1. Almost 26 years ago, on June 30, 1985, a statue of the Blessed Mother in Mrs. Julia Kim's house in Naju, Korea, began shedding tears and this was followed by her first message on July 18, 1985. Since then, Our Lord and Our Lady have given many urgent messages and numerous miraculous signs for the whole Catholic Church and the whole human race through Julia. Julia has also been suffering severe pains almost continuously in reparation for the sins in the world. The opponents of Naju, especially, some clergy in Korea who have been despising the supernatural nature of the Christian Faith including miracles, have been tenaciously trying to discredit the messages and signs in Naju and the person of Julia, the messenger and victim soul, by spreading untrue rumors and even apparently distorting some of the church doctrines.

2. More specifically, the priests of the Kwangju Archdiocese in the Naju area have never conducted or ordered any scientific investigation of the physical evidence of the miraculous phenomena in Naju for the past 26 years. Neither have they conducted any interview with the several Bishops, many priests, and countless lay people from Korea and other countries who have witnessed the miraculous signs in Naju. They have not considered the scientific test results that were done at Korea's most reputable laboratories paid for by some of the lay people in Korea, either. The condemnation of Naju and the punishment of the pilgrims by the Kwangju Archdiocese not based on any valid doctrinal or scientific grounds lack its objectivity and credibility. Neither do they conform to the Church's mission to defend the truth and justice. This deplorable situation has not yet changed under the new Ordinary, Archbishop Hui Joong Kim since March 25, 2010.

3. To justify its condemnation of the events in Naju, the Kwangju Archdiocese presented the following doctrinal assertions in its Declaration on Naju issued on January 1, 1998:

We have already made our thoughts known in several publications that the above doctrinal presentations on the Holy Eucharist by the Kwangju Archdiocese seem to contradict the true teachings of the Church and also reported our concerns to the shepherds in Korea and the

4. We believe that, to make it possible for the Church authorities to observe the fruits of reported supernatural phenomena uninhibited by any individual or institutional interferences, the faithful should be allowed to freely access the persons, locations, written reports, and other matters related to the reported phenomena, unless there are serious and credible reasons to suspect the authenticity of such phenomena. The Kwangju Archdiocese, however, judged the phenomena in Naju to be inconsistent with the Church teachings by presenting an apparently distorted versions of the Church teachings in its Declaration of January 1998 and also declared that anyone in the world who visits Naju would be subject to automatic excommunication in its Decree of January 2008. We implore the Holy See to publicly enlighten the minds of all the faithful by announcing if the Kwangju Archdiocese was correct in promulgating these documents in light of the Church laws and the Catholic Faith.

5. It has been well known that the previous Pope John Paul II had been firmly positive on the Eucharistic phenomenon in his private chapel on October 31, 1995 and also that he had advised the Korean Bishops on their ad limina visits in 1996 and 2001 regarding the Naju question. Also, the changes of the Eucharist into visible flesh and blood in a chapel in the Vatican on February 28, 2010 was witnessed by Archbishop Giovanni Bulaitis and was accepted by him as a true miracle. A few days later, His Eminence Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, presented Archbishop Bulaitis' written testimony to Your Holiness.

Despite all these, the Kwangju Archdiocese and the Korean Bishops' Conference have been keeping silence about the two Eucharistic miracles mentioned above. Is it not justly expected that the Bishops in Korea should present the reasons for their silence? Of course, we understand that the Church should be careful about all of the reported miracles, as there are many false ones in the world. If more time is needed for thorough investigations, the faithful will wait patiently. On the other hand, dragging on indefinitely without conducting the necessary investigations while presenting apparently distorted versions of the Church doctrines do not appear to be decent acts that can promote a correct discernment and, thus, conform with God's Will. The Blessed Mother has repeatedly said in Naju that the cup of God the Father's just wrath because of the overwhelming evils in the world is now flowing over, causing the terrifying disasters at different places in the world and that, if the human race persists in its sins, an enormous chastisement beyond human imagination will come down on earth that will make all other previous disasters look like nothing. The Blessed Mother is deeply anxious that all her beloved children repent and reform their lives hurriedly and, thus, avoid the approaching chastisement.

6. Several years ago, the priests in the Naju parish said to the visiting foreign pilgrims: "The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. We have our own Bishop." There are many priests in Korea who proudly spread their misguided beliefs that contradict the orthodox Church teachings. They err about the Divinity of Jesus, the Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, the importance of avoiding sins and the need for doing reparations for the sins committed, the importance of the true Devotion to the Blessed Mother, the correct meaning and importance of miracles, and more. At the same time, the famous modernist theologians of the previous decades especially in Europe and Latin America continue to be highly popular among many in Korea as their great, eye-opening teachers. We believe that this is the primary cause of the recent and current crisis in the Church in Korea.

We are convinced that the messages and miraculous signs in Naju can be the most effective cure for the present errors, confusion, and rebellion in the Church. We reject all the erroneous teachings that have widely and deeply penetrated into the Church and have already done enormous harms. We oppose all the proud assertions that advocate more independence for the local churches while despising the supreme authority of the Pope. We eagerly yearn for cleansing the Church in Korea and elsewhere of all the modernist errors and for the restoration of the fervent and genuine Catholic Faith and devotions manifested during the persecutions of the 18th & 19th centuries. This way, the clergy and laity in Korea will be able to make great contributions to the true evangelization of the world.

This goal cannot be achieved by us, the laity, alone. The guidance and participation by the clergy are always essential. In restoring the discipline among the laity, we may be able to do some work. But the laity is helpless (except offering up prayers and sacrifices) about the problems among the shepherds. A more resolute intervention by the Holy See, we believe, is badly needed. Such intervention seems to have become softened after the Second Vatican Council. We the faithful willingly and lovingly submit with total obedience to the authentic teachings and guidance by the shepherds. But, when the leaders consider their power their own, teach errors, and fail to be faithful servants of God, the whole herds of the sheep can be misled and suffer. We hope that all the shepherds in the Church will be truly faithful to their vocations, become more obedient to and united with the Holy Father, and more fervently promote and defend the truths and the holy devotions.

May 2011