Agathe Hug. What makes someone a martyr? This question becomes actual when you think of North Korea. The next question follows: Are there Schoenstatters among those who have been called to actual martyrdom in North Korea? No one knows.
What we do know for certain is that at some time some MTA pictures were sent to North Korea. So we may suppose, or hope, that they also arrived. Do the people there know where the pictures come from; do they know something about Schoenstatt? No one knows. If such people exist, if there are people who know about Schoenstatt, they will not be able to respond to this article. However, if the MTA is there, Schoenstatt is there. So Schoenstatt is also in North Korea. So for a week from 15 October we will pray very specially in the covenant with and for North Korea.
To put it crudely: If someone wants to be martyred, they can be relatively sure it will happen in North Korea. They will have to come out and say “here”. You can guarantee the result. North Korea is known worldwide as the most restrictive political system of our times. After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, it is one of the few remaining countries with a Stalinist government. Recently reports have come through that the situation has intensified.
What remains…
On 27 September 2011 the “fides” news agency reported:
“North Korea: What remains is the hope for peace
What remains is the hope that on the other side of the bamboo curtain religion can develop once again. That is the conclusion reached by the South Korean Archbishop Kim Hee-joong after spending four days with six representatives of other religions in the People’s Republic of North Korea. As the Archbishop remarked to the Fides news agency, it was a very rare opportunity to speak about religion and God in a country in which religious freedom receives the least attention worldwide. In addition, he announced that in the future such meetings would take place at regular intervals to enable people to understand each other’s viewpoint better. Besides this, as the Archbishop pointed out, the meeting with the representatives of religions awakens the hope for peace. It will make a tiny contribution towards improving the relationship between North and South Korea.”
The article refers to the recent visit of seven South Korean religious leaders to the “Korean Conference of Religions and Peace” in North Korea. They consisted of Christian, Buddhist, and Confucian leaders, as well as Shamans and representatives of other local religions. The aim of the journey was to bring North Korea a sign of peace and contribute to the reconciliation of the two countries.
Perhaps 10.000 Catholic Martyrs…
In May 2007 the process of beatification of the “martyrs of Tokwon” was opened. Tokwon is now part of North Korea. “Abbot Bishop Bonifaz Sauer, Fr Benedikt Kim and companions” – this is the title given to the group of 36 priests, Brothers and Sisters, all of whom were Benedictines, and 25 of whom came from Germany. Some, like the Bishop, died in prison as a result of torture during interrogation following their arrest in 1949 by the Korean Communists. Others died in the internment camps where they were executed or starved to death. Those who survived were put on a train in November 1953 and returned to Europe via China, Siberia and Moscow.
It is estimated that there are at least 10.000 Catholic Martyrs, counting from the beginning of Christianisation in the 17th century until today, although it is necessary to make a distinction from the middle of 20th century between North and South Korea.
In the 17th century the Catholic faith was brought to Korea by diplomats and through contact with Jesuits working in China. Initially it was spread by the laity, not by priests. The first Roman Catholic missionary arrived in Korea in 1785 . By 1863 there were about 23.000 Christians.
Korea was given its first Bishop in 1794. He was immediately forced to go underground, because Christians were persecuted from the first. As from 1881 life became easier, but not easy, following political changes.
There are Christians somewhere
Nevertheless, by 1945 Christians made up about 13% of the population. Pyongyang was known as the “Jerusalem of the East”. While it is know that today 25% of the people of South Korea belong to a Christian church, there is no figure for North Korea. The figures published by the Communist government are probably incorrect. It does not matter whether someone is a Buddhist or Christian, all are persecuted. It is supposed that there is a large (Catholic) underground Church, because a relatively large number of North Korean refugees say they are Christians. However, since every form of profession of the Christian faith, even possession of a Bible, is a reason for people to be arrested and deported to one of the notorious North Korean re-education camps, in which prisoners are subjected to extremely cruel treatment that often leads to their death, Christians usually do not know one another. Former camp inmates report that Christians receive even worse treatment than their fellow sufferers who profess no beliefs. As Schoenstatters we have particular sympathy for the people in the inernment camps, because our founder was in the concentration camp at Dachau.
There are four Church buildings in Pyongyang. There is the so-called Changchun “Cathedral”, which is designated a Roman Catholic building, but there is no priest serving there, least of all a Catholic. Two churches are Protestant and one church is Russian Orthodox. It is said that these buildings only exist in order to show that there is religious freedom. The people who attend these churches are probably carefully selected Communists with professed allegiance to the State. As a foreigner it is possible to attend the services in these churches, however eyewitnesses report that the “presiding functionary” does not appear to have had a good theological training.
Christianity is officially represented in North Korea by the Korean Christian Association, which is State controlled, and which is responsible for contacts with foreign churches.
Today the two “genuine” dioceses in North Korea are also administered by South Korea.
To the extent that a genuine Catholic Church exists in North Korea, it is probably marked by a Benedictine spirituality. The Benedictine Congregation of St Ottilien founded an abbey in Kotwon, North Korea, and in 1909 they arrived in South Korea. Through the changes brought about by the First and Second World Wars, and through the creation of a border between North and South Korea, the Benedictine Fathers, Brothers and Sisters found themselves governed by Communists. This closes the circle of martyrdom.
United with North Korea – of all things in the week of 18 October
Since nothing happens by chance, but only through Divine Providence, I regard it as a dispensation of Providence that precisely in the week when we are celebrating the 18 October we are praying for this country, which demands the profession of faith out of inner conviction that is upheld until death. Personally this has led me to the conclusion that besides intensive prayer (the prayers in “Heavenwards” from the concentration camp in Dachau seem most fitting for this), I have to recognise three consequences from accompanying the Christians and Schoenstatters in North Korea: Firstly a challenge to live my faith with greater conviction; secondly, to profess my faith with greater conviction; and thirdly, not to consider the “sensible” possibility to be silent (you’re a good democrat and respect others’ freedom of religion or opinion while hiding your own different opinion) as an excuse to be a coward with a good conscience. I owe it to these persecuted Christians…
