SPECIAL UPDATE
December 12, 2007
There was another overnight prayer meeting in Naju on
December 8 celebrating the Solemnity of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.
While praying with the pilgrims, Julia suddenly saw a beautiful rainbow.
Its beauty and brilliance far exceeded those of ordinary rainbows. Then,
the light from this rainbow radiated upon all who were present in the
prayer meeting. Then, a magnificent papal crosier appeared with a
powerful, bright light shining from it. Soon, a Pope wearing a
golden-color robe appeared, surrounded by other Saints. He looked
extremely dignified and holy. Julia did not recognize him, as the only
Popes she knew were John Paul II and Benedict XVI, but, without any
conscious effort, began shouting “He is Pius X!” three times. Many
pilgrims also began shouting after Julia: “He is Pope Pius X!”
Many began clapping their hands. Later Julia asked others who Pius X
was. She learned that Pope St. Pius X was a strong promoter of
Eucharistic devotion, including First Communion at earlier ages and daily
Communion, and also a firm defender of the authentic Catholic teachings
against the errors of modernism. Julia realized that this vision of St.
Pius X meant that he would help Naju in a special way, as the Blessed
Mother had repeatedly been calling for the restoration of the authentic
Church teachings in the Church. True Eucharistic devotion has also been
the main theme of the messages and signs in Naju.
Then, Julia broke the great news to the pilgrims
about the Korean Bishops’ ad limina visit from November 26 to
December 3, 2007 based on what Archbishop Andrew Choi of the Kwangju
Archdiocese said to the priests in his Archdiocese after his return from
Rome and also on a news report in a daily newspaper in Korea: Kyunggi
Ilbo, the December 10, 2007 issue.
- Archbishop Andrew Choi and a couple of other
Korean Bishops visited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
While Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation, mostly
listened to what Archbishop Choi was saying, the Bishops and priests of
the Congregation who were also present at the meeting urged Archbishop
Choi to accept Naju.
- On December 3, the last day of the ad limina
visit, all of the Korean Bishops (25 of them) had a grand meeting with
Cardinal Ivan Dias, the Prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelization of the Peoples, which has the authority to supervise and
guide the Catholic Church in Korea, as Korea is still considered a
mission territory. The main topic in this meeting was also Naju.
Cardinal Dias said that he had received lots of information about Naju
and asked why the Korean Bishops were not accepting Naju. Archbishop
Andrew Choi of the Kwangju Archdiocese spoke up and said that he was not
sure about a few things. The Cardinal asked what they were. The
Archbishop said that he could not accept that a Eucharist could descend
from the sky, as the people in Naju have claimed it did during
Archbishop Giovanni Bulaitis’ visit to Naju (on November 24, 1994 as the
Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Korea). Archbishop Choi also refuted the
possibility that the Lord would have an angel take the Eucharist from a
priest celebrating the Mass, simply because he was in sin. The Cardinal
answered that there had been other cases of miraculous Communions in
Church history.
- Archbishop Andrew Choi also brought two video
copies of the recent TV program on Naju produced by MBC, a major TV
company in Korea, apparently with English captions added to it. He
presented one to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the
other one to the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples. As
mentioned in our previous updates, this TV program on Naju is filled
with prejudice and distortions of the facts and, in our opinion, is
worthless as evidence to be presented to the Holy See by anyone,
especially by a Bishop. The Holy See had been previously informed about
the possibility of Archbishop Andrew Choi’s bringing this video to the
Vatican and about the numerous serious errors and distortions contained
in that video, and obviously was not impressed by it. Archbishop Choi
probably hurt his credibility by presenting such a video to the Holy
See, as the Church has well-established procedures and standards for
discerning the reports of miracles and does not solicit or rely on the
opinions and judgments of secular organizations or individuals.
Now there are only two choices before Archbishop Choi:
to follow the advice of the Holy See and regain the respect and love of
the faithful or to reject the authority of the Holy See. Most of the
faithful and the clergy in Korea will choose the Holy See rather than a
local bishop. Now they are beginning to learn clearly that the Holy See
believes in the authenticity of Naju. We are entering a new era for Naju.
Even though the information we presently have about
this ad limina visit is limited, the main thing we know is that
what Cardinal Ivan Dias said to the Korean Bishops during their ad
limina visit was an official action representing the Holy See. He was
not expressing his private opinion. It is also certain that he did
consult with the Holy Father before the meeting. And he made it very
clear that the Holy See wants to see positive progress regarding Naju and
urged the Korean Bishops to cooperate. We feel that this is the beginning
of the long-awaited, real solution of the difficulties regarding Naju for
the past twenty-two years. We may run into more resistance and obstacles
by the liberal priests, who still have much of the power in Korea, but,
with united efforts by the faithful clergy and laity, the difficulties
will be overcome, because this is the Lord’s work and the Blessed
Mother’s. We can expect great days ahead for the Catholic Church not only
in Korea but in the whole world.
Praise and gratitude to the Lord and His Mother!
Benedict Sang M. Lee
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