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ADMONITION FOR A TRUE AND SINCERE DEVOTION BY THE ORDINARY OF THE KWANGJU ARCHDIOCESE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
- A PASTORAL ADMONITION FOR NAJU JULIA YOUN AND MATTERS RELATED TO HER -
+ The Word, Light of Life:
- “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me”(Jn 15, 1-4).
- These words of Jesus to His disciples were concretized by His promises to found a Church, to make the apostles its foundation and to be with them always in the history of the human race. When the apostle Peter confessed that Jesus was the Son of the living God and the Savior of the world, Jesus taught: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”(Mt 16, 18-19).
When the Lord, resurrected from the dead, sent His disciples out into the world, He promised: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age”(Mt 28, 18-20).
- The Second Vatican Council defined the Church, which is the true grape vine and the Mystical Body of Christ, as the sign of the grace of salvation for all humans and also as the sacrament of this salvation(Constitution on the Church #9). Therefore Christ placed blessed Peter over the other apostles and instituted in him a permanent and visible source and foundation of unity of faith and fellowship(Constitution of the Church #18).
Accordingly as successors of the college of apostles, which had been established by Jesus, the bishops form a single college of bishops centered on the Pope. With the cooperation of priests and deacons, the bishops in place of Christ perform their duties as pastors who are shepherds and teachers and who offer the holy sacrifice to God(Cf. Constitution on the Church #19-25).
THE CHURCH AS THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST
- As founded by Christ, the Church is not some social group or political power but is a community consisting of one body with Christ as its head. The Church is the People of God continually growing and maturing in history. The Church is a living grape vine.
“Until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interest of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the bodies growth and builds itself up in love” (Eph 4, 13-16).
THE CHURCH POSSESSES AN HIERARCHY
- As the Mystical Body, the Church preserves the Hierarchy (Hierarchia Ecclesiae) according to the will of Christ (Constitution on the Church Ch. 3). In place of Christ, pastors protect and guide this Church; they preserve the right and the responsibility to proclaim accurately the Word of God.
The following Pastoral Epistle gives some guidelines, which pastors and community helpers should be on the watch for: “Proclaim the Word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry”(2Tm 4, 2-5).
- In addition to professing solemnly with their hand on the Holy Bible the creed inherited through faith, those who accept an holy office within the gentle mother Church also include the following words: “With firm faith, I also believe every- thing contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magis- terium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.” I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals. Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act(Canon Law #833).
Immediately after this, according to Canon Law, an oath of fidelity is taken(Canon Law #833, Sections 5-8).
This Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity are required in order that the Mystical Body of Christ might not be divided and also in order that harmony and unity might not be harmed by any individual or small group interests.
FOR A TRUE AND SINCERE DEVOTION
- As Shepherd of the Kwangju Archdiocese, The Most Reverend Archbishop Victorinus K. Youn guided the faithful so that they may truly live in faith and virtue and also achieve a sincere devotional life. Therefore on two different occasions he submitted reports to the Holy Office in Rome concerning Naju Julia Youn and a related series of phenomena and events, which started in the middle of the 1980s.
Accordingly with the consent of the Holy Office and the Bishop's Conference of Korea, on January 1, 1998 he issued a Pastoral Admonition about the Julia Youn from Naju parish: Let all priests, religious and the faithful remember moreover that true devotion consists neither in fruitless and passion emotion, nor in a certain vain credulity but proceeds from true faith(Constitution of the Church #67).
We must reflect seriously upon the teaching of the Church that extraordinary gifts are not to be rashly sought after, nor are the fruits of apostolic labor to be presumptuously expected from them (Cf. Constitution of the Church #12). This Admoni- tion urges all of you to spend your energies on the various kinds of Marian devotion which have already been approved by the Catholic Church.
However they did not obey and continued to question and criticize.
- Even after I myself had been installed as Ordinary, Naju Julia Youn and her followers did not live a normal faith life, and they did not give the impression of obeying Church authority. In addition to this, they added other phenomena and insisted upon a so-called miracle and publicized their view- points in various ways.
During May 2001, in the Pastoral letter entitled “On the Closing of the Holy Month of our Blessed Mother,” I urged the faithful to develop a healthy and true devotion to the Blessed Mother. At the same time I reconfirmed the Admoni- tion of my predecessor, Most Reverend Archbishop Victorinus K. Youn. Between the months of March and August 2003, I personally met three times with Julia Youn and her husband Julio Kim. My first visit was at the Naju parish, and my second meeting was at the diocesan office in Im-dong, Kwangju. On the final meeting, I inspected the hill with the so-called Blessed Mother’s Garden and then Julia’s house and the place, which is referred to as the “shrine”.
Through the pastor of Naju parish, on February 4, 2005 I asked them to obey Church authority, to live a normal faith life and to give evidence of such by April 3, 2005, which was the Sunday of Gods Mercy. More specifically, following the Pastoral Admonition(January 1998) of my predecessor, Most Reverend Archbishop Victorinus K. Youn, I insisted that they refrain from all advertisements and publicity, that they have no public worship activities at their place and that they attend the parish as believers, receiving the sacraments and contri- buting to the support of the church. I also insisted that if there has been any transfer of money and other valuables with Julia Youn at either her related “Blessed Mother’s Garden” or “Shrine”, in order that the diocese may directly confirm and examine such matters, transparent documents must be submitted to the diocesan office, especially documents concerning the state of affairs of financial revenue and expenditures, documents concerning the facts of real estate acquisition and registration, and documents concerning accounting affairs.
However, on March 16, 2005 Julio Kim Man-Bok(Julia Youns husband) sent by registered mail(he used a size #4 government business envelope) ten pages of questions. He said: “I am extremely sorry to bother you with these questions. If you can respond as quickly as possible and depending upon your response, I think there will be no problem for us to start to prepare to live an ordinary faith life as your Excellency so desires.” Is a precondition necessary for a believer to live a normal and ordinary faith life? Moreover the bishop, as the shepherd of the local community, has issued a clearly Pastoral Admonition three times from January 1, 1998 to April 3, 2005. Concerning these Admoni- tions, a spirit of obedience has not been evident in their actions. They have challenged the Church authority by insisting that they have experienced a “private revelation” and have seen a “miracle.”
If they do not make an effort to be united with the community, that means that they do not want to maintain a normal relation with the Ordinary Church.
These words are found in Holy Scripture: If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven(Mt 18, 17-18; Cf. Lk 10, 16). If one wants to be called a Catholic believer, one must be united with the Church and must obey the pastor.
- Therefore, as the Ordinary of the Kwangju Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, I once again announce the following Admonition:
- Once again I want to verify and give counsel. It is my wish that the faithful, as children of God and members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, will live a faith life in unity and harmony. It is my wish that the faithful will obey the bishop, who is the successor of the Apostles and the shepherd of the local Church.
Whoever receives a special grace from God, should give thanks for that grace, should pray thoroughly with an even more humble spirit and should sincerely live the life of a normal believer. Let us consider the example of the early community as found in the Acts of the Apostles: All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers(Cf. Acts 1, 14). They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers(Cf. Acts 2, 42). The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common(Cf. Acts 4, 32).
It is my earnest desire that this Admonition will be a help to the Kwangju Archdiocese and to the Korean Church and even beyond to the world Church, for a true and sincere faith life and devotion. Relying upon the Holy Spirit who lives within the Church and directly guides the Church at all times, I request from the Father His merciful love and grace through Jesus Christ, the foundation and head of the Mystical Body.
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