January
2003
This article is written
in response to many inquiries that we receive about the status of Naju in the
Church. Additional information can be
found in our Special Issues (1998 #1, 1998 #2 and 1998 #3) and
also on the web site: www.marys-touch.com
I. THE
MESSAGES AND MIRACULOUS SIGNS IN NAJU, KOREA
1.
Messages
Julia Kim received the first message from the Blessed Mother on July 18,
1985. (Interestingly, Our Lady’s
first apparition to St. Catherine Labouré of the Miraculous Medal in Paris,
France, was also on July 18, 1830.)
Since then, she has received many more messages from Our Lord and Our
Lady with irregular intervals between them.
Sometimes, she received more than one messages on one day; other times,
with an interval of a few weeks or months between messages. Sometimes, she received messages in ecstasy;
other times, while being awake. Most
recently, Julia received the Lord’s message on August 15, 2002, which is on our
web site and can also been seen in a recent video: Who Will Sew Up My Torn
Heart . . . ?”
2.
Tears and tears of blood from the Blessed Mother’s statue
Clear tears were first shed on June 30, 1985,
while bloody tears began on October 19, 1986.
Our Lady’s weeping lasted intermittently for a total of exactly 700 days
until January 14, 1992. According to Fr.
Raymond Spies, Julia’s spiritual director, this number 700 means a strong
emphasis and continuity.
3. Fragrant
oil
Oil with an intense sweet fragrance, similar to (but not the same as) the
fragrance of roses, began exuding from the Blessed Mother’s statue on November
24, 1992, and lasted for exactly 700 consecutive days until October 23,
1994. During that period, the Chapel,
where the statue was (and still is), was continuously filled with
fragrance. More recently, fragrant oil
dripped down on the ground on the Blessed Mother’s mountain near Naju several
times while Julia and her helpers were doing the Stations of the
Cross.
4.
Fragrance of Roses
Sometimes a powerful fragrance of roses fills the
Chapel all night during the overnight prayer meeting; other times, it lasts only
briefly. Some people smell this
fragrance from the water from the Blessed Mother’s spring on the mountain, from
the message book, from photographs, and so on.
Some people experience the fragrance while writing their
testimonies. Sometimes, the fragrance
can be smelled only by a particular person (who may be undergoing conversion or
physical healing).
5.
Eucharistic miracle involving changes of the Eucharistic species into
visible flesh and blood
This miracle occurred more than twelve times
through Julia, in the Naju parish church and Chapel, on the mountain in Naju; in
the Cathedral in Sibu, Malaysia, in a hotel room in Rome, in St. Francis Church
in Lanciano, Italy, in St. Anthony Church in Kailua, Hawaii, and in the Holy
Father’s chapel in the Vatican. The most
recent one was in the Naju parish church on October 19, 1996.
6. Miraculous descent of
the Eucharist
This miracle occurred eight times, in the Chapel
and on the mountain in Naju. The most
recent one was on the Blessed Mother’s mountain on January 1, 2002. Some of the Sacred Hosts that came down
miraculously were taken to the Kwangju (=Gwangju) Archdiocesan office and others were
consumed at the instruction of the bishop or priest.
7. Stigmata on
Julia
Visible bloody wounds appeared miraculously on
Julia’s body (palms, feet, and side) several times so far. They lasted for a few days and then
disappeared, probably because Julia prayed for that. The Stigmata usually occurred when Julia was
suffering the pains of Our Lord on the Cross.
8. Descent of Our Lord’s
Precious Blood on the Blessed Mother’s mountain near Naju
Between November 9, 2001 and August 15, 2002, Our Lord’s Precious Blood
descended miraculously on the Blessed Mother’s mountain several times and
stained thousands of little rocks. Julia
saw that Our Lord’s Sacred Heart was torn apart because of people’s sins and
their refusal to repent and the blood and pieces of muscles pouring out of the
Sacred Heart. On one of the rocks
collected on August 15, 2002, the Precious Blood has been alternating between
solidifying and liquefying. The
blood-stained rocks are being preserved in Naju and will probably be displayed
in the Basilica which will be built after an official Church recognition of
Naju.
9. Countless spiritual
and physical healings
Lately, the water from the Blessed Mother’s spring
on the mountain has frequently been a medium for healings. Many times, Julia suffers the same pains that
the person whose illness is being healed.
