Pope John Paul II’s special love for
the Blessed Mother of Naju
It has been widely known
that the late Pope John Paul II had a special interest in and love for the
Blessed Mother of Naju. As he had already had a profound love for and
devotion to the Blessed Mother from the earliest years of his life, it is
not surprising that he also had such a deep love for the Blessed Mother of
Naju who had been shedding tears and tears of blood out of her love and
concern for the entire human race and pouring down fragrant oil, which is
a special sign of hope, love, and her presence. On November 6, 1994, John
Paul II visited the church dedicated to the weeping Madonna in Syracuse,
Italy, and said the following during the Mass.
“The Blessed Mother’s
tears are part of her signs. Her tears testify to the fact that there is
a Mother in the Church and in the world. . . These tears are also tears
of prayers. They are the tears of the Mother’s prayers, which give
strength to all others’ prayers and are offered up as an entreaty for all
those who are preoccupied with numerous other interests and, thus, are
refusing to lend their ears to the calls from God, and are not praying.
Her tears are the tears of hope and anxious waiting for all people to open
their hearts widely to welcome Christ the Redeemer, Who is the source of
the light and peace for all individuals, families and the entire world.
Oh, Mother of tears!
Look down at this agonizing world with your motherly mercy.
Wash away the tears
of those who suffer pains, those who have fallen into despair, and those
who have become victims of all kinds of violence.
For all people,
obtain the tears of repentance and reformation of their lives that can
open up the doors of their hearts to the graces that restore the love of
God in them.
After all people have
witnessed the profound love in the Mother’s Heart, obtain for them
the tears of joy. Praise to Jesus Christ. Amen.”
In Syracuse, a small
city on the island of Sicily, Italy, the Blessed Mother shed tears through
the medium of her image hung on the wall of a young couple’s home for four
days from August 29 to September 1, 1953. This was immediately reported
to the local diocesan office. Tears were collected on September 1, and a
doctors’ report was announced on September 9, 1953, confirming that the
samples tested were human tears. During the next month, October 1953, 290
cases of reported miraculous healings were examined, and 105 of them were
declared to be credible. In December of the same year, the local
Archbishop announced on the radio that he recognized the phenomena of
tears in Syracuse as miraculous. In October 1954, Pope Pius XII also made
an announcement on the radio confirming the local bishop’s earlier
announcement on the miracles in Syracuse. Soon afterwards, a beautiful
church was constructed in that city.
A striking contrast between Syracuse and Naju
In Naju, Korea, the
Blessed Mother shed her first tears on June 30, 1985 and gave her first
message in the next month, on July 18. Messages and miracles have
continued for the past 22 years, but the local Archdiocese in the City of
Kwangju has not ordered any scientific test yet, has not conducted any
meaningful examination of the witnesses yet, and has not carried out any
authentic theological investigation yet. Instead, numerous priests and
lay people have fallen victim to ungrounded rumors and false accusations.
How can we not wail over this, as the local church authority still remains
opposed even to conducting an honest examination of whether the reported
messages and miracles are truly coming from God or not. So many people
believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of all men, has
been working in Naju for such a long time, and the Blessed Mother, the
Mother of the Savior and the Mother of the Church, has been entreating us
so anxiously to listen to Jesus and her, shedding tears and tears of blood
and bringing so many miracles, but the great majority of the people in
Korea have been so obstinately turning their cold eyes to the Lord and the
Blessed Mother. One could easily see the true reality and detect the
fallacy in the accusations, if only he or she made one visit to Naju and
observed Julia, her volunteer helpers, and the pilgrims, but many people
including some priests continue criticizing and judging based on
unreliable rumors and prejudice. How sorrowful must the Lord and the
Blessed Mother be because of this?
