Author:
Publication: ZENIT.org
Date: February 23, 2001
Catholic Church Warns About Its
Faulty Religious Ideas
The Church in South Korea is warning
Catholics about the Ki culture, a New Age-style movement that mixes health
programs with faulty religious ideas.
Last month, Seoul's Auxiliary Bishop
Peter Kang sent a memorandum to all clergy and religious in the archdiocese,
warning about the ambiguity and danger posed by Ki culture.
Bishop Kang is concerned about Catholics,
including clergy and religious, who go to Ki Centers, and he emphasized
the need for discernment.
"When Ki formation touches the religious
realm, going beyond its dimension which is health promotion, it becomes
dangerous," the bishop wrote.
"If they use Ki training as a means
of improving health, then I have nothing to say," he continued. "However,
if they insist that people can reach salvation by themselves, this is a
serious mistake, because salvation cannot be obtained by any human efforts
or techniques, it can only be [received from] God."
His memorandum further stated: "Priests
and religious who have contact with Ki culture, believing that it helps
them for meditation or health, should act with discernment, recalling that
their attitude can bring confusion to the Christian life."
Ki culture was introduced in Korea
in the 1980s when, amid a growing economy, people turned more of their
attention to individual happiness. Ki culture insists that human beings
can become absolute by a mysterious art, and that salvation can be reached
through personal spiritual exercises.
Professor Rho Kil-myong, who teaches
social sciences at Korea University and is an expert in the area of new
religious sects, told the Vatican agency Fides that "its members believe
that Ki is the ultimate principle and nature of the universe."
In explaining why Catholics might
be attracted to this new sect, Rho said: "As a liturgy-centered religion,
the Catholic Church does not satisfy the spiritual desire of the faithful
to experience God. This is why many Catholics want to be compensated by
Ki culture."
Among the dangers involved are the
following: People confuse Ki experience with experience of the Holy Spirit;
they begin to reject the institutionalized Church; they adopt fanaticism
and emotional attitudes; they reject the doctrine of salvation by divine
grace.
Professor Rho concluded: "The Church
should listen to what her members say and desire. With its 2,000 years
of history and tradition, I believe that Christianity has many means to
respond to the spiritual needs of the faithful. For instance, the various
spiritual programs of contemplation and meditation of religious institutes
and contemplative communities can be shared with the lay faithful."
