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Latae Sententiae
Archbishop
Andreas Choi Chang-mou issued the decree on Jan. 21, saying "for
Christians' healthy faith life, and the unity and communion of the Church, I
declare as such, though my heart grieves."
Latae sententiae means the excommunication is not
imposed by judgment but automatically results from an action that places one
outside the community of faith.
The
archbishop explained that he met Youn, 60, and her husband in person in Naju in
2003 and later gave a final warning in 2005, but they have not modified their
actions. "Rather, they speak as if the Holy Father approves them,"
the bishop said. "They libel me, the Korean bishops and the
These
actions prove "Julia Youn and her followers have no will to reconcile with
the Catholic Church," he said.
"Therefore those clergy, Religious and laity who preside at or
participate in sacraments and liturgical ceremonies in their
'arbitrarily-called chapel' and 'Marian shrine' in Naju, which I have banned,
incur automatic excommunication," he declared, based on
canons 1336 and 1364 of the Code of Canon Law.
According
to the website created by Youn's followers (www.najumary.or.kr), Youn has
received Marian "revelations" since her statue of the Blessed Mother
"started weeping" in 1985. After that, Youn and her followers
established "Blessed Mother's Mountain" in Naju, 285 kilometers south
of
However,
the archdiocese issued directives in 1998, 2003 and 2005 banning Catholics from
visiting and participating in ceremonies there. The Catholic Bishops'
Conference of Korea has explicitly supported the archdiocese.
Father
John Chrysostomus Kim Kye-hong, chancellor of
In
a related press release, he asked all dioceses to carry the decree in diocesan
bulletins and websites to help prevent Catholics from "straying into a
groundless and blind faith."
Father
Kim told UCA News on Jan. 24 that despite a televised news report in November
2007 refuting the authenticity of Youn's miracle claims, people have continued
to gather at Naju.
Youn
and her followers "insist that the Holy See recognizes the miracles,"
the chancellor said. "So now they are reaching beyond our archdiocese's
boundary, and making this the problem of the whole Church. That is the main
reason for issuing the decree," he explained.
Father
Kim noted that Father Aloysius Chang Hong-bin, an
archdiocesan priest who has supported Youn's disobedience, had incurred automatic excommunication too. "Also in the decree he was excardinated (removed) from the archdiocese and lost his clerical state," Father Kim elaborated,
adding that "there was no consultation with the
Meanwhile,
even before the decree, Archbishop John Choi Young-soo of Daegu issued a
pastoral letter on Jan. 13 appealing to his faithful not to visit or
participate in liturgical ceremonies in Naju, which "is not Catholic but
defames the Catholic Church." He wrote that "they collect much money
and do superstitious activities like using or drinking Youn's urine for a
cure."
Also,
he asserted the
Youn's
followers have responded to the excommunication decree by denouncing it as the
"worst measure" and a "heretical error." A Jan. 25
statement sent to UCA News insists that Archbishop Choi's decree has nothing to
do with the pope and the universal Catholic Church.
The
statement from Peter Kim Jae-seok, public manager of Blessed Mother's Mountain,
added that the banning directives are fundamentally ineffective and the "
END