On May 22, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), together with the Catholic Church in Korea and the Korean Orthodox Church, held the founding assembly of the Korean Church Commission on Faith and Order (KCFO) at the Seoul Cathedral of the Anglican Church of Korea, located on Sejongdaero in Junggu, Seoul. The KCFO is to carry out an ecumenical movement to bring the divided Christians together.
In its founding statement, the KCFO announced, “Ecumenism -bringing Christians into unity- is not different from the church’s mission activities for the grace of salvation through Jesus Christ. The establishment of a base from which to promote ecumenism and mission cooperation, through this formal channel for the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches, is a highly significant historical project.”
Rev. Kim Young-ju, general secretary of NCCK, said, “It is a disgrace that the followers of Christ have shown more collective selfishness than collective efforts to spread the Gospel.
Archbishop Kim Hee-jung, chair of the Committee to Promote Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue, of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK), said, “We have the same faith, but along with our lack of concern, we have not hesitated to speak and act exclusively. Let’s pray together and act together to prepare the path that we can walk together, not only for ourselves but for those outside the fence as well.”
KCFO plans to expand interdenominational meetings so that not only pastors, priests and seminarians but lay believers as well may participate in the ecumenical movement. Specific plans include programs such as Studying Together and Praying Together.
On the other hand, simultaneously with the KCFO assembly on the 22nd, an anti-Faith and Order Commission rally (photo below) took place just outside the Seoul Cathedral, organized jointly by a group called “Movement Headquarters to Inform the True Identity of Roman Catholics and the Pope” (organizing director: Rev. Song Chun-gil) and the Gwangju GyeojaSsi Church (Rev. Na Hak-su).
Rev. Song criticized, “Roman Catholic is not Christianity. Therefore, it is never possible to look for unity with the Catholic church.” The Movement Headquarters distributed 220,000 copies of a booklet titled “Christianity and Catholic Church That are More Different Than Black and White.”
Reporters Jin Samyeol (samuel@kmib.co.kr) & Yeong Dae Yoo (ydyoo@kmib.co.kr), Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Click here for the original article in Korean 1
Click here for the original article in Korean 2
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