II.
POSITIVE RESPONSES BY CHURCH LEADERS
1. Bishop Daniel Chi of
the Wonju Diocese in Korea visited Naju in January 1990 for a Novena
prayer. After witnessing the tears of
blood on the Blessed Mother’s statue, he wept and left a written testimony: I
clearly saw and firmly believe.
2.
Archbishop Giovanni Bulaitis, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Korea
until 1997, visited Naju on November 24, 1994, and witnessed a miraculous
descent of the Eucharist two times. He
wholeheartedly accepted these as genuine signs from God and accordingly reported
them to the Holy Father and Cardinals in the Vatican. He has been spreading the information to many
Church leaders in Europe.
3.
Bishop Dominic Su of Sibu, Malaysia, celebrated Mass on the
Blessed Mother’s mountain in August 1995 and witnessed a miraculous change of
the Eucharistic species into visible flesh and blood. He accepted it as an authentic miracle and a
call for him to more vigorously teach the truth about the Holy Eucharist.
4.
Bishop Roman Danylak from Toronto, Canada, celebrated Mass on the
same mountain in September 1995 and witnessed another Eucharistic miracle. He wrote a sworn testimony and has been
giving testimonies in many countries.
5.
On October 31, 1995, the Holy Father witnessed a Eucharistic
miracle through Julia in his chapel in the Vatican. Some months later when he was with a bishop
from Korea (Most Rev. William McNaughton of the Incheon Diocese), he said that he
saw the Eucharistic miracle through Julia.
In 1997 and afterwards, a major Catholic TV station in Italy and St.
Pio’s shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo were allowed by the Holy See to publicize
the same Eucharistic miracle. The Holy
Father also urged the Korean bishops who were on their ad limina visit to
share the wonderful graces in Naju, especially with people in Asia.
6.
Bishop Dominic Su in Malaysia witnessed another Eucharistic
miracle through Julia during her visit to his diocese in Malaysia in September
1996 and issued a statement officially recognizing it, as this miracle occurred
within his diocese.
7.
Bishop Paul Kim of the Cheju(=Jeju) Diocese in Korea visited Naju on June
12, 1997 and witnessed a Sacred Host that miraculously descended. During his ad limina visit, he made a
detailed report to the Holy Father and asked him to open an international
investigation. The Holy Father
reportedly sent down some instructions to the proper Congregations. Bishop Kim informs us that the Holy Father
had a deeply warm feeling toward the Blessed Mother in Naju and Julia.
8.
Bishop Dominic Su visited Naju again on August 15, 2002, and
witnessed Our Lord’s Precious Blood descended on the mountain. After his return to Malaysia, he wrote a
testimony.
III.
REJECTION OF NAJU BY THE MODERNIST CLERGY IN KOREA
In the early years of the messages and signs in
Naju, Archbishop Victorinus Youn of the Kwangju(=Gwangju) Archdiocese, which covers the
Naju parish, was quite favorable toward Julia.
However, he was gradually persuaded by the progressive priests
surrounding him, and eventually issued a negative statement or declaration on
January 1, 1998. His stance toward Naju
is being maintained by his successor, Archbishop Andrew Choi. Most of the twenty Korean bishops have been
going along with the decision by the Kwangju(=Gwangju) Archdiocese. A few bishops and some priests in Korea
continue their positive stance on Naju.
The flow of many pilgrims — both Korean and foreign —
continues.
Even though Korea had about 20,000 Catholic
martyrs from the mid-18th century until the late 19th
century and still has a large number of priests, religious, and laity who are
solidly faithful to the traditional Catholic teachings, loyal to the Holy
Father, and devout in their Eucharistic and Marian devotion, it cannot be said
that the Catholic Faith and Tradition has landed its root firmly and deeply
among the Korean people and culture yet.
