceive the people any
longer and ask people not to be deluded and deceived by her." How can we understand these remarks and also
the differences between them?
I am sorry for writing such a long letter, but I wanted to explain
the facts, because Your Excellency asked us to respond to the February 4, 2005
letter by the Second Sunday after Easter but has already begun sending letters
to many key people in the Church declaring that the Church has nothing to do
with us.
Please forgive me for asking this, but we would be deeply grateful
for Your Excellency's giving us a response to this letter as soon as possible
so that we may be able to lead an ordinary faith life without excessive
difficulty.
We sincerely hope that the day will come soon when we can all
achieve a complete unity in the truth and we may be totally obedient to Your
Excellency. We pray that the love and
peace from the Lord and the Blessed Mother will always be with Your
Excellency. We pray for Your
Excellency's spiritual and physical health.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by
Julio Man-Bok Kim
107-29 Kyo-Dong
Naju, Jeonnam
Province
(Republic
of Korea)
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