A Korean Catholic friend of Rorate, Peter Kim, has put up a blog (Totus Tuus) that reports on the Korean Catholic scene from a tradition-friendly perspective. Stories of the Korean Catholic martyrs share space with pictures of Catholic Korea prior to Vatican II, and the faint echoes in South Korea of the new liturgical movement in the Western world are chronicled side by side the liturgical and theological scandals that seem increasingly common in that country. There are only a few entries at present, and it is still easy to read the blog from the first entry down to the most current. Tolle, lege.
For the posts on various scandals, I leave most of these for our readers to find out on their own, although one post that deserves more attention (particularly that of Cardinal Canizares Llovera) is this:
Apparently, even as the English-speaking hierarchies are moving towards more faithful translations of the liturgy, the Koreans are moving in the opposite direction. Where the Church in the West was 30 years ago, the Catholic Church in Asia is -- Kyrie eleison.
Of historical interest:
For the edification of our readers, I would like to highlight the following posts:
(There is currently no regular TLM in South Korea -- pray that there will be one, soon!)
Anybody interested in Gregorian Chant is welcomed at the chant course in Seogang University in Seoul Korea. The class at 9: 10 am on September 19 is free of charge. Feel free to come and appreciate the beauty of Sacred Music. Other than learning how to sing chant, you may have chances to make friends with Koreans who have good understanding on Catholic Tradition.
Time: 9:10 am - 10:50 am on every Saturday
Date: September 19 - November 28 (No class on October 3 and 10)
Place: Room 808 at the Alumni Center, Seogang University (서강대학교 동문회관 강의실 808호)
Tuition: 140,000 won
Instructor: Lioba Jung-Sun Lee (011-9789-4635). You may call her if you have any question on the chant courses.
There is another chant class at the Catholic Church of Kang-nam Express Bus terminal in Seoul (강남 고속버스 터미날 성당) at 1 pm every Monday. Lioba Lee provides this course especially for the people from other places in Korea.
Chant instructor Lioba Jung-Sun Lee graduated vocal school of music at Yonsei University and earned master's degree of Gregorian Chant at the Graduate School of Music in Catholic University in Korea.
She further elaborated her career by finishing the chant courses at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome and the International School of Music in Alexandria, Italy.
After coming back to Korea, She instructed schola at the Blessed Sacrament Sisters of Charity, Jeonju Diocese. Also, she conducted choirs at the Catholic Churches of Seojung-dong and Shiheung-dong in Seoul Archdiocese.Now, she is directing a chant schola, "Coena Domini" at the Catholic Church of Seocho-dong in Soeul (at 9 pm every Sunday, there is a Gregorian Chant Mass). She is also instructing a chant course at Seogang University in Seoul.