The most serious charge
against Julia and her supporters is that they are disobeying the local
bishop by refusing to accept his declaration that negatively judged Naju
on January 1, 1998. However, the duty of the shepherds in the Church is
to relay the Lord’s teachings and will to the faithful without any
distortion or obstacle. If they only demand unconditional and blind
obedience from the faithful ignoring their conscience and sense of faith,
it cannot be said that they are properly carrying out their duty. Even in
the family or school, the parents or teachers cannot force the children to
accept what is not true or to carry out what is not moral. Will it be
right for the parents or teachers to impose what is not true or not moral
upon the children and, then, accuse them for disobedience? Whenever
authority is abused whether in the Church or in the secular world, the
damage will be great, especially when the abuse remains uncorrected for a
long time. The Church clearly teaches that the teaching authority in the
Church is not above God’s truth but is its servant (Catechism of the
Catholic Church #86). In reality, however, blind obedience or
compliance that is coupled with contempt for the truth and sound morality
is too frequently equated with the true obedience and humility that is
expected of every good Christian.
The problems contained
in the Kwangju Archdiocese’s declaration on Naju have been discussed in
several other publications. The following is a brief summary.
1. Examination
of most of the witnesses has been neglected. Especially, Pope John Paul
II, Bishops, and priests, who personally witnessed some of the miraculous
signs through Julia, have not been consulted.
2. Scientific
tests of the evidence of miracles have never been ordered by the local
diocese. All the scientific tests that have been performed so far have
been arranged and paid for by the lay people.
3. Some
of the Church teachings especially on the Holy Eucharist were distorted
for the purpose of condemning the Eucharistic miracles through Julia. The
Kwangju declaration stated that it was the Church teaching that the
species of bread and wine must remain unchanged even after the
consecration by a priest and that the reported changes in the species of
bread and wine into the species of flesh and blood in Naju violated this
Church teaching. This is a distortion of the true Church teaching,
because the Church teaching only says that the priest’s consecration of
bread and wine during the Mass changes the substances of bread and wine
into the substances of the Lord’s flesh and blood without causing any
changes in the species of the bread and wine. In other words, this
teaching only explains the effects of the priest’s Eucharistic
consecration. It does not say anything about whether the species of bread
and wine change after the completion of the consecration or not. The fact
that the species of bread and wine change in the communicant’s body
through the natural digestive process is already a proof that the Kwangju
Declaration is wrong. The Kwangju declaration distorted this solemn and
sacred Church teaching on the Holy Eucharist and, by doing so, condemned
all of the Eucharistic miracles in Church history.
Also, in the Kwangju declaration, it is
stated that the Eucharist can begin to exist only through the
consecration by a validly-ordained priest and, based on this, the
reported miraculous descents of the Eucharist from above in Naju were
rejected. The true Church teaching, however, only says that Our Lord gave
the power of the Eucharistic consecration to His disciples and their
successors only and not to anyone else such as lay people and the priests
of the heretical sects, because there were several heresies in Church
history that advocated universal priesthood. The Church teaching does not
say that the Eucharist can begin to exist only through the priest’s
consecration. The Kwangju declaration again distorted the Church teaching
and, by doing so, contradicted all of the miraculous communions in Church
history in which many Saints received communion directly from the Lord or
from the angels.
Those of the faithful who are aware of such
misuse and neglect of the official duty by the local diocese in the Naju
area can make petitions to that diocese and, if this does not work, to the
Holy See. They are not obligated to accept and obey the orders from the
shepherds that stand on serious doctrinal errors or misuse of power. For
example, in the Fifth Century, Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople,
declared that the Blessed Mother was not “the Mother of God”. If
the Christians under his jurisdiction knew in their conscience that their
shepherd’s teaching was incorrect and still accepted it, they would have
committed a sin. If the doctrine that the Blessed Mother is the Mother of
God is denied, the divinity of Jesus Christ will also be denied. When the
divinity of Our Lord is denied, the whole structure of the Christian
teachings of human salvation will collapse in the minds of those who deny
the Lord’s divinity. God gave to each one of us free will and does not
desire that we violate our conscience and abandon our faith because of
threats and persecutions. When the parents or teachers teach or order
what is not true or moral, the children’s duty is to ask them to correct
their errors and, thus, to help them return to what is correct and just.