After Korea was liberated from the Japanese colonization at the end of
World War II, Protestant denominations grew at phenomenal rates partly because
of the effective work by the American missionaries. (Now, about one quarter of
the Korean population of 47 mil. are Protestants compared to only about six to
seven percent for Catholics.) For the
past several decades, the Catholic Church in Korea has been making considerable
efforts to accommodate the Protestant brethren as well as the traditional
Buddhist and Confucian followers and has not been adequately assertive in
unequivocally proclaiming and propagating the traditional Catholic
teachings. Also, many of the leading
theologians in Korea were trained in Europe, especially in Germany and
Austria. Frequently, their loyalty to
Rome seems doubtful. Then, from the
mid-1960s, there were the tidal waves of the so-called The Spirit of Vatican
II, which is actually a progressive spirit, disloyal to the authentic
Catholic Faith and Tradition and based on distortions and exaggerations of the
true teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
As widely known, the progressive theologians and their followers seized
that opportunity to implement their modernist, secular, Protestant-like
ideas. Soon after Vatican II, kneelers
in all Korean Catholic churches were removed; the beautiful Catholic tradition
of genuflection (they now bow instead) and kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament
disappeared; many of the Blessed Mother’s statues were taken away; communion on
the tongue was virtually prohibited; the leading liberal theologians have been
advocating female priesthood, abolishment of priestly celibacy, election of
bishops by priests and laity, adapting the Church doctrines to the modern needs,
etc. and have been guiding the Sisters who teach Catechism; Buddhist monks have
sometimes been invited to speak in Catholic churches; the ban on “Chesa
(an old custom in Korea of ancestor worshipping or veneration)” was lifted (many
Korean Catholics of the 19th Century were martyred for discontinuing
to practice “Chesa”); and more.
In the mean time, a significant number of the priests in Korea have lost
their sense of heavenly vocation and got married.
The theologian and priest who wrote the Kwangju(=Gwangju)
Archbishop’s negative declaration on Naju defended this declaration in his
article carried in the official magazine of the Korean Bishops’ Conference,
Pastoral Care, two months after the declaration. In it, he stated that the real reason for
rejecting the Eucharistic phenomena in Naju was “to seek the grand objective
of pursuing unity with Protestants.”
Is he proposing that Catholic teachings be compromised in order to unite
with Protestants? Is he saying that we
should adopt the Protestant belief that Christ is present in the Eucharist only
in a symbolic way? Is he suggesting that
Church teachings are human products and, therefore, can be altered by
humans? He even seemed to have some air
of pride and satisfaction in having provided his bishop with a theological
justification. The Kwangju(=Gwangju) Archbishop’s
declaration and subsequent arguments by some Korean theologians state that the
Eucharistic miracles are in conflict with Church teaching that says that the
Eucharistic species must remain unchanged and also that descents of the
Eucharist are in conflict with Church teaching that says that Eucharist can be
formed only through consecration by validly-ordained priests. (By this statement, the Korean theologians
are making a mockery of all the Eucharistic miracles in Church history and the
Church decisions that officially approved many of the miracles.) As explained elsewhere (in the three
Special Issues of Mary’s Touch 1998 and on the Mary’s Touch web
site), these statements by the Korean theologians are themselves outright
distortions of the authentic Catholic teachings. The Korean theologians are referring to the
Fourth Lateran Council and the Council of Trent to defend their views, but, on
other occasions, they usually discredit the Church teachings prior to Vatican II
— especially the teachings of the Council of Trent, which clarified Church
teachings against the Protestant errors.
In Korea, the modernist forces are powerful in the Church and hold
teaching positions in seminaries and Catholic universities. They also get involved in some of the
political issues through their influential organization called “Priests for
Social Justice,” which has also been exerting a major influence in blocking
Naju. They seem to have many reasons to
feel confident that they can easily crush something like Naju. Whether the messages and signs are really
coming from God or not seems to be beyond their interest.
IV.
CONCLUSION
What is going on in Korea is an intense spiritual
battle. It is a war being waged all over
the world to decide the fate of the human race, but is currently being fought
especially intensely in Korea. In some
ways, Korea seems to be at the focal point in this spiritual war. Korea has the highest abortion rate in the
world: more than 50% of all pregnancies end in abortion. North Korea has the only remaining Stalinist
dictatorship, now threatening world peace, while starving its own people. The Blessed Mother has been giving messages
of grave importance and pouring down so many miraculous signs in Naju. When she wins the battle in Korea, the whole
continent of Asia may open up for her advances, and the faith in the West may
also be revitalized.
This is a difficult time for the Church and for
everyone who stands up for the Truth. In
Naju, Our Lady has repeatedly said that, with the help of her little-but-devoted
children, her Immaculate Heart will surely triumph.
Sang M. Lee Mary's Touch
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