Theological Studies on Martyrdom

책 소개

|Welcoming Address| Hwang Sukmo Director General of the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs May the Holy Trinity Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit bless us! I would like to extend my warm welcome to all the distinguished participants to this First International Symposium on Martyrdom. The Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs was founded by Fr. Mua Andrew, Bang Yuryong to venerate the Korean martyrs. It will commemorate the 60th anniversary of its foundation next year. However, on looking back upon the last six decades of history, I confess that the Congregation could have made a bigger contribution to the Korean Catholic Church. Even though the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs was founded in order to venerate the Korean martyrs, we focused more on sustaining our daily lives rather than living more faithfully with the charisma which is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It has taken a long time to realize that only until the Congregation demonstrates its ability to follow Jesus by living the charisma of the martyrs by our words and actions, can we testify and proclaim the truth of the Catholic Faith in the world. The truth of the Catholic Church is declared by the testimony of faith. Indeed, the death of the martyrs was the most profound manifestation of Catholic faith. In this regard, building a firm theoretical foundation of martyrdom is the utmost duty of today’s faithful facing various challenges. Definitely, the witness of the martyrs affirms the truth of belief in God. In other words, martyrdom is a combination of faith, hope and love. The martyrs show us the reason to live, instead of the reason to die, because their life was a contrition of the past, a confession of the present and penances for the future. Certainly, their life was a testimony of faith transcending the time and history. Martyrs were promised eternal blessings thanks to their life of sincere repentance(faith), prophetic calling(hope) and charitable acts(love). Martyrdom, therefore, is a sacred act of self?sacrifice that manifests a reason to live, not a reason to die. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to suggest a clear answer for the cause to live. Thus, without establishing a robust theoretical as well as factual ground of martyrdom, there must always be a limitation to witnessing our faith and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. In order to overcome this limitation, the Clerical Congregation of the Blessed Korean Martyrs invited world renowned Catholic scholars to host this First International Symposium on Martyrdom. As the martyrs prepared the future with their life of faith, hope and love, I hope this symposium can become a cornerstone for the Church in its preparation for the third Millennium. I would like to ask our Lord’s overflowing blessing upon us. Once again, thank you very much.

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