Of course, when the authority is properly exercised according to the
truths and sound morality, we are seriously obligated to obey such
authority.
Pope John Paul II’s thoughts, hopes, and
decisions revealed
in his meetings with the Bishops in Korea
1991: It
was during the Korean Bishops’ ad limina visit to the Holy See in
1991, when Pope John Paul II first officially learned about the events in
Naju. During the ad limina visit, Archbishop Victorinus Gong-Hee
Yoon of the Kwangju Archdiocese said to the Pope, “Your Holiness, in my
diocese, a statue of the Blessed Mother has been shedding tears.” The
Pope reportedly answered, “In such matters, it is important to observe
the fruits.”
1994: On
November 24, 1994, Archbishop Giovanni Bulaitis, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio
in Korea, came to Naju as the official representative of the Holy Father.
While praying in the Chapel in Naju, he witnessed two miraculous descents
of the Sacred Host. He also met the pilgrims and examined the evidence
and publications. After the visit, Archbishop Bulaitis sent a detailed
report to the Holy See.
Soon afterwards,
Pope John Paul II received a photo album about Naju. The Holy Father
spent about 45 minutes intently looking at and meditating on the
photographs of the Blessed Mother shedding tears and tears of blood and
other photographs from Naju, with his two arms stretched as if praying
during Mass.
1995: In
September 1995, Pope John Paul II sent one of his private secretaries,
Msgr. Vincent Thu, to Naju and relayed the Holy Father’s message that
he had great love and respect for the Blessed Mother of Naju. The
Holy Father also invited Julia, through Msgr. Thu, to attend one of the
Masses in his private chapel in the Vatican. On October 31, 1995, Julia
attended the Mass with the Holy Father. During Holy Communion, the Sacred
Host she received turned into flesh and blood in the shape of a small
heart. Msgr. Nam-Ik Paik, secretary general of the Korean Bishops’
Conference, who went to the Vatican together with Julia, her husband, her
daughter, and one of her volunteer helpers, was among the first ones who
witnessed the Eucharist turned into visible flesh and blood. The Pope’s
private secretary, was notified, but did not understand what was going
on. He asked Julia to go to the back of the chapel and wait. After the
Mass ended, the Holy Father came out of the sacristy to meet those who
attended the Mass. When he came to Julia, she opened her mouth and showed
the miraculous Sacred Host to the Holy Father. The Holy Father seemed to
be surprised but did not say any words, probably because he was not
expecting any miracle, blessed Julia, gave her and her husband rosaries,
and went on to other visitors. Also, at the moment when the Holy Father
wintessed the miracle, the volunteer helper from Korea who accompanied
Julia (Raphael Song) said, “Holy Father, it looks like a Eucharistic
miracle!”
1996:
Five years later, Pope John Paul II asked the visiting Korean Bishops “to
share these wonderful graces with others in Asia” referring to what
was happening in Naju. The Pope was deeply interested in the
evangelization of Asia, which had the largest population in the world but
still remained mostly pagan and even atheistic in a large portion of it.
Also during the same ad
limina visit by the Korean Bishops, the Holy Father specially met Bishop
William McNaughton of the Inchon Diocese in Korea, who was the only
non-Korean Bishop in Korea at that time, and said, “Is Naju in your
diocese?” The Bishop answered, “No, Your Holiness. It is further
to the south.” The Holy Father asked again, “What do you think of
Naju?” The Bishop answered, “I believe it is genuine.” The
Holy Father said, “I also saw the Eucharist turned into flesh and blood
in Julia’s mouth.” This information is based on the testimony that
Fr. Aloysius Hong-Bin Chang of the Kwangju Archdiocese gave to his Bishop
(Archbishop Andrew Choi) and his personnel committee earlier this year
(May 2007). Fr. Chang had heard it directly from Bishop William
McNaughton on September 20, 1996. Bishop McNaughton retired a few years
later, and now resides in the Boston area in the U.S.A. He continues
testifying to individuals regarding the events in Naju.
