– Maria Kwak*
The recent spread of COVID-19 in Daegu has made the Archdiocese take further steps. Earlier in February, the Archdiocese made a donation of KRW 200 million (equivalent of 1.3 million in HK dollars) to the Korean Red Cross. With the rapidly growing number of patients, Hanti Retreat Center opened its facility to treat 69 patients infected by COVID-19 with mild symptoms, upon the initiative of the Archdiocese. Hanti Retreat Center is located at the Martyr’s shrine which served as a shelter during numerous persecutions against the Catholic faithful. The Center has become the first case of temporary adaptive reuse of a religious establishment as a medical treatment facility, to address the local community’s recent epidemic situation. As of 5 of March, a total of 5,187 have been infected in Daegu and its provincial area alone, making up 90% of those infected in the country.
As of February 9, 50 victims of COVID-19 have died. Surviving family members are experiencing a difficulty in conducting proper funerals for their loved ones. While most of the funeral houses are hesitant to receive the deceased from COVID-19, the mortuary at the Daegu Fatima Hospital (under the care of Benedictines) is serving the victims as one of the designated funeral facilities by the National Disaster Relief Association. As one of the major hospitals in the area, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center has designated 125 hospital beds solely for the treatment of confirmed patients with the virus.
One of the medical staff who was confirmed with coronavirus infection later reported that she is a follower of Shincheonji, the epicenter of the spread of COVID-19 in the Daegu area. The pseudo-religious organization’s closed community culture made them vulnerable to the spread of the virus. SCJ church instructs its members to hide their association to the church in the society including the family and friends. Their propaganda considered the outbreak of coronavirus as the Apocalypse.
With their own interpretation of the Scripture, the roots of their teaching can be found in the Book of Revelation. Commonly known as Shincheonji (meaning: New Heaven and Earth, 新天地 in Chinese), Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony was established in 1984 by its leader Lee Man-hee who claims to be the Messiah. The cult has spread across the borders, including Wuhan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Their modus operandi makes ordinary people mistake them for Catholics. In 2015, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea brought the issue on their visit to the Vatican. Consequently, the Korean Catholic Task Force on Pseudo-Religion was formed by the pastoral directors from all 16 dioceses in 2017. Father Lee, Chair of the Task Force reportedly estimates that 20-30% of the SCJ followers are Catholic faithful.
Back in December, 2019, SCJ showcased the film The Two Popes (2019) followed by the “Discussion Session with the Pope on world peace”.
Since the decision to extend the suspension of public Masses in the Diocese of Daegu until further notice, all 16 dioceses of the Catholic Church in Korea have also enforced the closure of the church service and community-based activities. The Archdiocese of Daegu is the second oldest episcopal see in Korea, with 519 priests. The faithful comprises 11% of the total Catholic population in South Korea.
All the religious gatherings including Buddist temples and Protestant churches around the country have been banned by the authorities. This is the first time that the Catholic Church in South Korea has encountered such a decision in the church’s 236-year history. Despite the turbulent history in the first half of the 2oth century, Seoul’s Myeongdong Cathedral had continued its public Mass even during the Korea War (1950-53) and the Japanese Occupation (1910-45), without interruption. The first Mass in Korean Peninsula was celebrated in 1795 by Father James Zhou Wen-Mo, a Chinese priest sent from the Diocese of Beijing.