2001: In
March 2001, the Korean Bishops were back in the Vatican on their ad
limina visit. In the evening of March 31, a Saturday, I received an
unexpected call from Korea. On the phone was His Excellency Bishop Paul
Chang-Yeol Kim of the Cheju Diocese in Korea. He came back from Rome and
wanted to share some very important information about the ad limina
visit with me. Bishop Kim knew about our work at Mary’s Touch By Mail in
Portland, Oregon, which is devoted to defending the authentic Catholic
Faith and spreading the information about Naju in English, and had called
me a few times before. Bishop Kim spoke for approximately 30 minutes
about what happened in the Vatican. Actually, this is the first time I am
making this information known to all the supporters of the Blessed Mother
of Naju. For six years until now, I have limited this information to our
spiritual director and a few others only, because I wanted to be extremely
cautious and to wait and see what the Bishops in Korea would do. But, as
the problem in Naju continued with no end in sight and the opposition
based on false rumors, prejudice, and heretical doctrines also remained
extremely powerful, I have finally decided to reveal this truth. Keeping
it to myself only does not seem to be pleasing to the Lord any longer. I
do not think Bishop Kim intended that I hide this information
unconditionally or indefinitely and limit the joy and consolation to
myself only, either. The following is a summary of what I heard from
Bishop Kim on March 31, 2001.
There were about 20
Bishops from Korea, but as the dining room in the Papal palace was not big
enough, the Bishops was divided into two smaller groups of ten each. In
one group, Bishop Kim was sitting next to the Holy Father. In the middle
of the lunch, the Holy Father suddenly asked the Korean Bishops: “What
is happening to Naju?” The Korean Bishops were startled but did not
know what to say in response. Archbishop Yoon of the Kwangju Archdiocese
was there, too, but did not say anything. He appeared to be feeling
uncomfortable. Long, awkward, and even painful minutes passed. Finally,
Bishop Kim said to the Holy Father, “On this matter, I will report to
Your Holiness after lunch.”
After the lunch, Bishop
Kim was with the Holy Father and made the report for about one hour. The
Holy Father listened very intently. After the report, the Holy Father
made a happy smile despite his weak health and embraced Bishop Kim’s
shoulders. He also told Bishop Kim that he would give a proper
instruction to the proper officials.
After I heard the above
from Bishop Kim, I felt that the official approval of Naju was near. If
it was not an official approval by the Church in Korea yet, at least a
re-investigation would begin soon, I thought. It was extremely
encouraging good news.
After the Kwangju
Archdiocese announced the negative declaration on Naju on January 1, 1998,
the clergy in the Kwangju Archdiocese repeatedly claimed that the decision
was made in close consultation with the Holy See. What happened during
the Korean Bishops’ ad limina visit in 2001 clearly shows that the
Pope had been bypassed in the process of reaching the negative decision on
Naju. It rather shows that the Korean Bishops were not successful in
being faithful to the instructions or advices from the Pope and,
therefore, were not able to answer his important question. It also shows
that Pope John Paul II was not accepting the Kwangju declaration of
January 1, 1998 as the final word on Naju.
May 2001:
One and a half months after the Korean Bishops’ ad limina visit to
the Vatican, several ladies in Los Angeles made a pilgrimage trip to
Italy. While in Rome, they watched a special TV program on the
Eucharistic miracle in the Vatican on October 31, 1995 and other miracles
in Naju. These ladies were astonished and became filled with joy, as they
had already been to Naju several times. Then, they went to San Giovanni
Rotondo, the shrine of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), and Monte
Sant’Angelo, a shrine of St. Michael the Archangel, located about 6 miles
east of San Giovanni Rotondo. While they were entering a church above the
Archangel’s Cave, they were astonished again, because they saw large
photographs and explanations in Italian of the Eucharistic miracle in the
Vatican on October 31, 1995 displayed in the lobby of the church. There
also were displays about Lanciano and other Eucharistic miracles that were
already officially approved by the Church. The Italian guide told the
American ladies that such displays and the TV program would have been
impossible without the Holy See’s permission, as the Holy Father was
directly involved in their contents. I think that these displays and TV
program were direct fruits of the Holy Father’s instruction to the proper
Congregations, which Bishop Kim told me about on March 31, 2001. I also
believe that all the above-mentioned events, when linked together, clearly
indicate that Pope John Paul II was actually recognizing the validity of
the Eucharistic miracle in the Vatican that he had personally witnessed on
October 31, 1995. This papal action also was a powerful invitation and
instruction to the Korean Church leaders to stop neglecting to directly
face the Naju question and to open an honest re-investigation of Naju as
soon as possible, and to approve it if the findings are positive, and to
build a beautiful shrine for the benefit of all Asians and the whole
Catholic Church. The Korean Church, as we know, has not taken any such
action yet. We only still hear the loud voices of the modernist clergy
who continue criticizing Naju, saying that Naju exaggerates personal sins
while ignoring the sins of the society, unnecessarily draws people’s
attention to Christ’s Passion and their need for penance, exaggerates the
Marian devotion drawing more criticisms from the Protestants, spreads
superstitious claims regarding the Holy Eucharist further alienating the
Protestant brethren, is too loyal to the Pope, and so on. It seems that
(1) the true reformation of the Church in Korea (a true repentance about
its deep-rooted errors and abuses and a genuine return to the authentic
Catholic Teachings and Tradition, which also includes full unity with the
Holy See and harmony with other particular churches in the world), on the
one hand, and (2) the official recognition of Naju, on the other, can only
come together, as the current progressive sentiments and ambitions in the
Korean Church and what Naju stands for are not compatible with each
other. We believe that the messages and signs in Naju are Heaven’s
challenge and warning, as well as opportunity and aid, to the Church in
Korea and the world in this age.
In the area of
ecumenical movement, as Bishop Paul Kim of the Cheju diocese (now,
retired) stated during his speech at the Vox Populi Mediatrici
meeting in Rome, Italy, on June 1, 1997 after his long experience in that
area, I believe that true unity with our separated brethren can come not
from shrinking from the authentic Catholic teachings and traditions but
from clearly and faithfully witnessing to these teachings and traditions.
The unity that stands on human compromises and appeasements will be a
false one. The unity that stands on God’s Truth and Will alone will be
true.
Likewise, in solving the
current problems concerning Naju, the answer is not to be found in
accommodating to those modernist priests who want to continue the liberal
reformation of the Church (which means erosion of the authentic Catholic
Faith). Neither will the answer be found in our losing spirit and will
because of the continuing persecutions and attacks by the opponents of
Naju and of the Church, whose only goal seems to be to defeat Naju and to
move further away from the authentic Catholic Faith. Strong
counteractions against the heretical errors and abuses and strong defenses
of the authentic Catholic Faith are the only true solutions to the
question of Naju and the many difficulties in the universal Church. What
God wills and what the Blessed Mother wants to achieve in obedience to God
is not about any parochial interests and concerns of some individuals or
regions but about the genuine reformation of the whole Catholic Church and
the powerful revitalization of the evangelizing efforts for the whole
world. Naju may even be the divine work of preparing for the Second
Pentecost, which the Blessed Mother has mentioned several times in
Naju.
This November, all the
Korean Bishops will be back in the Vatican on their ad limina
visit. It seems that it can be an excellent opportunity for the Holy
Father and the Cardinals and Bishops at the Holy See to have a serious
talk about Naju with the Korean Bishops and advise and encourage them to
adopt some solid measures that will produce real fruits, which, in turn,
can set in motion a powerful revitalization of the Church and
evangelization of the world according to the Lord’s and the Blessed
Mother’s plan
Benedict Sang M. Lee
Director
September 11, 2007
|